You’ll fall in love with Guyana: roaring waterfalls, amazing wildlife, pristine forests – this wild and beautiful South American country offers the adventure of a lifetime

There are two good reasons to go on vacation: to seek adventure and to find complete peace and quiet.

These two things seem mutually exclusive, but they are not. Far from it. Most decent trips will give you a good mix of both – and that goes double if you’re looking for wildlife.

When I traveled to Guyana, I found peace and adventure just twelve hours away. When things got better, I got first the rest and then the adventure. Traditional stories usually tell the opposite, so I’ll stick with it and tell you the adventure first.

But before I do that, I better say something about Guyana: And the first thing we have to learn is that it is unique. The former British Guiana is the only English-speaking cricketing nation on the South American continent (the nation swapped the “I” for a “Y” when Guyana gained independence in 1966). You can find it on the top right there. The great West Indies captain Clive Lloyd was born in Guyana.

Perhaps the most important fact is that it is one of the least populated countries on earth: only about 800,000 people live in the entire country, and most of them live in the capital, Georgetown, and along the coast. It follows that you don’t have to travel far to find wild places.

Simon says in Guyana (photo) “you don’t have to travel far to find wild places”. There he saw “continuous expanses of rainforest that looked like the largest collection of broccoli in the world”.

Simon reveals that Guyana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world

As you drive south from Georgetown, you’ll see a lot of green below: uninterrupted expanses of rainforest that look like the largest collection of broccoli in the world. Soon we were seated at the table at Karanambu Lodge, once a family cattle ranch and now an exciting ecotourism destination. Those sitting at the same table before me include Sir David Attenborough, who came here in 1955 while filming one of his first series, Zoo Quest to Guyana, and the naturalist Gerald Durrell, author of My Family And Other Animals ,” who wrote his book. book. Animal collecting journey here in Three Singles To Adventure.

Adventure was the city in Guyana that captured his imagination. Durrell recounts a Marx Brothers-style adventure in Karanambu in which he somehow captures a giant anteater. Early the next morning we went looking for another one, albeit with cameras and binoculars instead of lassos.

The problem with a target species is that you have to find it if you want to have a satisfying experience. It’s all well and good to enjoy the laconic song of the eastern lawn and the imposing presence of the Jabiru stork, but I’ve always longed to see a giant anteater and it looked like we were going to miss this one .

We drove through the savannah in a 4×4 and the sight of the laughing hawk did not convince everyone of the value of the trip. We turned around: an endless plain with a lone stuffed figure. It was Francis, the vaquero, or cowboy, and he and his horse were staring at a forest.

We went to the forest and looked too… and out of it emerged one of the most unlikely animals you would ever see if you traveled the length and breadth of the earth. It was actually a huge anteater: over two meters long, with a huge bushy tail and a face so narrow it almost looked like a tube. It stretched a good foot; It had no teeth, a small mouth and a tongue that may have been over 18 inches long. It can use this tongue 160 times a minute as it eats ants and termites in astronomical numbers, tearing their mounds apart with slashing claws.

It was decorated with subtle stripes and hardly bothered us. It remained in view for several minutes as it continued its strange, highly specialized existence. I would travel the world for a wild sight that lasted a few seconds: this anteater was much more generous. I had fulfilled a lifelong dream, just as I had fulfilled another the night before. It was the peaceful one.

Simon visited Karanambu Lodge (pictured), “once a family cattle farm and now an exciting ecotourism destination”.

Guyana is an Indian word meaning land of many waters: Karanambu is close to the Rupununi River and a peaceful boat ride along the main course and its many twists and turns, backwaters and lakes is a joyous affair. We traveled on at a leisurely pace, past kingfishers and hummingbirds, along walled waterways and places covered in dense riverine forest, until, as the light faded, we came to a lake full of lilies.

Not just any lilies: It was the giant Amazon water lily, Victoria amazonica, with lilies 6 feet wide and flowers that can reach 18 inches long. The underside of each leaf maintains its stability through a beautiful trellis system. (Joseph Paxton conceived the idea of ​​building the Crystal Palace for the 1851 World’s Fair.)

The enormous bloom lasts only a few days. Each room produces its own heat, which attracts dung beetles and then closes and traps the dung beetles inside. The next day they are released and leave to spread the lily’s pollen elsewhere. We sat in silence in our boats drinking rum punch as the rain fell with beautiful gentleness on an impossible vista of beauty. Perfect peace and great adventures… but the journey had even more wonders to offer.

Kaieteur Falls is twice as high as Victoria Falls and four and a half times higher than Niagara Falls: the largest waterfall in the world with a drop of 230 meters. It is a place that catches the attention and fills the ears with the thunder of the falls and water. The fallen leaves were a deep tea color and whitewashed swallows swooped in behind the great falls.

Here something unexpected happened, something that made me gasp with shock and joy: a few steps down a sidewalk in the spray-soaked forest around the falls, three birds sat on branches and gave each other an old-fashioned look. They were the size of small city pigeons – and the brightest orange you’d ever seen, a ridiculously unbirdish color, and their entire faces were covered in even more orange feathers. It was Guiana cliff cranes: the males compete with each other by extreme colors, while the females make the actual choice. You can make your own joke about human behavior here to your liking, but the birds themselves were enough for me.

On the market: There are only about 800,000 people living in Guyana, most of whom live in the capital, Georgetown. Above: a local selling citrus fruits in the city

Simon recalls seeing many “extravagant” birds during his trip. Above is a brightly colored hornbill

Then we were back in Georgetown for some food and drink, all quite pleasant. The people of mixed descent, including Africans, Indians and Native Americans, create a comfortable atmosphere without oppressing you; Points are scored if you can handle the many excellent chili sauces that accompany the meal. The local Wiri-Wiri pepper is not to be taken lightly.

Guyana is changing: large offshore oil reserves ensure more prosperity. Every visitor hopes that he will handle the journey well and follow the path that leads to greater comfort for all without sacrificing the essential good atmosphere of the place.

On the journey back to Georgetown, my head was buzzing with game: and even here there were still treasures to be found. In the Botanical Garden we found the beautiful red and green macaws and the toco toucan: birds with extravagant fantasies that turn out to be real.

And one last reminder: look at the sea before he goes back to the hotel, packs up and goes to the airport, above the rich mud of the coast a bird glows red like a hot coal on a pile of nutty soil. Here was a scarlet ibis: and as I looked, it flew into the air and caught the sun, and for a moment the sky was on fire.

Durrell understood the euphoria that comes from the best wilderness experiences and wrote about it in Three Singles: “In a state of drunken happiness you feel as if you forgive not only your friends for the wrongs they have done you, but even yourself .” Friends. Family members.’ I gave him one last glass and got on the plane home.