Guyana travel guide
A frontier country with thundering waterfalls and diverse wildlife, Guyana beckons intrepid travellers with a taste for adventure
Guyana is truly a wild frontier – a land of few roads, pristine forest and ecotourism opportunities aplenty.
The coastal region is dominated by a mixture of coconut palms, calypso music, Hindu temples, rice and Demerara sugar. Leaving the sea behind, it is a land of waterfalls and rainforest, giving way to wildlife-rich savannas and isolated ranches.
The capital, Georgetown, is known as the Garden City of the Caribbean, despite being theoretically on the Atlantic. Its wide, tree-lined avenue and canals follow the layout of the old sugar estates. White-painted wooden 19th-century houses are raised on stilts, and flowering trees fill the streets. In the evening the sea wall is crowded with strollers and at Easter it is a mass of colourful kites.
The thinly populated interior is almost untouched and rivers are often the only way to get around. Highlights include Kaieteur Falls – almost five times the height of Niagara, with a single sheer drop of 228m – and Orinduik Falls, where the river pours over steps and terraces of jasper. Further south, the big draws for wildlife watchers are Iwokrama Forest Reserve, where you just might spot an elusive jaguar, and Karanambu, where giant river otters gambol.
To the north, Shell Beach is on a vast stretch of Atlantic coastline: 145km of protected nesting ground for leatherback, green, hawksbill and Olive Ridley turtles. The remaining coast consists of mangrove swamps full of ibis, parrot, toucans, iguanas and, occasionally, river dolphins.
Wanderlust recommends
- Dress up for Maharamani (‘the celebration of a job well done’) as locals mark the birth of the Republic on 23 February with colourful street parades and steel bands
- Discover the forest with the Makushi people
- Saddle up with southern cowboys
- Get up close and personal with the local wildlife in Iwokrama Forest Reserve or the Rupununi Savannah
- Trek or fly to the Kaieteur Falls in the bio-diverse Kaieteur Park, a paradise for nature fans
Wanderlust tips
A relaxed attitude will serve you well in Guyana; take variable service and power outages in your stride and you’ll be all the happier for it. The Muslim holy fast of Ramadan is widely observed: many restaurants will be closed during the day or won’t allow smoking or drinking.