The Wildlife and Culture of the Three Guianas
Tour Introduction
The 1.7 billion year old Guiana Shield is overlain by one of the largest expanses of undisturbed tropical rainforest in the world. This vast forest houses a rich biodiversity which includes 1,400 species of vertebrates and 1,680 species of bird. Our unusually diverse itinerary explores the three Guianas – Guyana (formerly a British colony), Suriname (formerly a Dutch colony) and French Guiana (an overseas department of France). Search for magnificent species such as jaguar and giant anteater, learn about the many different tribes and cultures of the region including visits to Amerindian and Maroon communities, and marvel at Kaieteur Falls, the highest single drop waterfall in the world.
Full Itinerary
Arrive in Georgetown, Guyana. Met on arrival and transfer to hotel.
Staying at Cara Lodge. Includes No Meals.
Optional early morning birding at Georgetown Botanical Gardens with a chance to see the rare blood-coloured woodpecker (additional cost). Return to your hotel, then transfer to Eugene F. Correia Airport for a scenic flight to Kaieteur Falls, the world’s highest single-drop waterfall. Look out for giant tank bromeliads, golden frogs, the elusive Guianan cock-of-the-rock, and the dramatic flights of Kaieteur Swifts nesting beneath the vast rock shelf carved by the Potaro River.
Staying at Cara Lodge. Includes Breakfast.
Pickup and transfer to the airport for a scheduled flight over vast tracts of virgin rainforest. Land at Fair View Airstrip and transfer to Iwokrama River Lodge. Travel by boat along the Essequibo River to begin the trail to Turtle Mountain, with chances to see birds, red howler monkeys and spider monkeys. After lunch, drive south along the rainforest highway to Atta Rainforest Lodge, with good chances of spotting mammals such as tayra, tapir, agouti, or even one of Guyana’s six wild cat species.
Visit the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway and explore the surrounding trails.
Staying at Atta Rainforest Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Pre-dawn visit to the 154-metre Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, followed by breakfast at the lodge. The walkway offers a unique vantage point for spotting canopy-level birds and, with luck, red howler and black spider monkeys. Optional return visits to the walkway are possible, including at dusk to watch the sun set over the forest. Guided wildlife and birdwatching walks on nearby trails and night walks for nocturnal species are also available.
Staying at Atta Rainforest Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Enjoy the dawn chorus from the canopy walkway before breakfast and departure. Travel by road and river to Karanambu Lodge, with chances to see Giant River Otters en route. Afternoon and evening excursions explore savannahs, ponds, and forest trails, with highlights including Victoria amazonica in bloom and spotlighting for nocturnal wildlife.
Staying at Karanambu Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Full day exploring the rivers and savannahs of Karanambu. Search for giant anteaters early in the morning on the nearby savannah. Later in the day there are opportunities to explore the waterways and surrounding forest in search of giant otters and birds such as the agami heron. In the evening there will be a visit to the oxbow lakes to see the world’s largest water lily, Victoria Amazonica, bloom at dusk. Returning to the lodge in the dark there will be the chance to find exciting nocturnal wildlife such as opossums, black caiman and Amazon tree boas along the rivers with spotlights.
Staying at Karanambu Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Transfer to the airport and fly back to Georgetown. In the afternoon, you can enjoy an optional guided city tour including St Andrew’s Kirk, the Botanical Gardens, and the bustling Stabroek Market. Board a river taxi at the old ferry stelling to cross the Demerara River, cruising past historic waterfront buildings and under the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Stop near mangroves to watch the sunset and flocks of Scarlet Ibis, Snail Kites, Herons and Egrets settling in for the night, with drinks and local snacks. Return to shore with views of the city lights from the river (additional cost).
Staying at Cara Lodge. Includes Breakfast and Lunch.
Early breakfast at a local stand with Chef Delven Adams, followed by a guided tour of Bourda Market and the Guyana Shop. Continue with a city tour of Georgetown’s key sites, including museums, historic buildings, the Botanical Gardens, and a visit to feed West Indian Manatees. Lunch at the Backyard Café, featuring a market inspired meal prepared by Chef Delven. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Suriname. On arrival, transfer to your hotel.
Staying at Eco Torarica. Includes Breakfast and Lunch.
Explore Paramaribo’s UNESCO-listed inner city with visits to Fort Zeelandia, Independence Square, the Presidential Palace, Palm Gardens, and Lim a Po Street. Drive past historic buildings and stop at the Synagogue and Mosque, then visit the Cathedral and Waterkant along the Suriname River. After lunch, cross the river to Commewijne to visit Plantation Peperpot and its nature park, followed by Fort Nieuw Amsterdam’s outdoor museum and giant water lily pond. In the late afternoon, there is the option to join a Sunset Dolphin tour from Leonsberg pier. Cruise the river in search of playful dolphins, visit the Javanese village of Rust & Werk, and return at dusk with drinks and local snacks (additional cost).
Staying at Eco Torarica. Includes Breakfast and Lunch.
Depart Paramaribo and drive to Atjoni, then continue by motorised canoe up the Upper Suriname River to Danpaati River Lodge. Enjoy the remote rainforest setting and end the day with a river cruise to spot caiman along the banks.
Staying at Danpaati River Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Take a boat trip to the village of Pikin Slee for a guided tour and visit to the Saamaka Maroon Museum, highlighting the history and traditions of the Saramak Maroon people. Return to the lodge for lunch, followed by a rainforest walk and optional activities such as fishing, canoeing, or a traditional massage. After dinner, enjoy a cultural dance performance featuring Seketi, Awasa, and Bandamba, with insights from your guide.
Staying at Danpaati River Lodge. Includes All Meals.
Enjoy a relaxed morning at Danpaati with time to soak in the surroundings and take photos. After your farewells to the staff, depart by dugout canoe to Atjoni, then continue by road back to Paramaribo.
Staying at Eco Torarica. Includes Breakfast and Lunch.
With packed breakfast in hand, we make an early start toward the Albina border station. After a smooth crossing of the Maroni River by ferry, we arrive in French Guiana - a Department of France where the Euro is the currency and espresso flows freely. Meet your French guide in Saint Laurent du Maroni and enjoy a short city tour, including a visit to Camp de la Transportation, once a transit hub for convicts and indentured laborers.
After a packed lunch, continue to Kourou for a guided tour of the Guiana Space Center. The tour typically includes stops at launch pads, assembly buildings, and control centers, with your guide providing translations throughout.
Staying at Hotel Atlantis. Includes Breakfast and Lunch.
After an early breakfast, transfer to the dock in Kourou and board a catamaran to the Îles du Salut, a former penal colony made up of three islands. Explore Île Royale, with its preserved prison buildings and colonial ruins, and learn about the islands’ history and famous inmates like Alfred Dreyfus and Papillon. Enjoy time to wander the grounds and watch for sea turtles near the dock before returning to Kourou. Transfer onward to Cayenne.
Staying at Central Hôtel. Includes Breakfast and Lunch.
Opportunity for an optional guided tour of Cayenne (additional cost), the administrative and cultural heart of French Guiana. Highlights include Fort Cépérou, Place Léopold Heder, the Jesuit Hotel, Place des Palmistes, and the Franconie Museum. Explore the colonial architecture and vibrant creole character of the city before transferring to the airport for your departure.
Includes Breakfast.
Tour Accommodation
Cara Lodge
Overview
Built in 1840, Cara Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, and is steeped in history having hosted many world leaders, royalty and other dignitaries.
Built in the style of a traditional plantation house, Cara Lodge has spacious wooden verandas and large bedrooms with private facilities. There is a good restaurant serving good food, bar and comfortable communal area and the service is always attentive and friendly.
All rooms have air-conditioning, ceiling fans, cable TV, international direct dial telephones, minibars, hair dryers, tea and coffee facilities, private bathrooms with hot water and are decorated in colonial style. The rooms vary in size but all offer adequate space: some have verandas, and deluxe superior rooms are now available.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
Restaurant and bar, 24-hour reception desk, internet access available: rooms have mini-bars, cable TV, direct dial telephones and tea and coffee making facilities.
Optional Activities
City tours of Georgetown and birdwatching excursions to the nearby Abary River. Charter and scheduled flights to Kaieteur Falls can be arranged.
Atta Rainforest Lodge
Overview
Atta Rainforest Lodge has 8 simple en suite rooms set within a clearing in the wildlife rich Iwokrama forest and close to the base of the impressive Iwokrama Canopy Walkway. The lodge was built to provide guests with a base from which to access the canopy walkway at dawn and dusk when birds and other wildlife are most active. The setting for Atta Lodge is perfect for keen birders and naturalists as it is completely surrounded by dense rainforest bursting with biodiversity and frequently visited by red brocket deer, red-rumped agouti and the black curassow (a Guiana Shield endemic).
The Iwokrama Canopy Walkway is a series of suspension bridges and decks up to 30 metres in height and 154 metres in length that pass through an excellent stretch of rainforest. It provides a memorable view of the mid and canopy levels of the forest and affords excellent bird and wildlife viewing. Many canopy level specialist birds, including several Guianan Shield endemics, are commonly seen from the walkway, with the magnificent harpy eagle now being seen more regularly.
The main building houses the restaurant as well as a small bar and gift shop, lounge and collection of natural history books: there is some limited wireless internet access too.
The meals at Atta Lodge are particularly varied and tasty, always freshly prepared using local produce. Vegetarian and special diets can be catered for and one can visit the kitchen to see how the meals are prepared. The meals are usually buffet style and served under candlelight, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere. Power is provided by a generator that can be a little noisy. Note: the power is switched off between 10pm and 6am. The lodge has a sightings board and has deployed camera traps to record the exciting wildlife found close to the lodge.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
The rooms have mosquito nets, torch, insect repellent, electricity (6am -10pm), private bathrooms (cold water showers), dining room, lounge with a small bar and library, sightings board and limited free Wi-Fi in the main building.
Local Wildlife
Birds regularly seen from the canopy walkway and surrounding trails include crimson and purple-necked fruit crow, pompadour cotinga, green aracari, Guianan toucanet, painted parakeet, red-and-green macaw, white-winged potoo and (with luck) the awesome harpy eagle. Mammals are more rarely observed but red howler, brown and weeping capuchin and even white-faced saki monkey can sometimes be seen. A staggering diversity of reptiles, amphibians, and butterflies are observable from the walkways and trails. The trans-national road to the lodge is one of the best places for sightings of jaguars and ocelots in Guyana. Some of the notable tree species include the bullet wood tree, greenheart and waramadan (which is endemic to this forest).
Optional Activities
Excursions along the canopy walkways, walking the trails through the forest and off-site excursions to see the lek of the Guianan cock-of-the-rock. By special request, nocturnal drives or walks along the main road can be arranged.
Karanambu Lodge
Overview
Karanambu Ranch was the family home of Diane McTurk who founded the Karanambu Trust and was the world expert on giant otters and their rehabilitation. Under Diane’s guidance Karanambu became a leading center for the recovery and rehabilitation of injured or orphaned giant river otters and attained worldwide recognition for its conservation work.
Over the years Karanambu has been visited by Sir David Attenborough, the late Gerald Durrell (Three Singles to Adventure), National Geographic and the BBC’s Really Wild Show. As well as tame resident individuals, wild otters are frequently seen here. The rainforested banks of the Rupununi River are also home to large numbers of birds, squirrel and capuchin monkeys and plenty of other forest wildlife. Diane is sadly no longer with us and the lodge is currently managed by Andrea and Salvador of American and Guyanan descent who make wonderful hosts.
Karanambu Ranch was previously a huge cattle farm and now covers 100 square miles of protected wetlands, rainforest and savannah.
Away from the river there are vast tracts of savannah, home to endangered giant anteaters which are commonly seen by guests in the early morning.
The lodge has twin-bed clay, brick and thatched roof cabins, 5 of which accommodate up to 2 people and one for families of up to 4, with private bathrooms (cold water only) and flushing toilets, comfortable beds, verandas and hammocks.
Drinking water, a laundry service, solar powered electricity (available 6am and 10pm) and a complimentary supply of rum punches are also provided. The main building houses the dining room, communal lounge area and a small library. The service and locally produced food is of high standard and hand-made snacks, water, juice and rum punches are always readily available both at the lodge and on excursions.
Swimming Pool
Air Conditioning
Rooms
Facilities
Private cabins and bathrooms with cold showers only. Dining room, laundry service, drinking water, generator-supplied electricity, complimentary rum punches, hammocks and turn down service.
Local Wildlife
Both wild and orphaned giant otters can be regularly seen. Giant anteaters are frequently encountered on the savannah close the lodge. In the gallery forests surrounding the river and oxbow lakes red howler, common squirrel and brown capuchin monkeys and a wide diversity of birds are often spotted. Nocturnal boat trips reveal a high density of black caiman and snakes including the spectacular Amazon tree boa.
Fruiting mango trees around the lodge attract the elusive tayra in the early mornings and paca after dark. With luck a tapir, herd of collared peccary, armadillo or one of the six species of cat present in the area can be encountered.
Optional Activities
Excursions along the river by motorised boat during the day and night. Treks across the savannah and through the gallery forest. Fishing. Camping.
Route Map
Departure Dates
Tour Dates
Adult Price
Single Supp
Travel Information
Are International Flights Included?
No. Please contact us for a quote if required.
Flight Info:
British Airways fly from London Gatwick to Barbados or Antigua where a connection (unprotected) with Liat Airlines can be made to Georgetown, Guyana.
Best Visited:
January to January
Are you ATOL Registered?
Yes. This means we are legally able to book your international flights in conjunction with your ground arrangements so you can book with us with complete confidence. Read more about our ATOL license here.
John Melton
Area Specialist
Flight options include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick to Port of Spain, Barbados or Antigua. Please note that the onward flight from these locations to Georgetown with Caribbean Airlines or Liat Airlines would not be a protected connection. This would also require you to collect your luggage and re-check in before the onward flight to Georgetown. If you would prefer to avoid this tight connection then we recommend flying out a day earlier and overnighting in the Caribbean. This can also be arranged for the return.
If you have any questions regarding this Tour, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
What makes Guyana additionally special is that it is the only English-speaking country in South America, and consequently you really warm to the people you meet, whether chatting with local cowboys, entertaining local school children or putting the world to rights with village elders.
