Guyana? Yeah, We´d Love to Go There

My head is exploding with fascinating stories and data about so many places in South America. There is nothing I like better than to visit with people and in a short span, have them share with you what they love about the places they live.

My last appointment was with Tony Thorne, who runs Wilderness Explorers. Where do they go? Guyana and Surinam! Now there´s a GoNOMAD destination, for sure. Half of the people in Guyana are from India…yes India as in Ghandi and New Delhi, not the tribes of South America. There are only 750,000 residents and 80% of the country is rain forest. Tony said you can be floating down a river and see a jaguar who won´t run away. They simply aren´t used to seeing humans so they don´t fear them. It´s 83,000 square miles, and about 80% of it is nearly empty of people.

English is spoken all over Guyana, which is located at the top of South America, right beside Surinam (where they speak Dutch) and French Guiana, where they speak French. The biggest businesses in Guyana are exporting minerals like gold and diamonds, plus sugar and rice. Tourism is growing, especially from the UK, where a BBC program about exploring the land of the jaguars gave Guyana a big boost.

I asked Tony about the internet…do they have connections here in a remote place like this? He said that yes, now they use satellites and have crystal clear connections through Skype to the most remote lodges in the middle of the rainforest. What about malaria? He said people in the tourist sectors sleep under mosquito nets, and though it is a problem, it´s easy to treat and so he said he wouldn´t recommend taking the pills, which can make you woozy.

Looking over the map, and showing me the only two roads which are bisected by areas in which one must take a ferry or pontoon bridge, it made me want to come and write about this place. Stay tuned, you might be reading some blog posts next April sent by satellite from the remote heart of Guyana.