Guyana Jungle Survival

Arrive at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, where you'll be met and transferred to Georgetown, Guyana's seaside capital. Settle in for the night at a historic colonial-era lodge, a wooden home from the 1840s turned hotel that carries the nostalgia of a bygone era. Rest up before your journey into the rainforest begins.

Transfer to the city airport and board a scheduled flight over the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers and hundreds of miles of unbroken rainforest, landing at Lethem. From here, a 4x4 carries you to Surama, a Macushi village set in a small savannah ringed by forest-clad hills, where its people still keep many of their traditional ways. 

After settling into your community-run eco-lodge and having lunch, begin learning the skills you'll need to survive a night in the forest, venturing out to observe wildlife and gather food and fuel before fashioning traps for fish and game from materials found around you. Overnight at the Surama eco-lodge, with all meals included

After breakfast at dawn, head out for a full day of survival training. Your Amerindian guides will teach you to build a shelter for the night, hunt, catch fish, find wild foods like nuts and fruit, locate fresh water, and start a fire without matches using traditional materials. After dark, venture out again to hunt and fish using age-old Amerindian methods. Spend the night in your own survival camp, with all meals provided.

Break camp after breakfast and, conditions permitting, travel by boat along the Burro Burro River to an active harpy eagle nest, with a good chance of seeing one of the world's largest eagles, the near-threatened 'flying wolf' that still finds refuge in Guyana's forests. 

Return to the lodge, then journey on toward the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, stopping at Corkwood, where a short trail through pristine rainforest offers a chance to spot the brilliant Guianan cock-of-the-rock while your guide explains how the plants are used for medicine. 

The walkway's suspension bridges lead to platforms more than 30 m (98 ft) above the forest floor, bringing you eye to eye with canopy species. Watch the clearing around the lodge for the Crimson Fruitcrow and a resident family of Black Curassow. Overnight at a comfortable rainforest lodge beside the walkway, with all meals.

Note: Harpy Eagle sightings are dependent on the activity levels of the specific nest at the time of your visit.

Before dawn, return to the canopy to welcome the dawn chorus from the treetops, where you may spot red howler and black spider monkeys. Explore the surrounding trails on wildlife and birdwatching walks, some marked with key tree species for those keen on botany, keeping an eye out for deer, tapir, and agouti that visit the lodge. 

After breakfast, transfer by vehicle and board a regional flight from Fair View airstrip back over hundreds of miles of rainforest to the city airport, then transfer to Georgetown for the night at your colonial-era lodge.

Note: The regional scheduled flight involves a transit period of 3 to 5 hours at Mahdia Airport in an open-sided hangar with seating. Optional flight upgrades or road transfers via Lethem are available upon request. Diversion/charter from Fair View to Eugene F. Correia, or a 5-hour transfer by road to Lethem & scheduled flight out of Lethem Airport

Spend the morning discovering Georgetown on a mix of driving and walking, taking in the National Museum, the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, and landmarks along the promenade such as City Hall, the Victoria Law Courts, Stabroek Market, and St. George's Cathedral, one of the world's tallest free-standing wooden buildings. Visit the Botanical Gardens and stop at a pond to help feed the endangered West Indian manatees. 

Around midday, transfer to the airport for a scheduled flight over the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers to Kaieteur Falls, the world's tallest single-drop waterfall, where the Potaro River plunges 741 ft (226 m), about five times the height of Niagara. Enjoy the waterfalls and their micro-world of large tank bromeliads, small golden frogs, and nesting Kaieteur swifts before returning to Georgetown for the night.
       
Note: Flights to Kaieteur and Orinduik Falls are operated on chartered aircraft, and all flights have a minimum of 12 passengers. In most cases, flights are full, especially if scheduled for a weekend. However, in the rare case that we cannot meet the required numbers, we will reschedule the trip to another day during your stay, if this is possible. 

Enjoy a final breakfast before your transfer to Cheddi Jagan International Airport for your departing flight, carrying a rainforest's worth of memories with you.