Guyana Wildlife and Birdwatching

Pickup and transfer from Cheddi Jagan International Airport to Georgetown and your selected hotel.

Enjoy a morning tour of Bourda Market in Georgetown with Chef Delven Adams, who will later prepare a meal from our market purchases, following our suggestions. We’ll start at the Guyana Store for locally packaged products, then explore the market’s fish, meat, and haberdashery sections. We’ll see dry goods, bush medicine stalls, and local fruits and vegetables.
After the market, we’ll tour Georgetown with an experienced guide, visiting the National Museum, Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, the Public Library, City Hall, Victoria Law Courts, St. Andrews Kirk, Stabroek Market, and St. George’s Cathedral. We’ll also visit the Botanical Gardens and feed the endangered West Indian Manatees.
In the afternoon, we’ll drive to Stabroek Market, board river taxis, and cruise along the Demerara River. We’ll see historic waterfront buildings, the Demerara Harbour Bridge, and roosting birds in the mangroves.

Pickup at 5h45 and transfer to Georgetown Botanical Gardens. Here we spot, if we are lucky, the Blood-colored Woodpecker, found only in the Guianas. The gardens also host Snail Kite, Gray Hawk, Pearl Kite, Red-bellied and Red-shouldered Macaws, and rare festive parrots. Walking the trails, you may see Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Black-crested Antshrike, Silver-beaked Tanager, Buff-breasted Wren, and more. You might also take a break to feed manatees in a nearby pond.
Return to your hotel, then transfer to Eugene F. Correia Airport. From there, take a flight over the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers to Kaieteur Falls, the world’s highest free-falling waterfall. Kaieteur, discovered by Europeans in 1870, is steeped in Amerindian legend and features unique flora and fauna, including Tank Bromeliads, Golden frogs, and the elusive Guiana Cock-of-the-rock.

Pickup and transfer to Eugene F. Correia International Airport for a flight over tropical rainforest to Fair View Airstrip. Transfer to Iwokrama River Lodge.

Explore the trails with an Iwokrama Ranger to spot diverse bird species like Capuchinbird, Green Aracari, Guianan Toucanet, and Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo. The forest is home to mammals such as Red-rumped Agouti and monkeys including Red Howler and Black Spider.
After dark, embark on a river excursion to spot caimans and listen for night birds like Spectacled Owl and Potoos. Use flashlights to search for snakes, tree frogs, and possibly mammals.
Iwokrama Rainforest, a protected one-million-acre wilderness, serves as a living laboratory for sustainable forest management. It’s the homeland of the Makushi people. The Iwokrama River Lodge overlooks the Essequibo River with eight timber cabins, solar-powered electricity, free Wi-Fi, and buffet-style meals.

Start early with a boat trip around Indian House Island, then return to the River Lodge for breakfast. Depart by boat for a hike to Turtle Mountain, following a well-maintained trail through the forest. The 1¾-hour climb to the 935ft summit offers breathtaking views over the forest canopy and chances to spot Green Aracari, White Bellbird, or one of five eagle species. The trail is also ideal for seeing Black Spider and Red Howler monkeys. If the hike is too strenuous, opt for a boat trip to Stanley Lake to search for Giant River Otters and Black Caiman.

In the afternoon, visit Kurupukari Falls by boat to see Amerindian petroglyphs (water level permitting). Later, drive through the forest, an area known for Jaguar sightings. While not guaranteed, there’s a reasonable chance of spotting this elusive cat, along with other wildlife along the corridor.

Explore the trails around the lodge with an Iwokrama Ranger.
Transfer by 4×4 along a trail known for Jaguar sightings. While not guaranteed, many have been lucky! Watch for bird species and wildlife such as Agouti, Tayra, Tapir, and Black Curassow along this rarely trafficked road, which links Guyana to Brazil. The journey ends at Atta Rainforest Lodge, near the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway.
The walkway features four suspension bridges leading to three platforms, the highest over 30 meters above the ground. The clearing around the lodge is ideal for spotting the Crimson Fruitcrow, a must-see bird, and the habituated family of Black Curassow that regularly passes through.
Atta Rainforest Lodge, 500 meters from the Canopy Walkway, offers private rooms with ensuite bathrooms, home-cooked meals, and Amerindian hospitality. The communal building has a bar, dining area, and views of the surrounding forest. Gardens with heliconias attract over ten species of hummingbirds, perfect for photos.

We return to the canopy to birdwatch, where we may see Rufous-throated Sapphire, Green Aracari, Pygmy Antwren, and Guianan Streaked-Antwren. With luck, Guianan Toucanet, Pompadour Cotinga, Buff-cheeked Greenlet, and a few other crown specialists will come into our view. From this treetop point, you can occasionally view Red Howler and Black Spider Monkey.
Aside from the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, the area’s paths offer wildlife and birdwatching chances. Many bird species, gorgeous insects, boisterous amphibians, and fun primates call the surrounding forest home. Deer, tapir, and agoutis are other frequent visitors to the resort. Serious birders should look for the Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo, which is infrequently seen.
As darkness descends over the canopy walkway, you might notice the White-winged Potoo. Night walks are also feasible, and something intriguing or new always appears on the scene, like as one of the six different cats seen along the transnational road near the lodge.

Welcome the dawn chorus from the canopy walkway, then return to the lodge for breakfast before departing. Transfer from Atta Rainforest Lodge through the rainforest to Corkwood in the Iwokrama Forest. Here, a short trail leads to the brilliant Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, with guides explaining the medicinal uses of the plants. Continue to Kwatamang Landing for lunch at Rock View Lodge.
Journey by boat along the Rupununi River, spotting Giant River Otters and Black Caiman, before reaching Rewa Village, surrounded by rainforest, mountains, and oxbow lakes. The community, primarily Macushi, practices subsistence farming, fishing, and hunting. Later, take a short boat ride to an oxbow lake, where you’ll admire the Victoria amazonica, the world’s largest waterlily, in a magical dusk setting, with birds coming to roost and golden colors reflecting across the pond.

Enjoy breakfast at dawn overlooking the river, then set out on a boat journey along the Rupununi River to an oxbow lake, where your hike up Awarmie Mountain begins. The climb, though steep in sections, is generally manageable, offering chances to spot various birds and Black Spider Monkeys.
The trail provides excellent birdwatching, with species like White Bellbirds, Ornate Hawk-eagles, and several macaws, including Scarlet, Blue-and-yellow, and Red-and-Green Macaws. At the summit, enjoy breathtaking views of the Rupununi River, Savannah patches, and distant mountains, including the ancient Makarapan Mountain.
After lunch at the lodge, take a boat up the Rewa River and hike to Grass Pond, a 3km-long lake surrounded by Victoria amazonica. The area hosts a dense population of Arapaima and offers fishing for Peacock Bass. As dusk falls, witness the Victoria amazonica bloom, adding a magical end to your day.

This morning travel by boat to a nearby trail for a hike through rainforest and into savannah. See local traditional farms and if you are lucky a family may be there practicing their indigenous farming methods.
In the afternoon travel up the Rewa River to a location known as Seawall. This rock formation is a great place to fish or take in the beauty of the location. Visit sand banks where river turtles come to lay their eggs. Along the riverbanks you may see red howlers, squirrel and brown capuchin monkeys.
We continue upriver and then hike through the rainforest to area where we can observe the Goliath bird-eating spider, the largest spider in the world by mass and size.

After breakfast board a boat for your journey along the Rupununi River to Kwatamang Landing.
Visit the village of Aranaputa and explore their community-operated Peanut Butter Factory. This cottage industry, run by a cooperative of local women, produces organic peanut butter, providing a market for local farmers. It also supplies peanut butter and cassava bread to nearby schools.
Continue to the Pakaraima Mountain Inn in the Aranaputa Valley, just outside Yakarinta, where you’ll enjoy a home-cooked lunch on the veranda, accompanied by fascinating stories from your host, Charlie De Freitas.
From Ginep Landing, take a boat trip on the Rupununi River to Karanambu Lodge, home to diverse wildlife and the late Diane McTurk’s conservation efforts for giant otters. The region’s rich history and stunning biodiversity make it an ideal location for guided excursions, offering chances to spot Giant River Otters, Black Caiman, and the Victoria amazonica.

We leave early this morning for an area of rolling grasslands where huge anteaters live. With any luck, we’ll find one of these six-foot-long beasts digging for food in one of the savannah’s termite mounds. Though giant anteaters have overlapping home ranges, they are primarily solitary except during mother-offspring connections, violent confrontations between males, and mating. Mother anteaters carry their offspring on their backs until they are weaned.
Evening river tour, or if you enjoy bird watching, you can explore woodland sections or gallery forest along the river, where we hope to see a variety of species. The Agami Heron is a prominent bird in the area. An evening walk along the airfield.

If you missed a giant anteater, there’s time for another savannah search or explore the Rupununi River for wild Giant River Otters, Black Caiman, and Arapaima. After breakfast, bid farewell and transfer by motorized boat to the nearby Amerindian village of Yupukari and Caiman House.
Caiman House Field Station, at the edge of Yupukari Village, is a guest lodge and education center focused on research and conservation. Visitors can explore local crafts and learn about the turtle conservation program, which rescues and reburies eggs before releasing the young turtles into the river.
The lodge offers comfortable guest rooms with en-suite bathrooms, powered by a solar array and served by wireless internet. Guests can participate in the ongoing Black Caiman field study, joining the crew to observe and assist in capturing, measuring, and tagging these endangered creatures before releasing them back into the river.

Guests will be guided on a paddle or electric motorboat trip on Awariku Lake for bird and wildlife spotting, with regular sightings of egrets and ibises, and possible encounters with Giant River Otters and Black Caiman. You’ll paddle through a creek in lowland forest and emerge onto the Rupununi River, drifting down to the main landing before returning to Caiman House. In low water, you’ll paddle back to the starting point.

Afterward, transfer by vehicle from Caiman House to Lethem, followed by a scheduled flight to Eugene F. Correia International Airport. Upon arrival, you’ll be picked up and transferred to Georgetown.

Pickup and transfer to Cheddi Jagan International Airport for your departing flight.