Highlight Photos
-
Umana Yana and Liberation Monument -
A lucky, for us, Anteater!!! -
Kaieteur Falls from the air -
Harpy Eagle chick -
Boats along the Mahaica River -
Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock -
Giant Sloth diorama -
We always return to the main road -
Guianan Red Howler Monkey -
St George Cathedral -
This is the way to fly -
Burnham Mausoleum -
Mahaica River cruise -
Hoatzin exploring the trees -
Scarlet ibises in flight -
Bridge in Botanical Garden -
Blood-colored woodpecker -
Guianan Jungle -
Kaieteur Falls from land -
Famous “I Love Guyana” sign -
Can we really pass here? -
On the Essequibo River -
Red-necked Woodpecker -
Into the jungle -
We always like to see skimmers -
Petroglyphs in Essequibo River -
Campsite in the jungle -
Boats at Iwokrama -
The major road through the jungle -
Black Curassow -
Canopy Walkway at Atta Lodge -
Gray-winged Trumpeter -
Beautiful trail -
Macaws are quite common -
Quite a lot of rain in Guyana -
White-winged Potoo -
Side road to Surama -
Surama Lodge casitas -
Entering the jungle at Surama -
Rare Capuchinbird -
Adventurous boat ride -
Orinoco Mata Mata -
Great Potoo -
Fun jungle trail -
Rio Branco Antbird -
Huge trees in the forest -
Trogons are beautiful -
Cara Lodge Entrance -
Typical Guianan food choice -
Airport in the middle of Guyana -
Beautiful sunset -
Beautiful Nightjar -
Dawn on the Rupununi River -
Rare Sunbittern -
Landed to look for birds -
Amazon Giant Waterlilies -
Typical bridge on side roads -
Guianan way to fish -
Looking for Sun Parakeets -
Sun parakeet watching us -
Simple lunch in the backcountry -
Pale-legged Hornero -
Our plane arriving in Georgetown -
Mix of special birds -
Sunset at Manari Ranch -
Looking for the Red Siskin -
Red-shouldered Macaws -
Found the rare Red Siskin -
Spotted Puffbirds -
Can we really pass? -
Lunch in the Community Building -
Double-striped Thick-Knee -
Lethem downtown area -
Point-tailed Palmcreeper -
Lunch at Manari Ranch -
Sharp-tailed Ibises -
Wild crossings in search of rare birds -
Maguari Stork -
Pinnated Bittern -
Jungle trail -
Last celebratory lunch at Manari
Highlights Map
Travelers' Map is loading...
If you see this after your page is loaded completely, leafletJS files are missing.
Our first serious guided tour is in Guyana, a country that cannot be visited really on a self guided basis, our preferred way, without a significant time or money investment. Renting cars is difficult, roads are few and far in between and the lodges are difficult to reserve and to get to. We decide to go with Rockjumper, a renowned birding tour company whose webinars we watched avidly during Covid. One major reason is that it seems to hit most of the points we want to see including Kaieteur Falls, the largest single drop waterfall in the world.
The tour went as best as can be expected for two people not used to organized tours.The group was mostly friendly and the guides were knowledgeable and helpful in most cases. We saw more than 300 species of birds and quite a few mammals including a Giant Anteater, something we really were looking forward to. We also stopped to enjoy the magnificent Kaieteur waterfalls and took a separate tour through Georgetown to better understand the culture and history of Guyana. Overall a beautiful but very exhausting trip.
To learn more click on the Links below or Markers on the map above to go directly to a specific part of our trip and follow our visit to remote and wild Guyana.
- First steps in Guyana at Cara Lodge
We start our expedition into Guyana with a full day at Cara Lodge recuperating after an eventful arrival and enjoying birds and nice weather - Exploring the Seawall of Georgetown
Today we spend most of the morning exploring Georgetown starting with the ocean shore and the attractions along the famous seawall - Small but interesting Museum of Anthropology
Next on our tour is the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology a small but very instructive museum about the cultures and crafts of Guyana - Guyana National Museum and the Cathedral
After the Museum of Anthropology the next stop is the downtown area with the National Museum and St George Cathedral followed by lunch - Historical downtown and Botanical Garden
After lunch we drive to the Botanical Garden and Burnham Mausoleum through the historical center of Georgetown stopping at the 1763 Monument on the way - Surprise National Park visit
We end our tour with a surprise visit to the National Park to see captive manatees returning at Cara Lodge to have our first dinner with the birding tour participants - Hoatzins on the Mahaica River
After an early start the first stop of our birding tour is a Mahaica River boat cruise seeing fascinating Hoatzins and lots of other birds - Birding along the seawall
We spend the time before lunch exploring the seawall and the shore and looking for birds like Scarlet Ibis and Rufous Crab Hawk - Birding the Botanical Garden
We end a full day of birding at the Botanical Gardens this time with a focus on birds like Toco Toucan and Festive Amazon and less on historical sites - Adventurous flying and wild Kaieteur Waterfall
We start our jungle adventure with a flight to Iwokrama with a stop of two hours in Kaieteur to visit the largest one drop waterfall in the world - Birding on the Essequibo River from Iwokrama
After getting settled in and having lunch at Iwokrama lodge we spend the afternoon on the river looking for birds and finding some petroglyphs - Turtle Mountain Trail into the jungle
In the morning we take a short boat ride to the Turtle Mountain trail where we will bird looking for the elusive Red and Black Grosbeak - Birding near Iwokrama Lodge
In the evening and the morning we walk around the Iwokrama Lodge on the many trails finding exciting birds and dodging rain and sun - Birding on the road between Iwokrama and Atta
After leaving Iwokrama and also during the afternoon after a bout of rain we bird mostly the main road with some impressive birds like curassows and scaled pigeons - Canopy Walkway and trails around Atta Lodge
The whole day is dedicated to Atta Lodge and its surroundings especially the famous Canopy Walkway which allows us to see rarely observed canopy birds - Cock of the Rocks on the way to Surama
Today we move from Atta to Surama Lodge stopping on the way for birding and a short trail to an active Cock-of-the-Rock lek - Afternoon exploring around Surama Lodge
We spend the afternoon in Surama and vecinity looking for special birds and finding some interesting night birds like pauraques - On the Burro Burro Trail and around Surama
The morning is spent exploring the Burro Burro Trail with many interesting birds including capuchinbirds while the afternoon is spent near the main road due to rain - Harpy Eagle Quest
The whole day is dedicated to our quest to see a Harpy Eagle with adventurous boating through the jungle and a successful sighting of a chick - From jungle to savanna
The morning is spent exploring the access road to Surama followed by lunch at the inn at the intersection before following the road into the savanna to Rock View - Savanna birding near Rock View Lodge
After relaxing at the lodge we explore in the afternoon the savanna and riparian area around Rock View Lodge before a hearthy dinner - Boat ride on the Rupununi River
The morning starts with our last boat trip in Guyana down the Rupununi River exploring the pristine area and finding lots of birds - Rock Lodge and back into the jungle
After lunch we explore the grounds finding the local cache before the afternoon birding outing back into the jungle near Surama - Quest for the Sun Parakeets near Karasabai
Today we are looking for the rare Sun Parakeet in the area near Karasabai and find it as well as multiple other birds and even an anteater - Birding at Manari Ranch
We end the day at Manari Ranch walking the grounds and adding a few more range restricted birds to our list before a homemade dinner - On the trail of the Red Siskin
Today is spent in search of the Red Siskin and other border area specialties around Sand Creek with a group of local guides with a lot of successful sightings - Ending the trip on a high note
Our last adventure takes us to the border with Brazil via some waterlogged roads to see some rare and range restricted birds before our return to US - Returning to Georgetown and US
After the morning birding tour we have lunch and then return to Georgetown from Lethem airport and then to the US with a late night departure