Beharry makes Guyana - safari trek

Laranzo Dacres, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Guyanese-born, naturalised Jamaican Cecil Beharry, will be participating in the ninth annual Pakaraima Mountain Safari in Guyana, scheduled March 26 to April 3. His mode of transport will be his 2001 Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 which he will have to ship to Guyana from Jamaica in preparation for the 1,000-mile round trip on off-road terrain in the southern Caribbean country.

Beharry's main sponsor is Elarc Welding Products Limited, a Jamaican manufacturing company that produces welding products, with it's largest export market being Guyana.

"When Cecil approached us, we didn't hesitate to provide him with sponsorship. He's a Guyana native living in Jamaica who will be participating in a prestigious event in our largest export market, so you can call it a win-win situation," said LeRoy Morris, managing director, Elarc Welding Products.

Beharry, who is a retired businessman, is very excited to be participating in the Safari as a Jamaican and the first overseas participant in the nine-year-old event.

"I was at the 2009 and 2010 staging of the event, but as co-driver and not an official participant," Beharry said.

"It's a challenge against nature and science, so each participant has to be willing to work as a team because we travel in a convoy and should be ready to assist each other. All the vehicles in the Safari are off-road models because the terrain is very mountainous and there's a lot of climbing and descending over rocky surfaces. You really have to be an outdoor person to take on this challenge."

invitation

Beharry told Automotives that based on his last two experiences with the safari, the duration is usually just over a week and the journey is 500 miles one-way.

He said both the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of Guyana, Manniram Prashad, and Prime Minister Sam Hinds, were on the safari in 2009 and 2010 and, at that time, had extended the invitation to him and Jamaica to participate.

"So, when I informed Minister Prashad that Jamaica would be taking part this year, he said he was pleased to hear, as it was always his dream to have overseas participation and that Jamaica would go down in history as the pioneer participant from abroad."

"The safari is the perfect way to enjoy nature and what it has to offer. It's a time when you and your automobile are synchronised. It's a wonderful experience," Beharry added.