From the tapping on their beige-painted bungalow in a clearing along a lonely hinterland thoroughfare simply means ‘someone is hungry’.

At 58 Miles, Mabura, Peter and Ruth’s Restaurant often rescues starving travelers along the Linden/Lethem trail where traffic has been building as the road connecting Guyana and its northern neighbour, Brazil, develops.

Ruth, a devout Christian, says that even though the doors to their business opens at 07:00 hours and closes at midnight, she gets up and cooks for anyone who might need food while passing through the trail during the wee hours of the morning.

It often means foregoing rest.

But it is a sacrifice travelers have come to appreciate. Maybe even more because Peter and Ruth not only cook for them, but attend to medical and other emergencies, always willing to assist by providing a vehicle to transport the ill or injured, many times free of charge.

“This is the recipe for our thriving business as it is today”, Ruth says.

Additionally, they provide accommodation in a huge benab outside their restaurant, also free, for those who may want to rest before continuing the arduous journey along the trail.

Peter hails from Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara. He met Ruth in 1978 after leaving the coastland to work in the gold fields at Great Falls, Region Ten. They got married, settled in the area and raised four children. Together, they are just ‘Good Samaritans’.

HUMBLE START
It all began six years ago with two coolers packed with ice to keep the temperature of the beverages below zero for the thirsty, and a glass case with pastry neatly fitted under a shed alongside the dusty trail at 58 Miles, Mabura. Ruth grew up in this little community.

From the couple, travelers to the interior would buy something to drink and munch along the way. Their specialty seemed to be a well-cooked met-a-gee, a Guyanese Creole dish, for which they came to be well known.

The snackette was set up after Peter and Ruth decided to move from Mahdia, a community more than 50 miles, from where they are now.

At Mahdia, they operated a small cook shop for six years, but decided to move after the building they were renting was sold and the new owner was not too keen on allowing them to continue operating there.

The alternative was to buy a place there. However, none was suitable enough for their kind of business, so Ruth decided that she would return to her home village to make a new start.

The business began paying off and made way for expansion. It was developed into a proper restaurant where people could dine, and was popularly known as the place where you could get a variety of wild meats, cooked or uncooked.

However, Peter says there are not many wild animals in the area now due to over-hunting, so customers can no longer rely on a regular supply.

According to Ruth, this has not affected sales. Many of their customers, particularly from the Rastafarian community at Mahdia, are vegetarians. She caters for different choices and even prepares meat and fish separately.

Peter, who has some ideas about machines after working as an Electricity Power Plant Supervisor with Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) for a few years, soon realised that people traveling to the interior would from time to time encounter mechanical problems.

So he set up a vulcanising service shed to repair worn or damaged vehicle tyres. He also hired a mechanic, who is based at the business place and can work at any time during the 24-hour day.

With their generosity, the Rajmangals have gained tremendous support for their business and are very much loved, not only by people in their community, which has a population of about 100, but almost every stranger.

Peter says the business has been gaining international recognition, too, because many tourists visiting the interior would tell their fellow foreign visitors about the restaurant, which provides them with very tasty Guyanese food.

“Those guys would tell me that my business name is all over the place abroad. Because they do a lot of traveling around the world and they would need to get information about some key stopping points like here along this trail. So this is one of the places highlighted”, he points out.

Sundays and Wednesdays are exceptionally good for business at 58 Miles because there is a scheduled bus service by the Correia’s to Lethem. The bus carries about 40 passengers, who would stop to buy food and drinks at the Peter and Ruth’s Restaurant.

Daily traffic flow consists mainly of the Route 72 minibuses, which go to Mahdia and it would be unusual for passengers not to stop and buy a meal.

Peter says there are plans to expand and he hopes to make a start towards this by year- end. The expansion will include air-conditioning the restaurant so customers could dine in a more relaxed atmosphere.

This is mainly because the road, which is about 50 metres from the eatery usually gets very dusty during the dry season.

Peter is also planning to enter into a partnership with a petrol dealer and build a gas station. Currently, he sells fuel to mainly chainsaw operators and residents of the nearby communities - 40 Miles, Mabura and Great Falls, Demerara River, for their outboard motors.

These days, there is much talk between the Guyana and Brazil governments about development of the Linden/Lethem road, which could pave the way for viable economic activities, particularly in Guyana.