Despite being the only English-speaking country in South America, Guyana has long been a mystery for most British travellers. Blessed with extraordinary wildlife and one of the purest remaining wildernesses on the continent, it has largely been ignored by everyone aside from committed birders looking to spot some of the 800 or so species found within its border.
Now, however, this former British colony is a little bit closer, thanks to the launch of a new British Airways flight to the capital, Georgetown, providing the first direct link with Europe.
Ironically, interest in Guyana has been spurred by the discovery of oil off its Atlantic coast in 2015. But for travellers the attraction will lie less in its fossil fuels than its extraordinary natural beauty, cascading waterfalls and blossoming eco-tourism. A visit here is a journey into the wild. Here are the highlights.
1. Kaieteur Falls
See a thundering cascade and dazzling wildlife
Unarguably one of the most picturesque waterfalls in the world, Kaieteur is the nation’s icon and the planet’s largest single-drop waterfall by volume. It may not match Angel Falls in Venezuela for height, but it’s still 225m tall, and whereas its nominal rival is a mere trickle in the jungle this is a thundering, exhilarating cascade. With its own airstrip and national park, it’s also surprisingly accessible thanks to a short (if often bumpy) flight.
There are three separate viewpoints and, at the time of writing, still very little in the way of restrictions — vertigo sufferers may find the lack of safety rails a little daunting, but photographers will be delighted by the dizzying access.
The mist from the falls in rainy season breathes life into the surrounding valley, providing enough moisture for golden rocket frogs to live their entire lives inside giant tank bromeliads, many of which hang perilously over the cliffs facing the falls.
Elsewhere, one of the most popular hiking routes passes a courting location for the absurdly flamboyant Guianan cock-of-the-rock, a bright orange bird that looks as though it’s dressed to provide security at a punk gig.
A hut at Surama Eco-Lodge
ALAMY
2. Surama Eco-Lodge
Learn from indigenous people
Guyana’s oldest eco-lodge is right in the heart of the country, where the jungle has started to thin out towards baked savannah. The Surama Eco Lodge has many elements you’d expect — easy access to nature, sustainably constructed buildings — and some great tours into the wilderness, where you can expect encounters with giant anteaters, scarlet macaws and, if you’re especially fortunate, the mighty harpy eagle.
The lodge is owned and run by local Makushi people, one of the nine distinct indigenous groups in the country. As well as meeting community members at the property, you can also make a visit to the Surama cultural village — originally built as a film set it’s now used by the indigenous people for demonstrations and lectures about their fast-fading way of life and language. Among the classes there’s hammock making and the baking of cassava bread, as well as the chance to try a local hooch known as “fly”. The cultural show at the end — a mix of folkloric songs and poems — has toured internationally and been performed for visiting royals.
Back at the lodge, if you’re not afraid of the dark, guides will lead you on a night walk through the surrounding bush in search of the savannah’s nocturnal species.
3. Georgetown
Explore the food scene and the two rivers
For a long time travelling through the capital felt like a necessary evil en route to discovering the more beautiful and natural parts of the country. As visitor numbers have grown, however, this British-built city has improved, with a growing number of bars and restaurants catering to an increasingly international crowd.
If you want to learn something about the culinary history of Guyana, the Backyard Café is a must. Its owner and chef, Delven Adams, leads tours of the central market before taking you back to his family-run restaurant for an expertly prepared meal made with the produce that he has just acquired, as well as a lengthy talk on the country’s cuisine and dishes, such as coconut bread, and baked fish with mango salsa (fb.com/backyardcafegy).
For accommodation, more international brands are arriving each year, but for a sense of Guyana’s colonial-era architecture try the Cara Lodge, which dates from the days of the British Empire. While it has retained its traditional look, it has air conditioning (room-only doubles from £154; caralodge.com).
The city and surrounding area is best explored through an organised tour taking in the Guyana National Museum, with its hulking full-scale model of a giant sloth, and sunset trips up the Demerara and Essequibo rivers — at day’s end thousands of birds, including spectacular scarlet ibises, come to roost by the slow-moving waters. If you’ve a little extra time, more elaborate boat trips include visits to the Sloth Island nature reserve, where you’re likely to find some incredibly lazy residents.
The Rewa River
JAMIE LAFFERTY
4. Rewa Eco-Lodge
Find giant otters and prehistoric fish in the jungle
Rewa is one of those lodges buried so deep in the jungle that wildlife interactions will be unavoidable. Prizes include the near-mythic arapaima, a colossal prehistoric fish that breathes at the surface, giving it a huge advantage when the dry season arrives. Sports fishermen come from around the world to catch (and release) these giants.
Fans of creepy-crawlies will not go wanting — a short trip from the lodge, guides have marked hiding spots for the impressive Goliath bird-eating tarantula, which may not actually eat birds, but which is nonetheless the world’s heaviest spider.
In the deepest depths sunlight won’t penetrate the foliage, but the lodge’s expert guides are still able to help spot birds and primates in the canopy. If that feels at all claustrophobic then the good news is that time is also spent out on the Rewa and Rupununi rivers, speeding along on skiffs with a cooling breeze. There’s plenty more wildlife along the riverbanks, including giant otters and dozens of kingfishers, as well as cayman sunning themselves on sandbars.
One of the most popular excursions stops at one of these river beaches (making sure it’s clear of Crocodilia first) to have a barbecue dinner while the sun sets over the jungle. Racing you back after nightfall, the guides will then use spotlights to find yet more wildlife (room-only doubles from £50; rewaecolodge.com).
A traditional wooden house on stilts in rural Guyana
ALAMY
5. Paruima
Dramatic hiking from a beautiful village
The only Arecuna people in Guyana live in the remote village of Paruima, in the far west of the country. Famed for its surprisingly ornate gardens, the settlement has recently opened as a gateway to an extraordinary multi-day hike far into the wilderness.
From the village the route hugs the Kamarang River for a day, before scrambling up a tabletop mountain, known locally as a tepui. The second day’s itinerary crosses one of these mountains through jungle, then savannah, before emerging at the breathtaking Kamarang Great Falls — make it here and you are likely to be the only tourist around for hundreds of miles. The final couple of days involve pushing on to Uchi Falls, another magnificent single-drop beauty of the same order as Kamarang and Kaieteur, but when seen from the bottom perhaps the most dramatic of them.
Nights are spent in rudimentary camps, sleeping in hammocks — you’ll be so tired that you won’t care — with guides and porters cooking simple meals. Expect plenty of fireside conversation and the chance to see distant electrical storms roll over nearby Venezuela.
How to do it
From March 27 British Airways will operate two direct flights a week from Gatwick to Georgetown, with a brief stop (but no change) at St Lucia (returns from £498; ba.com).
Wilderness Explorers has seven nights’ B&B in eco-lodges on its Rewa, Rainforest and Kaieteur Explorer tour from £2,462pp, including internal flights, or five nights’ full board in indigenous community guesthouses and hammock camps on its Guyana Trekking Highlands Adventure from £2,694pp, including transport by light aircraft and dugout canoes; its Georgetown city, market and Backyard Café experience costs from £79pp (wilderness-explorers.com). Fly to Georgetown.
Rainbow Tours has 14 nights’ half-board on a small group tour from £5,995pp, including all flights, a visit to Kaieteur Falls, jungle hikes, boat trips, a canopy walk and some extra meals. Expect to see giant river otters and anteaters, black caymans and possibly a jaguar (rainbowtours.co.uk).
Alternatively, try other UK-based operators such as Original Travel (originaltravel.co.uk) and Journey Latin America (journeylatinamerica.com).
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Source link : https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-captivating-south-american-country-with-a-new-direct-flight-vnsfnr8zm
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Publish date : 2023-03-27 03:00:00
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