It is a wet drive to Surama. En route we could have stopped to see the nesting site of some cock-of-the-rocks. However, it was raining very hard and no-one felt inclined to brave it.
Surama
Wildlife worldwide
The Amerindian community of Surama lies at the very heart of Guyana, where eight square kilometres of savannah are surrounded by the forest-covered Pakaraima Mountains, at the edge of the Rupununi savannah. This isolated and idyllic location provides a fascinating insight into Guyana’s rainforests. Surama’s inhabitants are mainly from the Makushi tribe, who still observe many of the traditional practices of their forebears, and whose homeland is the now-protected Iwokrama Rainforest.
We are shown to ur room, which is a rustic cabana. It is clean but very basic. It does have a large power bank for charging phones and cameras, which is probably the best thing about it. It suffers from the same issue that Atta had, which is that no attempt has been made to screen the room from insects or wildlife. There is a large gap between the walls and roof. Birds happily fly to and fro across the room and make their nests in the thatch above our heads. They also like to deposit lots of droppings on the bed and our belongings.
The bathroom is very basic too. It is actually clean but does not look it. The floor slopes and so does the toilet, so you feel like you will fall off the back of it. None of our accommodation (apart from Georgetown) has hot water. Despite the air being warm the shower feels very cold and I am not getting used to it at all. Someone with a sense of humour has placed a Mercedes badge on the shower head.
After lunch we walk 5km through the rainforest to the Burro Burro River. This is the end of the dry season and the water levels are very low, which involves us walking probably 1 km further than we would need to when the river is at its height. Steep wooden steps lead to boulders, which we need to clamber over to reach the boat. We enjoy an hour long boat trip. It is a lovely change of pace after all the walking and wonderfully peaceful with just the gentle splashing of paddles.
It’s a long walk back and dark by the time we arrive at the lodge. We are hot and sweaty. A cold beer never tasted so good. After dinner some of us go on a night walk and we see some pretty cool and unusual creatures. Firstly a common potoo doing its best to look like the end of a dead branch. A master of disguise.
Two kinkajoos scramble above us in the forest canopy. I have never seen one before. They are related to raccoons.
There is a spiny rat and a large frog hiding in the leaf litter.
In the morning, there is a guided walk around Surama Village. Our guide stops and tells us about the history of the village and the way of life there. Close by is the church and health centre.
The school has a beautiful mural painted on the front wall depicting the rainforest.
We walk across the airstrip, which has a very infrequent service. The last plane landed here 6 weeks ago. Next to the airstrip there are vegetable beds and polytunnels, where the villagers grow their produce. Guyana produces pretty much all its own food. Scrawny cattle graze around the village.
Adjacent to the vegetables is a communal meeting place with benches. It has been planted with shrubs and flowers and humming birds love it. We also appreciated the shade and the ability to cool down a bit and rest our legs.
We say goodbye to Surama and I cannot say that I am sorry to be leaving. I enjoyed the experience of the area, but the lodge really does leave a lot to be desired. It was created by the local community, in the hope that it will create employment for the people of the village, so that they can remain there rather than seeking work elsewhere in Guyana. Interpretive guides have been trained to accompany visitors and ours was very good. He was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the bird life. The lodge would seem to be very much a work in progress and appeared to be only half built. The food was absolutely fine but honestly a tent would be so much better than that cabana.
Our next stop is Rock View Lodge at Annai, which is 420km south of Georgetown in the North Rupununi savannah at the foothills of the Pakaraima Mountains.
The lodge is run by Colin (an Englishman who came here in the late 60s and never left) and his wife and family. The accommodation here is somewhat better with screened windows and a conventional, though rather dated, bathroom. Our room has a house guest.
Colin tells us that we have the room that King Charles stayed in when he visited there 26 years ago. I would say it has not changed at all, including the rather thin and flowery bed linen. Hanging on the wall in the bathroom is a faded photograph of Prince Charles (as he was then) taken on his visit there. Colin’s son shows us around the grounds. There are lots of cashew trees, which are the remnants of a failed commercial enterprise. A small swimming pool enticed some of the group in for a dip and a short climb to the top of a rocky outcrop revealed a super view across the savannah to the distant mountains. The family show us how cashew nuts are prepared. They contain a poisonous oil which needs to be burnt off at a high temperature. The nuts pop and huge flames suddenly engulf them. We stood well back! They are then cooled and the outer shell broken off. The nuts are ready to eat and taste good still warm from the fire.
Before dinner we have a beer at the Dakota Bar, so named from the once weekly flight that brought in supplies. A local tried to strike up a conversation with us but his English consists of two words, which are Britney and Spears, which he repeated frequently. We were very relieved when someone called us to supper. Colin hosted dinner and served aperitifs of rum and lime before our meal. We all sat around a large table. The food was good and plentiful.
In the morning we set off on the Panorama Trail Walk, which Colin and his business partner constructed with bare hands many moons ago. It is only a 300 ft ascent but it still left us hot and a bit breathless. The views were definitely worth it though.
We breakfast, have a demonstration of cotton spinning …
… and then depart for the Rupununi Savannahs in our distinctive vehicle. Colin sits and watches our departure.
The trip is meant to be half by road and then by boat. However, the river levels are very low, so the entire journey is made by road. I do not think that we are going to see nearly as much wildlife as we had hoped to, in these dry and barren conditions. We do stop at a small lake to photograph giant water lilies.
We arrive at Karanambu Lodge in time for lunch which is served on a long table beneath the spreading mango and avocado trees. The lodge comprises five cabins built from clay bricks. David Attenborough stayed here in the 1950’s when he was on his Zoo Quest adventures. From his description, I would say the lodge has changed very little over the years. Our cabana is spacious and has a huge bathroom. However, there is still no hot water and no mesh to deter any wildlife that wants to share our living quarters. A huge wooden platform is hung above the bed to catch any bat droppings from the rafters and we have a solar powered fan. Honestly, I really think it would be better to invest in a few yards of insect screening and chicken wire beneath the roof. Other countries manage it…. Below is our cabana.
There is a warm welcome and we are very much made to feel part of the family. In the afternoon we walk down to the lake. The walk is probably at least 1 km further than it would be in the wet season. We are shown where we would have boarded the boat then. The difference in water levels is immense. It is hard to imagine the area that we have just walked through all being under water. We continue through the tinder dry forest. There is a tiny snake on the path – little bigger than a sturdy bootlace. A tayra (type of weasel) scrambled through the canopy above us and a jaguarundi (small cat) scurried through the undergrowth. Both were too fast to photograph.
We are paddled across the lake. It is calm and beautiful. Jacanas and herons stalk across the lily pads looking for prey and a black hawk perches on a branch doing likewise.
The lily flowers open at dusk. We sit in the boat and drink delicious homemade rum punch and wait for the buds to slowly open. Not a bad way to spend an hour or too. Very glad I brought the bug spray though. There are a lot of small black flies.
The lodge has rescued an orphaned jaguarundi and we are lucky as it puts in an appearance during dinner. It plays with the lodge’s cat and is not much bigger. The main distinguishing thing is that it has an incredibly long tail.
Next morning we set out to look for giant anteaters at 05.30. This is a real adventure. Bench seats have been built across the back of two pickup trucks, where we perch and have a great view as we drive out over the savannah. The sun is just rising. The air is clean and fresh. Birds are just starting to wake up and go about their business.
Vaqueros have been sent out on horse-back to try to locate an anteater. It does not take them long. We leave the vehicles and set out on foot. We stand on a slight rise amongst the tussocks of grass and wait. In the distance we can see men on horseback and on foot. They appear to have adopted a pincer movement and are funnelling the anteater towards us. We have been told to be quiet and stand motionless. The anteater appears and it is heading straight towards us. It just seems to be ambling along slowly, but it is surprisingly fast. In no time at all, its image fills my viewfinder. The ground is thudding as it lollops towards us. All I can see is its snout in my lens. I feel as though it is going to crash into me. I raise my camera slightly to peep. It is enough to make it falter and turn away from us. Our guide was furious. “If someone hadn’t moved” he said “That would have come very close.” Well actually I don’t know how much closer you would want it to be. It was all of four foot away. Close enough I say with those 8” claws!
Anteaters have poor eye-sight and I actually believe that being so close it suddenly noticed us and changed course. We shall never know but just in case it was me, I apologised to him and the group. In my defence it was pretty flipping big in my viewfinder and I have a strong sense of self-preservation!
We spent the next few hours driving across the savannah to see what else we could find. The reality is that there is not a lot here. This land was grazed for years and although being returned to the wild, I think much of the indigenous fauna has long since gone. The land is regularly burnt back so insects and lizards are scarce too. David Attenborough talks about the landscape being covered in termite mounds. I am not sure that I have seen even one. There were some birds – burrowing owls and a few raptors but not a whole heap of anything else.
The water-hole below had a small amount of bird life but not nearly as much as I would have expected.
The only other mammals we saw were the vaqueros and their horses.
Paul chose to go fishing, rather than hunt for the giant anteater. The camp has an orphaned giant otter pup that is too young to hunt for itself. Staff go out regularly to catch fish for it. Paul asked to join them and see if he could catch some peacock bass. He had a hugely successful morning and caught quite a few. The lodge cooked them for our lunch. They made us breaded fish goujons with chips. They were delicious. In fact the food here is definitely the best we have had on the entire trip. That being said, I have found the meals at all the lodges to be wholesome and tasty with excellent food hygiene. No-one has had the slightest hint of a stomach upset.
In the afternoon we have a boat trip on the Rupununi River. On our walk there we see an owl peeking out of a tree hollow and a good number of roseate spoonbills.
We climb aboard our boat and motor slowly down the river. There are lots of birds and we have a very brief encounter with a giant river otter and a capybara. Both were skittish and sadly did not hang around long enough for even the slightest chance of a photo.
We had sundowners on the riverbank…
… and a BBQ under the stars back at camp. Paul lost his phone. We looked everywhere and could not locate it. In the end I made a call to it. A nearby plastic chair vibrated. The phone had managed to slip down inside the hollow leg. We would never have found it just by looking!
We set out early the next morning to see if we can find another anteater but no luck today. We do see more burrowing owls and a white-tailed hawk.
After breakfast we say goodbye to Karanambu and drive the short distance across the savannah to our final lodge – Caiman House. This is a black caiman research station with rooms. It is still morning but very hot at 34C and the rooms are definitely on the very basic side. A plus is that the bathroom is large and because it is so hot the water has some warmth to it when I take a shower.
We are told about the research program and at 16.30 walk through the village and down the sloping, gravelly and rather slippery track to the Rupununi River. I love being out on the water and enjoy the relaxing pace, whilst admiring the scenery and trying to spot birdlife.
We are shown a young black caiman. It has beautiful markings and is much more colourful than one would expect.
As the sun sets, insects swarm above the river and vast numbers of bats feast on them. Then it is time to observe the night capture of a black caiman. Obviously capturing a large caiman is a pretty dangerous enterprise. The team is professional and very well-co-ordinated. Everyone has a designated task and safety comes first. Once it is dark the capture team leave us and head up river in pursuit of a suitable specimen. The caiman is captured with a noose pulled through a long pole. A line is attached to the pole cable and fed through a guide on the prow of the boat and the pole removed. This ensures that the caiman is kept at a safe distance form everyone and remains in the river.
The boat then motors up and down the river for 15-20 minutes until the caiman is tired. This is quite an adrenaline packed thing to watch. During that time the caiman thrashes violently in the water and bangs noisily on the side of the boat with its immensely powerful tail.
Once tired a second noose is put on the caiman around its neck and it is held by the side of the boat whilst a third noose is placed over its jaws , which are pulled shut then securely taped up. The boat then comes ashore and the caiman is laid on the sand. It is really strange because the caiman now seems completely docile. It makes no movement or effort to escape despite not being tide up. Caiman are identified by snipping a small piece from one of the protruding scales on the caiman’s back. This one was captured eight years ago when much smaller. Calipers are used to measure size of the head.
It is gently turned over to determine its sex, which involves examining its cloaca (vent). This is a male as it has a penis structure within the cloaca.
It is securely bound so it can be lifted and weighed.
Then all the lines are removed and freedom awaits. Initially the caiman makes no movement – 10-20 seconds then zoom. In a flash it is gone.
That was a truly remarkable experience, but our evening is not quite over yet. We return to the launch site and wait for transport back to Caiman House. This turns out to be a large truck that requires a ladder to climb up into. Bench seats have been bolted in. We drive back up the rutted track at break neck speed. We are frequently thrown off our seats and, as we are so high up, we must hope that does not coincide with an overhanging branch. It was an exhilerating end to a most educational and thrilling evening.
Next morning we drive to Lethem on the Brazilian border and catch our flight back to Georgetown.
After our very basic accommodation in central Guyana the Cara Lodge Hotel in Georgetown feels like a 5 Star experience. Funny how one can re-calibrate one’s expectations so quickly. We luxuriate in our room with a hot shower and air-conditioning. Heaven!
We have a final group meal at The Backyard Cafe – an eco-restaurant serving organic food in a slightly dodgy backstreet in Georgetown. Our van stopped right outside to both drop us off and pick us up. We were not allowed to wait outside. The food was very good and course after course appeared. We could not do the volume of food justice but we did try.
We had a lazy morning with pickup to the airport scheduled at 12.00. In hindsight we should have asked for this to be much earlier and our issues were magnified by thev driver turning up at 12.35 after making a local airport drop-off. He apologised and said the traffic was awful. It was. The twenty mile journey to the airport took 3 hours. There were roadworks, numerous contraflows and long waits with nothing moving. When we arrived at the airport check-in was closed. There were 5 of us. We all had boarding passes so I said we should all just go straight to the gate and not check the bags in. The problem with this is that I was already carrying a heavy backpack with all my camera gear and I now had a soft bag probably weighing another 15kg to carry. Also we all had stuff in our bags like scissors and liquids that had to be dug out at security. This was all taking time that we did not have. Somehow we made it through the 30C airport and onto the plane. The cabin crew said we could not put our bags in the overhead lockers because they were the wrong size. We pleaded and were allowed to keep them. What a relief. However we then had a similar issue at Schiphol Airport where we only had 90 minutes to make our connection and had to carry all our bags again and clear security too. Somehow we made that connection too as the gate was closing. The gate staff were great and put our bags in the hold, which meant they were the first bags out in London. Every cloud….
It was all extremely stressful and definitely not to be recommended!
That having been said the trip overall was very worthwhile. We had an easy-going group who were considerate to each other and good company. It was most definitely an adventure and a very different and interesting experience from anything we have done before. It was a shame that there were not as many wildlife encounters as hoped for, but we learnt much about the indigenous people and their way of life. It was certainly challenging at times but all-in-all it was an highly educational and enjoyable holiday. Would I go back? No – I don’t think so but glad to have seen the country with my own eyes.
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