Kykoveral and tourism
There is no argument that Guyana has enormous eco-tourism potential. But what is sometimes forgotten is that it also has 'historical' tourism potential. No one is suggesting that this country is Turkey, or Egypt or India in terms of historical remains, but it does have a material heritage of intrinsic value, which could be presented in a way which would be of interest to tourists as one element in a larger eco-tourism package. Take, for instance, the case of Fort Island and Kykoveral - the latter the cradle of Dutch settlement in Guyana. The two sites are not far from Georgetown, and can easily be encompassed within the space of a single day-trip. The very mystery surrounding the founding of Kykoveral will have appeal to tourists, and while there is also considerable uncertainty about the fortification's early history, there is much to be made of the little that we do know. Today only an archway and the foundations of the structure are to be seen on the island. However, the double barred cross on the keystone above the arch has given rise to all kinds of lurid speculation about who built the fortress, some sources favouring the Spaniards, and others the Portuguese. One rather dubious ground for this speculation seems to be that the cross is particularly associated with the Roman Catholic Church. The truth, as is often the case, is more prosaic. Kykoveral seems to have been built by the Dutch themselves, and has no connection as far as is known with any other European nation. We know that, because in the late 1890s the British removed some bricks for analysis and discovered beyond doubt that they were Dutch. The story goes that in 1899 the same bricks were brought as evidence to the tribunal in Paris which settled the boundary between British Guiana (as it then was) and Venezuela. And as for the double-barred cross - sometimes called the Patriarchal Cross or Cross of Lorraine - it could have various explanations. It is not necessarily associated with the Roman Catholic Church alone (it was very popular in the Orthodox Church, for example), and was also selected as a heraldic device for the escutcheons of individual Europeans of all nationalities, including the Dutch. So from whose coat of arms, if anyone's, did it come? We still do not know. As they travel up the river towards Kykoveral, the tourists can be given the flavour of what happened in 1708, the days of fire and plunder. This was when plumes of smoke rose from both banks as three French privateers manned with 300 soldiers pillaged the Amerindian settlements and set them ablaze. Reaching the Brandwagt, or signal station, the French overpowered its defenders, and assuming that the way was now clear to Kykoveral they raised anchor to finish off the colony. The way was not clear, however, and when they reached the point where Bartica now stands, they found themselves confronted by an unexpected opponent. These were the African slaves of Plantation Vryheid under the command of the Dutch planter from the estate. They fought well, but heavily outnumbered and presumably outgunned, they were forced to retreat with the loss of two dead and several wounded. It was the only resistance the French were to meet that day. Back in Kykoveral pandemonium reigned, with the planters clamouring that the Commandeur (or Governor) defend their plantations from the invader. The Commandeur, however, had only fifty soldiers at his disposal and considered resistance pointless. He therefore capitulated without a fight, the price for that decision being a ransom of 50,000 guilders. Just across from Kykoveral is Cartabo, which can easily be seen by a tourist (or anyone else) from the island. There are no remains there now, but it was here that the Dutch Commandeur moved in 1716, because, he considered, the fort had become too crowded. He had a house built there which was called, appropriately enough 'Huis Nabij' (House Nearby). Two years later, the whole government moved across, leaving the garrison alone in the fort. With a little bit of imagination it should be possible to make Guyana's historical sites attractive to tourists. And history, as the older cultures well know, can generate money in all kinds of ways. The fundamental questions, of course, have to be confronted first such as preservation, infrastructure, etc., etc. But if an island like Barbados can do it, there is no reason why Guyana, with a much more varied past, should not be able to do it as well.
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