Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
experiences you find in Guyana are similar to
those in South America or the Caribbean. But
what is different about Guyana is that very few
tourists have been there; this is still relatively
uncharted territory.
333 diScover “tHe loSt
world”, guyana
You'd be forgiven if you don't know much about
Guyana. Despite its many cultural and natural
attractions (its flat-topped mountains are
thought to have been the inspiration for Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World ),
tourism here is still in its infancy. Lying north of
Brazil, east of Venezuela and west of Suriname,
it is home to one of the four pristine tropical
rainforests left in the world, the Guiana Shield.
There are nine distinct ethnic groups and the
country's culture is more Caribbean than Latin
American (it helped host the Cricket World Cup
in 2007). It is also Latin America's only English-
speaking country.
Georgetown-based travel company Wilderness
Explorers has long known of the country's
potential for adventure travel. For over fifteen
years, it has organized tours to some of Guyana's
hotspots, such as the Kaieteur Falls (five times
the height of Niagara Falls) and the Essequibo
River. It also runs trips to the cattle ranches at
Rupununi, such as Rock View Lodge, where you
can ride out with the vaqueros (local cowboys)
and visit both the central forest reserves at
Iwokrama (see p.267) and a community of
Macushi Amerindians. With support from
Wilderness Explorers, the Macushi have
established a hammock camp from where you
can canoe along the Burro Burro River to see
giant river otters, tapirs and spider monkeys.
At Shell Beach Conservation Camp in
northwest Guyana, you can see the work
of a scientist who has persuaded the local
Amerindians to turn from turtle hunters to
protectors of the 145km stretch of coast, which is
the breeding ground for four of the world's eight
sea turtles: leatherback, green, hawksbill and
olive ridley. So as not to disturb the turtles, you
stay in basic thatched huts away from the beach,
and either walk with guides to the nesting sites
or go by boat under the cover of darkness.
Turtles and tribes - many of the kinds of
Need to know Turtle nesting at Shell Beach
Conservation Camp occurs between April and
August. For prices, booking and itineraries for all
trips run by Wilderness Explorers see W www.
wilderness-explorers.com; T +592 227 7698.
334 viSit Bolivia'S maPaJo
community
On the border of La Paz and Beni, Mapajo Lodge
is owned and operated by the communities of
the Quiquibey River, who offer four- to six-day
guided tours through the Pilón Lajas Reserve, a
dense jungle of forests, streams and unexplored
mountains packed with wildlife. Itineraries
on offer include boat trips along the river to
indigenous villages, where guests can learn
traditional fishing methods, watch locals crafting
bows and arrows, baskets and textiles, or go on
canoe excursions by night.
To help you understand more about the
biological and cultural diversity of the reserve,
the lodge runs a visitor centre with a library
and a small exhibition of arts and crafts.
Accommodation is rustic: there are four twin-bed
thatched cabins with hot-water showers, shared
bathrooms (one cabin has a private bathroom)
and a hammock, while water is piped in from a
natural spring. It's not exactly eco-chic, but then
the focus here is not on staying indoors - it's on
discovering the unknown.
Need to know As the bus route is arduous and
unreliable, the easiest way to get from La Paz to
Rurrenabaque is by air (daily; 1hr), from where you
canoe along the River Quiquibey to the Mapajo
Lodge as part of the package (3hr). For prices,
booking and details on activities see W www.
mapajo.com; T +591 3892 2317.
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