Guyana’s  Birding Highlights
14 Days/13 nights

This tour visits a number of eco-systems, which maximizes the birding opportunities.  It visits the coastal plain, the sandbelt forest, the seemingly limitless forests of the interior and the Rupununi Savannah along the Brazilian border. 

This tour is escorted by Naturalist & Birder - Jennifer Green

Since 1975 Jennifer Green has been looking for birds and mammals at sea and on land.  Working on birding projects, participating in and leading tours has taken her from Spitzbergen to Antarctica and from the Andes to the Amazon. Jennifer has led tours for Shearwater Journeys, Elkhorn Slough Safaris, Viking Cruises, Adventures by the Sea, Monterey Bay Bird Festival and the American Birding Association.

Her tropical birding started in 1988 with travel to Mexico, Hawaii, Ecuador and Guyana. Other stints have included volunteer work for Coyote Creek Riparian Station’s banding lab, shorebird census work with Point Reyes Bird Observatory, local breeding bird atlas work in Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito & San Mateo counties in California and banding barnacle geese with Britain’s Wildfowl Trust in  the Arctic. Recent trips to Guyana have contributed to the bird diversity literature for the country available through the Smithsonian Institution & the University of Guyana.

Jennifer has been a regular visitor to Guyana since 1997, traveling in the coastal plain, northern & southern Rupununi Savannah, into the Kanuku Mountains, and the Acaris.  Travelling on the great rivers of Guyana (Rewa, Rupununi, Kwitaro, Kuyuwini, Essequibo and Sipu) has led to many birding and mammal highlights including Harpy Eagles and Jaguars.

FEBRUARY 16-March 1, 2007, ITINERARY

Fri 16              Arrival in Guyana. Transfer to Georgetown. Overnight Cara Lodge.

Sat 17            Georgetown and Iwokrama Canopy Walkway.  This morning we will have an early start at the extensive and beautiful Botanic Garden.  If we are lucky, the trip’s ornithological first highlight will be the Blood-colored Woodpecker, an astonishingly colorful Veniliornis found only in the Guianas and even there almost wholly limited to the narrow coastal plain.  We will return to the hotel for breakfast before heading out to Ogle Airstrip for a flight to Annai.  After lunch at Rock View Lodge we will depart by 4x4 to the Iwokrama rainforest and the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, a series of suspension bridges and decks up to 30 meters above the Iwokrama rain forest floor and 154 meters in length. The Iwokrama Canopy Walkway gives visitors a view of the mid and upper canopy of the forest and allows wildlife to be relatively free from human intrusion. The forest around the walkway contains some important flora and fauna.  Among these are endangered and protected species such as the bullet wood tree, greenheart and the waramadan (endemic in Guyana only to the Iwokrama Rainforest). We will stay up on the walkway to experience the canopy at night.  Overnight at Atta Rainforest Camp Lodge.  (B, L, D)

Sun 18           Mori Scrub/Iwokrama Field Station.  This morning welcome the dawn chorus from the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway.  Then we will travel by 4x4 along a route through the rainforest. The Iwokrama rainforest is rapidly gaining an international reputation for its healthy jaguar populations that seem not to be troubled by the appearance of curious humans. We will travel to a locality known as Mori Scrub, characterized by an unusual low, sandy forest. This supports an interesting assemblage of bird species, among them Rufous-crowned Elaenia, Black Manakin and Red-shouldered Tanager.  We continue on and eventually we reach the Essequibo River and the Iwokrama Field Station.  in late afternoon we’ll take a walk on Screaming Piha Trail near the Field Station.  Overnight at Iwokrama Field Station - Kurupukari.  (B, L, D) 

Mon 19          Turtle Mountain.  This morning we set out by boat to the foot of Turtle Mountain.  Here we’ll explore the trail for a few hours, visiting Turtle Ponds and climbing to an elevation of about 900 feet for a spectacular view of the forest canopy below.  On the return trip we’ll visit Fair View, a nearby Amerindian village.  Finally, after dark, we’ll set out on the river once more, in hopes of finding one or another of its four species of caiman, and listening for the voices of nocturnal birds.  Overnight at Iwokrama Field Station - Kurupukari.  (B, L, D)

Tue 20           Surama.  Making another early start, we’ll embark on the Essequibo River and circumnavigate nearby Indian House Island, before returning to the Field Station for breakfast.  Then we transfer by 4x4 vehicle and drive to the Amerindian community of Surama. The village is set in five square miles of savannah and surrounded by the densely forested Pakaraima Mountains. Surama’s inhabitants are mainly from the Macushi tribe and still observe many of the traditional practices of their forebears.  Our accommodations will be in “benabs” (thatched sleeping shelters) and our meals will feature excellent local produce.  Overnight Surama Eco-lodge (B, L, D) 

Wed 21          Surama Mountain.  Rise before dawn for a walk across the savannah and then the gentle climb up Surama Mountain in the cool morning air.  This is the best time to observe bird life along the trail.  Breakfast will be served at a point overlooking the village, whilst looking for Pearl Kite, White-tailed and Savannah Hawk. We’ll return to the village for lunch.  Afternoon birding in the savannah and forest.  Overnight Surama Eco-lodge (B, L, D) 

Thu 22           Burro Burro River/Rupununi Savannah.  In the cool of pre-dawn take a 3-mile walk across the savannah and the rainforest to the Burro Burro River.  Soon after daybreak set out on the Burro Burro River for a quiet and skillfully guided paddle, hearing the voices of many birds singing in near darkness in the forest, and seeing many of them later when the light grows stronger.  We’ll also search the banks for such mammals as Giant River Otter, Tapir, Tayra and Black Spider Monkey and many more species.  In the afternoon we’ll travel by 4x4 back toward the Rupununi and Annai, its northernmost community. The Rupununi Savannah is to Guyana what the Gran Sabana is to Venezuela, an extensive area of grassland with termite mounds and scattered or riparian woodland. The birdlife here is markedly different from that of the rainforest.  We’ll explore the area on foot, and as the afternoon cools we’ll travel a short distance for birdwatching in the Pakaraima foothills.  Overnight at Rock View Lodge.  ( B, L, D) 

Fri 23              Karanambu Ranch. With its tropical gardens and flowering trees, our lodge resembles an oasis in the savannah, and attracts many species of birds, particularly nectar feeders and frugivores. Nearby patches of light forest are home to certain    antbirds and flycatchers, and of course the grasslands support an avifauna of their own. After lunch transfer by 4x4 to Ginep Landing and then by boat to Karanambu Ranch.  This is the home of Diane McTurk, widely known for her work rehabilitating orphaned Giant River Otters.  Our birdwatching here will be largely in woodland patches or gallery forest along the river where we’ll hope to find such species as Spotted Puffbird, Striped Woodcreeper, Saffron-crested and Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin.  When water levels are appropriate a wooded swamp near the ranch is the site of a surprisingly large colony of Boat-billed Herons, and at any season the river and airstrip provide habitat for no fewer than eight species of nightjars.  Overnight at Karanambu Ranch.  (B, L, D)

Sat 24 & Sun 25      Karanambu Ranch.  Birdwatching from daybreak to nightfall or later, we’ll devote this entire day to exploring Karanambu and its varied habitats, traveling by boat to certain localities up and downstream, and by Land Rover to one or another forest patch for Blue backed Manakin & Capuchinbird.  Double-striped Thick-knees and Blue Ground-Dove are among the sparse inhabitants of the grasslands, and at widely scattered ponds we may find concentrations of storks, ibis and other waterbirds.  Overnight at Karanambu Ranch.  (B, L, D)

Mon 26          Kaieteur Falls/Shanklands Rainforest Resort.  After some early morning birdwatching near the ranch buildings we’ll fly by chartered aircraft over hundreds of miles of unbroken tropical rainforest to land at Kaieteur, the world’s highest free-falling waterfall. At 228 meters, Kaieteur is nearly five times the height of Niagara Falls. Here we hope to find White-chinned and White-tipped Swifts swirling over the gorge, and the astonishingly colorful Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock.  Reboarding our plane, we travel to Baganara Island and then transfer by boat onto the mighty Essequibo River to Shanklands Rainforest Resort, a series of cottages built on a hill on the river’s right bank and overlooking its enormous breadth. We’ll settle in and start exploring the grounds in late afternoon.  Overnight at Shanklands Rainforest Resort.  (B, L, D)

Tue 27           Shanklands Rainforest Resort.  Walking a fairly extensive network of roads and trails we’ll devote this day to birdwatching in mature tropical forest.  We may find such species as Red-fan Parrot, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Racket-tailed Coquette and any of more than 20 species of antbirds.  Here the sheer diversity of Guianan forest birdlife is very impressive.  Overnight at Shanklands Rainforest Resort.  (B, L, D)

Wed 28          Georgetown. After watching the day come up over the vast expanse of the river, we’ll spend the morning birding before boarding a powerful motorboat and travel down to Parika at its mouth, here 21 miles in width.  We’ll then travel by road following the sea wall eastward, seeing the system of canals and polders that allow sugar and rice cultivation on land below sea level, and reaching Georgetown by crossing the Demerara on the world’s longest pontoon bridge.  In the afternoon we’ll take a tour of the city to see its beautiful wooden architecture and to shop in its exciting markets and craft shops.  Overnight at Cara Lodge.  (B, L)

MARCH 2007
Thu 1             Depart Guyana. Transfer by vehicle to Guyana’s international airport for your departing flight.

2007 Price :  US$ 3,600.00 per person.  Minimum of 6 persons and maximum of 12 persons.
Single Supplement : US$ 345.00

Rate Includes :        -           airport transfers

1. double or twin accommodation
2. meals as listed
3. limited local bar at Rock View Lodge and Karanambu Ranch
4. all road and river transport
5. internal flights
6. local guides
7. Kaieteur National Park fee
8. Iwokrama Forest User Fee
9. Iwokrama Canopy Walkway User Fee
10. VAT
11. professional services of Jennifer Green

Not Included :  - items of a personal nature

• alcoholic drinks except where mentioned above
• international flights
• visa’s
• departure tax