M is for Mahdia

My Mahd Little Mahdia is the Administrative Centre for Region 8, Potaro/Siparuni. It started by being a simple “landing”, which is a place where miners gather to stock up for their camps, sell gold and have some fun. 

Just the other day I spoke to Mr Fredericks, who did some mining here in the 70’s; In those days this place was literally a landing, with only 1 trail and some stellings (stalls).

Many people come, set up mining camps, invest all they have and expect the best. Life in the backdam (out of town mining camps, where all you see are clearings, deep pits filled with water of different colours, big tents made of tree trunks and tarpaulin, 4x4 vans, caterpillars, bulldozers and men in rubber boots) is hard and intense; there is no such thing as a holiday. So people tend to spend a couple of months there and then head back home with their money.

Notwithstanding, upon leaving the backdam with a pile of money, there is a tendency to spend some wild time at the landing, ie, Mahdia. Normally this involves lots of investment in drinks and lady-fun. Money flies away… and so it’s better to head back to the backdam for some more time before visiting the wife (hopefully still…) and kids.

Truth be said, many miners are focused on their aims in life and manage it in an efficient manner. There are men that came with the intention of spending a year and making enough money to build up their family house and ended up staying for over 12 years, because they had children and those children are now studying in private schools.

So the backdam can be brill, although it’s quite a gamble.

In Mahdia people move at the same rhythm as gold can be found, ie unexpectedly. If you are planning on opening a store, for instance, there is no telling what will sell, nor which will be the best day of the week. Everything comes in from Parika or Georgetown by road, which involves over between 7 to 10 hours of a rough ride on a bumpy red-road trail. This causes prices to be double or more the shelf price in Georgetown.

What do we have around here?

- A district hospital with the friendliest staff in the world. The building is new, but equipment is not amazing; you need to go to Georgetown for an X-Ray for example.

- RDC compound – The Regional Democratic Council is the Administrative body. Here you have the Department of Education, the Board Room, the Accounts Section and Personnel Section

- A Nursery school, a Primary school and a Secondary School. Most of my time is split between the primary school and the Department of Education.

- Shops/Stalls/Restaurants/Bars – Lots of liming and drinking spots on every road/trail.

- A hotel with an amazing swimming pool. Again unexpected. And it’s brilliant to see the changes as when I first arrived you could not use the swimming pool without being filmed by men and listening to a lot of nonsense (and you know I don’t take it on). Now things are changing and some Sundays are pretty normal, ie, I see girls in swimsuits and bikinis! So obviously I’ve been getting mine out too – but only when there are more girls around, because it does get intensely awkward sometimes!

- GGMC – Guyana Geology & Mines Commission

- GECOM – Guyana Elections Commission

- Post Office – Post arrives and leaves Mahdia once a week. It can take quite a while, as you can imagine, but most things do arrive, and I’m sure that the ones that fail to arrive get “misplaced” upon arrival in country. Our Post Master (known as PM) is a super star and calls people when he sees them on the road and knows they have post.

- Police Station – My neighbours actually, so it couldn’t get safer!

Ok folks, made this list off the top of my head so I’m pretty sure I am missing out on some major things…

What does it look like? See with your own 2 eyes:

Eagle Mountain as seen from Mahdia

Main road. If you turn left, you'll get to Campbelltown, the Amerindian village

The air strip - TransGuyana and Air Services fly here

This place is definitely worth a visit and if you drive yourself up with a cruiser, even better, as you will be able to visit the Denham Bridge, aka Garraway Stream, check out the Hydro Power station that is being rehabilitated (UK equipment from the 1950s), take a look at Salbora falls and more. When you come, let me know, it’ll certainly be a weekend to remember ;)

Mahdia is where my heart is. Mahdia is home.

(This post is dedicated to Phil & Bill)