|
Guyana: An
undiscovered Eden
You've
done the Caribbean resorts, you've been to Europe. Now you're looking for a
really unspoiled destination where you can get close to nature in a place that
hasn't been hyped, paved over and glitzed up. Try Guyana. by Rod Lopez-Fabrega
The pilot of the Trans
Guyana Airways five-passenger aircraft taps you on the shoulder. You've been
flying for several hours over an ocean of rainforest, and you've dozed off.
Look down there, he tells you. He banks the plane, and, wide awake, you are looking
straight down into the roaring maws of Kaieteur Falls. You see a complete
rainbow--a giant 360 degree ring of color diffracted by the cataract's roiling
mists. In this remote northeast corner of South America, not far from the
Brazilian and Venezuelan borders, amber colored waters collect atop a
three-billion-year-old high "tepui" plateau and are flung 741 feet
down the world's longest uninterrupted fall of water. The
pilot skillfully lands the plane on a jungle airstrip yards away from the top
of the falls. Your guide takes you down a short jungle trail surrounded by
giant bromeliads, home to spectacular but tiny golden frogs. Almost on cue, not
five yards away from you, perched on a liana vine, is the rare Guyanian
Cock-of-the-Rock, a fluorescent orange bird of extraordinary beauty. The entire
experience is breathtaking.
Guyana is a hard sell,
admits David Holbrook, whose Holbrook Travel is one of the premier natural
history and education travel companies in the United States. Guyana is not for
everyone. It is not for the "Sun, Sea, and Sand" seekers. As an
adventure destination, the country is still too new to have become
"fashionable." Visiting its more remote--and fascinating--areas
requires a degree of physical fitness. Tropical inoculations are recommended.
Travel in the interior is either by Land Rover on unpaved roads or by small
plane, making land transport part of the adventure and air transport relatively
expensive. But, Mr. Holbrook adds, whenever he comes back from Guyana, he is
all fired up about its pristine, unspoiled beauty and the potential for his
more adventurous clients to be at the forefront in discovering this virginal
Eden. He works closely Wilderness Explorers, the largest supplier of adventure
travel in Guyana.
There is a place in western
Guyana where the cowboys are the Indians, cattle are still
rustled now and then, a jaguar or a cayman crocodile might take an occasional
calf, and the nearest dentist is clear on the other side of the country. That
place is the Rupununi, Guyana's ninth region, a land of unspoiled rainforests,
pristine rivers, and a vast savannah reminiscent of the plains of Kenya and
Montana--a South American Big Sky country. It is the heartland of the country's
cattle ranches, a huge area of natural grasslands where no rancher needs to cut
down forests for pastures and the only way to get around is by Land Rover on
unpaved dirt roads or small plane. For the most part, the
"cattle barons of the Rupununi" are European immigrants--some fourth
and fifth generation--who do not live on baronial estancias, Argentine-style,
or on hi-tech King Ranch-style spreads. This is still frontier country in many
ways--and it is wonderfully different. What is more, the ranches are now
welcoming adventure clients and will provide them with simple but comfortable
accommodations, fine regional cuisines, and the opportunity to experience the
nearby rainforests and mingle with the gentle, friendly, well-schooled, but
unpolluted Amerindian natives in a breathtaking setting.
This unique experience can begin with arrival in Georgetown on
BWIA International Airways' daily Airbus A321 flights from the U.S. gateways
Miami and New York. International arrivals into Guyana are all funneled through
Georgetown, the capital city. It is a typical Caribbean town, slightly ragged
around the edges but with interesting architectural remnants of its days as a
Dutch possession and later a British one. Parts of the city are actually below
sea level, and Dutch dikes remain but are generally inadequate to keep high
tide flooding in some neighborhoods. First night accommodations might be in
Georgetown's Guyana Pegasus Hotel, a quality establishment recently become a
LeMeridien Hotel under Forte ownership. The next day might begin
with a morning tour of Georgetown, followed by transfer on a Guyana Airways Twin Otter small aircraft to
southwestern Guyana's Rupununi country and Rock View Ecotourism Resort at the
foothills of the Pakaraima mountains bordering the Iwokrama Rainforest
preserve.
Once a stopping place for
Rupununi cattle roundups and now restored and managed by Colin Edwards and his
Amerindian wife Velda, Rock View Ecotourism Resort offers double occupancy rooms that are four-star
quality, plus excellent regional cooking served family-style, and access to
rivers, rainforest, and rangelands. Mr. Edwards, an agronomist by training and
a talented jack-of-all-trades by necessity, explains, "My objective is to
blend together the Brazilian idea of a hotel/fazenda--a kind of ranch/guest
house--and an ecotourism resort. Ecotourism is not just looking at monkeys and
spiders. It's also a question of looking at how people live in such an
environment in a way that does not destroy it. The two must work hand-in-hand.
This setting is within a vibrant Amerindian community, the Macushi Nation, so,
you have not only the habitats, you also have the people that co-exist with the
habitat." Mr. Edwards clearly has a deep commitment to the people--he
married the head man's daughter--and his prodigious efforts to bring
responsible tourism to his people go far beyond business motivations. Rock View Ecotourism Resort is a labor of
love against the difficult odds of its remote location from
"civilization" and very little outside technical help. Colin and
Velda are especially proud of the elegant pool they provide for their guests.
They built it themselves.
The cost of accommodations
in the ranches of the Rupununi is surprisingly moderate, ranging from $95 per
person per day to $120 at Karanambu. Transportation is the major expense in
visiting the area. As all three ranches are so remote, it is necessary to reach
them by air. Soft Adventure
Hard Adventure One of the excursions in the
"hard adventure" category is marketed and sold in the United States
by Holbrook Travel. It is a 14-day expedition to the Wai-Wai, Guyana's most
remote Amerindian tribe. The area is so sensitive that it took Mr. Thorne 18
months to arrange it with tribal leaders and government agencies concerned
about the impact tourism might have. It is escorted by Terry Henkel, a noted
field botanist and expedition leader who has led scientific expeditions for the
Smithsonian and has excellent relationships with Guyana's indigenous tribes.
This particular adventure includes extended visits with the Wai-Wai themselves,
travel by dugout canoe, fishing with the Wai-Wai, and viewing of the abundant
wildlife that can include tapir, peccaries, jaguar, river otters, sloths,
monkeys, and abundant birdlife. Holbrook's prices range from approximately
$2,700 per person for a 10-passenger group to $3,200 per person for 6-7
passengers. Costs include internal flights, city transfers, meals,
accommodation, guides, expedition leader, and entrance fees. The best times to come to
Guyana are from mid-February to early in July. August to mid-November is a hot
and dry period, and then the Christmas rains start when the rainforest blooms,
but road travel can be difficult. Getting there is easiest on
BWIA, many times selected as the Best Airline Serving the Caribbean. The
59-year-old carrier operates a fleet of MD-83s, four L1011s, and has introduced A321-100 aircraft to its
Caribbean run from Miami. It offers daily A321 flights departing New York and
arriving Georgetown approximately eight hours later, with intermediate stops in
Barbados and Trinidad. Some useful sites for
Guyana: Wilderness Explorers, Inc. -
http://www.wilderness-explorers.com Guyana Guide -
http://www.guyanaguide.com/index.html BWIA Airlines - http://www.bwee.com
Holbrook Travel, Inc. -
http://www.holbrooktravel.com PHOTO CREDITS: Wilderness
Explorers: golden frog, cock-o-the-rock and monkey photos, Rock Ledge poolside,
Timberhead guest room; all others: Rod Lopez-Fabrega |
|
TM
Says Tony Thorne of
Wilderness Explorers, "Guyana is part
of the Amazon Basin. In fact, the Kanuku Mountains which make up the range that
separates northern savannah from southern savannah, the conservationists say,
is one of the few remaining areas that has true Amazonian wildlife and flora
and fauna in a pristine state." 
Australia-born Tony Thorne
adds about his company, "We offer extensive tours throughout Guyana,
ranging from very soft adventures staying at the resorts with very easy
challenges to the visitor, right through to the very arduous trips for the more
adventurous. Some trips go into extremely remote areas where people are doing
just camping, sleeping in hammocks, cooking over open fires. We also do some
very specialized trips such as bird-watching tours, natural history tours often
led by noted ornithologists and field botanists." He adds, "And
remember that this is an English-speaking country. Even in the hinterlands, a
North American can communicate with anyone."
A second stop, reached by a
full morning's drive by Land Rover, might be the Karanambu Ranch, overseen by Diane McTurk, a fifth
generation cattle rancher in Guyana. This remarkable lady combines the willowy
elegance of a senior high-fashion model and a cultivated British accent, with
the strength and determination to deal with frontier life--sometimes including
cattle rustlers. Also known as "the otter lady", she raises wild
river otters that have been orphaned. These giant South American otters are
much larger than their North American cousins and can be aggressive to an adult
human when feeling threatened, but accept Diane as one of their own.
Accommodations are rough-hewn but comfortable cabanas, and activities can
include exciting river trips to view river otters at play, spot small South
American 'gators known as cayman, paddle among the giant Victoria Regia water
lilies, bird watch, or just relax in a hammock while listening to Ms. McTurk's
endlessly fascinating accounts of a unique life.
A third stop might be the gigantic Dadanawa Cattle Ranch where
5,000 head of cattle roam freely on the
1,700 square mile property, and where Amerindian villages dot the vast
savannah. At the main house, every meal includes at least three kinds of beef
and countless delicious regional dishes as well as the company of soft-spoken
Big Bosses, Duane and Sandy DeFreitas and their ranch managers at a long
family-style table. Though authentic
cattle barons, thankfully, Duane and Sandy do not fit the "Dallas"
pattern, and there are no Cadillacs or Texas chateaus on Dadanawa. In the photo
they are shown with their good friends and tenants, Bernard and Catherine
Ritchie. 
The Amerindian cowhands and
their families in the villages are a friendly, gentle people, all English
speakers, the national language in what, after all, was formerly British
Guyana. A typical greeting from the head man of a thatched roof village or a ranch
outstation will probably include the phrase, "You are welcome to
share," impressively generous when one considers their modest possessions.
A visit to Dadanawa might include taking part in the morning cattle roundup as
well as a four-hour ride across the savannah in "Sandy Candy" one of
the DeFreitas' Land Rovers, and a one-hour hike into the nearby rainforest to
inspect the nesting sites of rare Harpy Eagles. "Sandy Candy" has
acquired something of an international reputation. It has a mind of its own and
requires a firm but loving and understanding hand to start it, keep it running
and bring it to a stop whenever that becomes a necessity. Besides, there is
nothing to run into out there in the middle of thousands of acres of flat
savannah, and this near-human Land Rover seems to know where the rare Harpy
Eagles can be found. So, why spoil a perfect combination? 
In the "easy
category" is Timberhead rainforest lodge, a true rainforest experience
with accommodations in native-built long houses on stilts, sleep under insect
net canopies, candlelit gourmet meals served open-air under the trees or in the
comfortable lodge, and visits to a nearby Amerindian village, all an incredibly
short eight miles away from Georgetown's international airport. VIP guests in
recent years have been Queen Elizabeth and former president, Jimmy Carter. 
Another "soft
adventure" can be experienced at Shanklands, an elegant resort
"carved out of the rainforest with a panoramic view of the beautiful
Essequibo River" and within easy reach of Georgetown, Guyana's capital.
The resort has a honeymoon cottage equal to anything the Hawaiian Island of
Maui has to offer plus extraordinary bird-watching right on the grounds and
access to river sports and nature walks. Recently, a rare (and very grumpy)
Harpy Eagle was in residence in the resort's aviary, recovering from an injured
wing and waiting to be released when healed.