8 ways to experience the best of Guyana

Guyana’s compact size comprising 90% forest cover, Amerindian communities and fine ecolodges, create a heady recipe for adventure and new experiences. From the capital, Georgetown, adventurers can be immersed within the Amazon rainforest in little more than an hour. Here, thunderous waterfalls will shake you to the core and you’ll experience charismatic wildlife during river trips and jungle hikes with Indigenous guides demonstrating their tracking prowess. Golden apples, huge crocs, canopy walks, crazy birdlife and over 900 species of birds. Guyana is a never-ending travelator of adventure. 

Finding wildlife amid Guyana’s vast Amazon swathes requires the keen instincts of a great guide and of course a good dose of luck. Yet it helps somewhat, in terms of visibility, that Guyana’s fauna is somewhat supersized, earning the moniker: ‘Land of Giants’. Anteaters, the largest of the antbear genus, can be seen lumbering across savanna. Black caimans can reach an eyewatering six metres long, while Guyana’s giant otters simply dwarf others in comparison. And any angler snagging the Amazon’s largest freshwater fish, the arapaima, is likely to see their rod buckle. 

With the mighty Kaieteur Falls (226m) drop being over four times that of Niagara, it’s easy to imagine how impressive this spectacle is. First brought to the attention of the outside world by a British geologist in 1870, during September to November’s rainy season Kaieteur is a ferocious beast. The swollen Potaro River sends 30,000 gallons of water per second over the precipice. It’s an hour’s light aircraft flight from Georgetown to Kaieteur to be awed by its powerful beauty and seek out colourful critters such as the bright-orange cock-of-the-rock bird and golden frogs. 

With 40% of Guyana’s multi-ethnic population of Indian decent, you have a good starting position for culinary joy. Added to influences of Black Caribbean culture, Chinese and Indigenous Amerindian, Guyanese cuisine is a cauldron of tastes. Ground zero for great cuisine is abundant natural produce and spices: from tropical fruits and staples like sweet potatoes and cassava to coastal seafood, especially shellfish, and punchy scotch bonnet chilis. Guyana’s most renowned dish is a slow cooked stew called pepperpot: usually beef with a cassava root sauce and fiery wiri-wiri peppers. Indian-style roti breads served with curry is a ubiquitous delight. 

I went birding with an Indigenous Makushi Amerindian guide during a stay at Surama community ecolodge. We reached the rainforest’s tallest tree and through binoculars the world’s largest eagle, the harpy, one metre-high, was seemingly eyeing me up. Perhaps wondering if I’d make a tasty meal. Some of Guyana’s 910 avian species are elusive, so local knowledge is essential for serious birdwatching. From rainforest to savanna and mangroves, Indigenous guides will help spot fanciful rarities such as hoary-throated spinetail and Guyana’s national bird, the magnificently bright hoatzin with its punky Mohican crest. 

There is an extra layer of satisfaction to an immersive stay in pristine surroundings if your accommodation has been sustainably designed and economically benefits Amerindian communities who are guardians of the rainforest. Rewa Ecolodge is such an example. Since 2005 at the Rupununi and Rewa rivers confluence, this Amerindian community has welcomed guests to its comfortable thatched cabins. Activities such as birdwatching (especially hummingbirds), learning about medicinal plants, cooking, river trips, and hiking, help support the community’s sustainable small–scale agriculture and hunting lifestyle. 

Black caiman are huge; they can weigh up to 750kg. Thus it might feel counterintuitive to join researchers at Caiman House Ecolodge in Yupukari to carry out close contact study. Yet by the mid-1990s, widespread persecution pushed them to endangered status before targeted conservation across the Lower Amazon basin helped to stabilise numbers. From Caiman House’s rustic accommodation you’ll join their team on the River Rupununi to check their bodyweight, which involves catching them, and measure and tag them for further monitoring. You may even encounter other sightings of giant anteater and river otter. 

While there are white water bareknuckle rides in Guyana, few river trips are as evocative as a languid wooden canoe paddle down the Burro-Burro River in Iwokrama. Expeditions can last up to a week on this backwater caramel-hued river once navigated by Sir Walter Raleigh. Typically starting from around Surama, with Amerindian guides, you’ll enjoy myriad birds, riverbank wildlife, spend time under the stars in hammocks and enjoy local bush cooking featuring the ubiquitous piranha, who frequent this river. 

Although better known for rainforests and the Caribbean coastal plain, Guyana boasts impressive upland areas with fine hiking and inevitably exciting wildlife. While most people fly into Kaieteur Falls, an alternative route is to explore the biodiverse–rich surrounding national park by hiking into its base to witness the mighty cascade from on high. Not for the faint-hearted is a weeklong expedition to Makarapan Mountain. Its elevation may sound unimpressive, just 462m, yet this is an immersive and tough jungle yomp where you’ll experience close quarter wildlife sightings with every muddy footstep.  

Plan your immersive adventure to Guyana today at www.guyanatourism.com