Description

Click here to see more photos from our 2007 trip to Guyana.

The country of Guyana is located on the northeast shoulder of South America. It is bordered by Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname and the Atlantic Ocean. The peoples of this English-speaking country are primarily a mix of East Indian (Indo-Guyanese), Afro-Guyanese and Amerindian.

The diversity of habitats within Guyana supports just over 800 species of birds from 72 different families. Georgetown, the capital, located on the coast has 200 species from 39 families alone.

In addition to its birdlife, Guyana is home to 225 species of mammals, 880 species of reptiles and amphibians and more than 6,500 species of plants.

Our tour will take us from Georgetown, where we will search out Blood-colored Woodpecker and Festive Parrot, to Iwokrama Field Station, a rainforest location, home to 500 species of birds and 200 species of mammals. Some of the birds of interest here are Capuchinbird, White-plumed Antbird, Waved Woodpecker and Harpy Eagle. Our stay at the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway will take us 100 feet above the forest floor into the upper reaches of the forest canopy. Birds we will look for here include, Caica parrots, Paradise Jacamar, Guianan Toucanet and Rufous-throated Antbird.

Enroute to our next location in the savannah we will visit a Lek of the Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock. Our stay at Rockview Lodge will provide us with the opportunity to bird the transition zone between rainforest and savannah. Here we will find many raptors, nighthawks and nightjars, flycatchers, parrots and hummingbirds. An added bonus will be the opportunity to meet the local Amerindians.

Traveling by river to Karanambu, home to Diane McTurk and her Giant Otter Conservation Project, will provide great looks at the many, kingfishers, herons, egrets, storks, terns, shorebirds and raptors that are at home on the Rupununi River. At Karanambu we will be treated to the interplay of seasonal wetlands and savannah, waterbirds and grassland birds. In addition there are good chances to see Giant River Otters and Giant Anteaters.

Kaieteur Falls, the worlds largest single-drop waterfall speaks for itself and the flight to and from the falls exposes views of the vast unbroken savannahs and rainforests that make this country so desirable for birding and wildlife viewing.

Our final stop on the tour will be a river trip in search of Guyanas national bird, the Hoatzin, also known to the locals as the Canje Pheasant. Belonging to its own order, Opisthocomidae, Hoatzin are social birds, sedentary and vegetarian with a fermentation system similar to cows. Our return to Georgetown will complete the tour with a final visit to the botanical gardens to look for those birds we missed on the first day and to take a look at the Caribbean Manatee residing in the ponds.

Kaieteur Falls

The Kaieteur Falls, which was first seen by a European on April 29, 1870, is situated in the heart of Guyana on the Potaro River, a tributary of the Essequibo. The water of Kaieteur, one of the world’s natural wonders, flows over a sandstone conglomerate tableland into a deep gorge - a drop of 822 feet or 5 times the height of Niagara Falls.

There are no other falls in the world with the magnitude of the sheer drop existing at Kaieteur. Amerindian legend of the Patamona tribe has it that Kai, one of the tribe’s chiefs (after who the falls is named), committed self-sacrifice by canoeing himself over the falls. It was believed this would encourage the Great Spirit Makonaima to save the tribe from being destroyed by the savage Caribishi.

Kaieteur supports a unique microenvironment with Tank Bromeliads, the largest in the world, in which the tiny Golden Frog spends its entire life and the rarely seen Guiana Cock- of-the-rock nesting close by. The lucky visitor may also see the famous flights of the Kaieteur Swifts or Makonaima Birds which nest under the vast shelf of rock carved by the centuries of water, hidden behind the eternal curtain of falling water.

Click here to see more photos from our 2007 trip to Guyana.