Where to Stay in Guyana

Accomodations

Georgetown: Rima's Guest House is very well located in downtown Georgetown, walking distance to all worthwhile sites. The rooms were large and spacious, and very clean. Bugnets provided. The family running the place were very friendly. Meals can be purchased there as well for a reasonable price.

Iwokrama: Stay at the local Research Field Station. The huts are really spacious and rustic with a beautiful view of the Essequibo. Bugnets also provided. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly, very knowledgeable of the local ecosystem. Please book directly through the Iwokrama Centre (in Georgetown) as all the proceeds benefit the forest projects and local people.

Mabaruma: We highly recommend Broomes Guest House. It was well priced, rooms 1-8 have an awesome view of the jungle, and the meals were delicious. Ralph, the manager who works for Mr Broome, was incredibly helpful and jovial at all times.

Rainforest Roots

After a quick return from beautiful Kaieteur to our lodging in Georgetown we boarded a flight early the next morning for the remote NW region of Guyana known as Mabaruma. The area consists of a few small towns cut into the wild hills of the rainforest.

What drew us to this little traveled destination? Ben's grandfather and his family had worked these hills as owner's of a citrus plantation and Ben's mother was subsequently born at the local hospital. While the family did not linger long in the area after the birth of their young daughter, the stories told from this time period developed a curiosity that needed to be fulfilled.

Although the journey arose from a desire to seek the family roots, a stay in Mabaruma is highly recommended to all. The surrounding valleys are absolutely spectacular, filled with much bird life and the people of the area could not have been more friendly and welcoming. We were two of very few foreigners and quite obviously were new to the area. In fact we discovered near the end of our stay that a rumour had been spreading that two Jehovah's Witnesses were scouring the hills in search of new converts. I guess that's what straw hat style will do for you...

Our search for the story of the Samson family roots was wildly successful. We started with a distant family connection now aged 67 who pointed us to even older people who might have knowledge and memory from those days. As Ben's grandfather is now 100 years old, finding people from that era would be unlikely indeed! However, we did find two local Amerindians who had actually worked the plantation and were able to provide colourful accounts of days gone by. One individual was a spry and bright lady of 92 years whose marriage to her childhood sweetheart, the foreman of the plantation, was made possible by the Samson family. Her eyes sparkled with delight as she recounted her tale.

We set off to walk the former Samson plantation land. Many changes had taken place since the departure of the Samson family some 50 years ago. The old structures were no longer and the the jungle had rapidly overgrown all of the formerly productive land. The only trace of human activity was an old fence discovered on our walk through the overgrown bush trails.

We spent the remainder of our time walking the hills between the local towns, swimming at Hosororo Falls and a local bridge, sipping beers at the nearby port town and climbing coconut trees each afternoon to acquire our favourite refreshing patio drink.

Kaieteur

After arriving back in Georgetown from Irokwama on Friday night, we were already looking forward to our flight to Kaieteur, the highest single drop water falls in the world (741 feet). The flight in a 13 seater plane made the visit that more exiting.

The views were spectacular and it’s amazing how close you can get to the edge of this immense force of nature. The valley down below is spectacular and although the experience is costly, it was more than worth it. See for yourself.

Welcome to the Jungle!

Our first foray away from the big city was an overland 4x4 trip to the protected Iwokrama Amazon rainforest of central Guyana. This region is reason enough to visit Guyana and we really can't say enough good things about the experience.

After a 6 hour drive, half of which over pothole riddled dirt track road, we reached the bank of the mighty Essiquibo river. Local lore has it that if you take a drink from the Essiquibo, you will always return to Guyana. They also say that if you wash your face in the river, it will take 10 years off your appearance. They say a lot of things about this river, the central artery through Guyana.

Our accommodations consisted of a beautiful wood hut on the bank of the river, complete with hammock where we got to relax on hot afternoons and wake up to the sound of the Howler monkeys at sunrise.

Our first activity was a nighttime boat trip to spot Cayman (similar to Alligators). We were rewarded with a small Cayman and a snake. A funny story on this trip was that our guides were more interested in the domestic cat that they spotted on shore rather than the huge Cayman that splashed directly behind the boat!



Next day we took an early morning boat ride out to Turtle mountain camp for a view above the whole of the jungle as far as the eye could see. Our patience was rewarded when after an hour of intense concentration on the jungle below we spotted a group of Spider monkeys and several large Macaws! What a thrill. The monkeys in particular were quite playful. We spent the night in hammocks outdoors (with bugnets everyone!) and witnessed beautifully vivid stars.

Other things that we particularly enjoyed were: an afternoon swim off a sandy beach, early morning fishing expedition, Ukulele jam sessions and delicious cuisine at every meal.

The relationship between the Forest Centre, the habitat and the Amerindian communities was a very refreshing and inspiring model to witness. We encourage everyone to check it out.

Georgetown, Guyana

Arrived in Georgetown after a bit of intrigue and mystery had our flight re-directed away from Trinidad. We woke up to the captain's voice over the intercom around 4am saying that the runway in Trinidad was under construction and therefore we would be landing in Barbados to refuel and wait it out. Interesting construction schedules on the Islands! On the plus side, we did get to see the sun rise from the tarmac in Barbados.

Finally made it in to Georgetown and got installed in our cozy little suite. All of the amenities and none of the comforts you might say.

Our hostel is overtop of Jerry's restaurant and bar which I'm told goes all night Caribbean style partying. Hopefully we'll be gently rocked to sleep by the breeze and the beats.






Despite a serious lack of sleep last night, we've been very efficient in setting about our Guyanese adventures. Tomorrow morning we'll be picked up at 6am for the 6 hour journey into the deep rainforest to spend 4 days and 3 nights in the protected Iwokrama area. Sunday we fly out to Kaiteur falls and Monday we fly out to Mabaruma to set about the chase for the family Citrus plantation. We're hoping to arrange a series of boats and overland transport for the trip back from Mabaruma to Georgetown.

What can we say about Georgetown so far? Delicious food! We've had split pea cook-up rice with jerk pork and roti and also snapper curry with dahl. Favourites indeed. We've also been searching out the best pepperpot restaurant in the city and the best morning fruit stand. More to come once we try them.

Until we get back from Iwokrama on Friday afternoon, enjoy some pics from Georgetown.

Cheers,
B&P

Guyana!

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Wooohooooooo! We'll be there soon! See above for our intended destinations. A few days to explore Georgetown and figure out transportation and tours. We are very much looking forward to making our way to the sparsely populated northwestern region of Guyana near the town of Mabaruma to trace back Ben's roots. His grandfather ran the Samson family citrus plantation in these lush hills for several decades and his mother was born at the local hospital.

We're also planning on spending time in the Iwokrama rainforest, which is one of the most spectacular and productive in the world. Apparently Guyana has been making a name for itself of late as an incredible eco-tourism destination with careful management of forest resources by the local inhabitants.

Can't wait to relate our experiences once we arrive.

Family and Friends

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Hello from Ontario, wear warm weather and hearty food finds us in good spirits to take the first steps on our journey around the world. A lot of final preparations are taking place between delicious home cooked meals. It seems everyone is keen to fatten us up in anticipation of our South American diet for the next four months. Say it with me - "I love beans!".

Ben has the Ukulele tuned and is writing this entry after having come back from an epic jam session with Grandpa Samson. We also got a hand drawn map showing the approximate location of the Samson family citrus plantation in northwestern Guyana near the Venezuelan border. We're hoping that nothing has changed since 1951, when the author of the map was last in the area.

We look forward to creating an exciting journal through this blog to capture our experiences and to share them with you all.

Hope you enjoy almost as much as we do.

B&P.