Destination - Guyana

How many of you actually know where it is?

I bet most of you haven’t even heard of it or thought it was in Africa! Well, Guyana is a small country (about the size of the UK) in South America: bordering Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname, with the Atlantic Ocean as it’s coast.

Guyana is typically referred to alongside it’s neighbouring coastal countries French Guiana and Suriname as ‘The Guianas’, as they are more Caribbean in culture than South American, but it is certainly an amazing country to visit on it’s own. It has vast tracts of untouched rain-forest and 9 Amerindian tribes still living off the land there.

With it’s tourism era only just beginning it is very expensive to travel around, although you can live on around $30-$40/£15-£20 a day (not including and guides for touring). There are very few sandy beaches here so you can be guaranteed of the place to yourselves away from the hordes - so you must expect to pay the premium for that.

What’s There? - A lot of crime! Seriously, this place is best visited with a tour company and everything taken care of by others. Georgetown (the capital) is very dangerous - even to locals! It really isn’t a country that you can just turn up in and wander a round with your rucksack like you can in most other South American countries. Go with the professionals and you will have nothing to worry about.

Top Wildlife - includes some record breakers: the giant river otter (over 1.5 metres long), the magnificent harpy eagle (the biggest eagle in the Americas), the elusive jaguar (the largest cat in the New World), the morpho butterfly (the largest butterfly in the whole world, with a 20cm wingspan!) and giant amazonian lilies over 2.5 metres in diameter!

Worth Going? - If you have the money, and you want to go somewhere that no-one else you know has ever been, then Guyana is a must! Also your tourism will directly help reduce deforestation of the jungles - if people want to holiday there, the country will have to keep it nice to reap the rewards.

Wilderness Explorers (www.wilderness-explorers.com) are one of the best tour operators in the country and can tailor-make a trip for you. You will be staying in eco-friendly lodges all the way (where hot water and air conditioning are rare) and by working with the local tribes - who will be your guides - this company will benefit the environment. Hopefully the Amerindian guides will learn first-hand how their wildlife preserved in the rain-forests can make their country, and themselves, a lot more money than destroying it.

The BBC have recently produced a 5-part series on this beautiful country called Expedition Guyana which no doubt will tempt you further with their images.