Bob and the Warrau Canoes

Dive & Dig

Travel with Professor Lucy Blue to the village of Imbotero, Guyana to meet Dr Robert (Bob) Holtzman an expert in traditional boatbuilding to learn about the Warrau dugout canoe. Twice daily tides in the tropical mangrove swamp mean canoes are essential for survival of the indigenous Warrau people. Not only are they used for transportation, but also for foraging in the forest for land crabs, fishing and visiting neighbours. Over two field seasons Bob paddled around the villages in a canoe observing how the Warrau connect to their environment and fashion their canoes. Learn how these canoes - that can be up to 10 meters long, are hollowed out of a single tree trunk using chainsaws and adzes by skilled artisans. And, why a consistent thickness achieved by eye, feel and even sound is crucial to the final stages when it is placed over a fire to expand the wood allowing it to be spread apart without cracking, capturing the boat making techniques of this art before they are lost in the tide of modernisation.