Northern Guyana Rainforest Birding
8 Nights/9 Days
How to Book Your Birding Trip to Guyana
This tour allows a quick and easy introduction to the birds of Northern Guyana from comfortable rainforest resorts. One tour highlight is a day trip by light aircraft to see the famous Kaieteur Falls, with its own birding highlights of the Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock and White-chinned and White-tipped Swifts. Some of the birds we will look for on this trip include: Blood-coloured Woodpecker, Red-fan Parrot, Northern Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Racket-tailed Coquette, Black Curassow, Red-bellied Macaw, Sapphire-rumped Parrotlet, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Sungrebe, Sunbittern, Helmeted Pygmy-Tyrant, Grey-winged Trumpeter, Agami Heron and more than 20 species of Antbirds.
Day 1 Arrival Guyana. Transfer to Georgetown. Overnight at Cara Lodge.
Day 2 Botanical Gardens/City Tour. Morning and afternoon birding excursions to the Botanical Gardens in downtown Georgetown. With luck, the first ornithological highlight of our tour will be seeing the Blood-coloured Woodpecker, an astonishingly colourfulVeniliornis which is only found in the Guianas. Other species which can be found in the Botanical Gardens include Limpkin, Great Horned Owl, White-chested Emerald and both Golden-spangled and White-bellied Piculets.
During the heat of the day, we will enjoy a tour of the city of Georgetown. Overnight at Cara Lodge. (B)
Day 3 Kaieteur Falls/Orinduik Falls/Essequibo River. We will fly by chartered aircraft over the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers and hundreds of miles of unbroken tropical rainforest to land at Kaieteur, the world's highest free-falling waterfall. At 228 metres, Kaieteur is nearly five times the height of Niagara Falls and here we can expect to find vast clouds of swifts which could include both White-chinned and White-tipped. The sheer number which are usually present tends to attract an Orange-breasted Falcon which can cause chaos as it hunts the swifts up and down the gorge.
There is a small lek (i.e., display ground) of the extremely colourful Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock nearby and we stand an excellent chance of seeing this species before re-boarding our plane for the flight to Orinduik Falls, one of the most beautiful locations in Guyana’s hinterland. Here the Ireng River thunders over steps and terraces of solid jasper, a semi precious stone, on its way to join the mighty Amazon River in Brazil.
The last leg of our flight will take us to Baganara Island, which is one of the largest of the 365 islands in the mighty Essequibo River. This island paradise has 187 acres of lush green foliage and colourful tropical flowers as well as an interesting range of birds including Red-fan Parrot, Guianan Puffbird and Black Nunbird. Taking a walk along the pristine white sand beach as the cool river waters gently lap at its shores, we are likely to find Collared Plover, Pied Plover, Spotted Sandpiper and Yellow-billed Tern. Overnight at Baganara Island Resort. (B, L, D)
Day 4 Baganara Island/Marshall Falls/Parrot Island. This morning we will birdwatch along trails in the Baganara Island rainforest and on the large lawns of the resort. After breakfast we will take a boat trip along the Mazaruni River to Marshall Falls. An easy trail leads into the rainforest where we search for Caica Parrot, Pygmy Antwren, Guianan Warbling Antbird, Spotted Antpitta and White-bearded Manakin.
In the late afternoon, we then travel to Parrot Island where hundreds of Orange-winged Amazons come to roost. Overnight at Baganara Island Resort. (B, L, D)
Day 5 Shanklands Rainforest. We will spend the morning birdwatching along some trails located a short five-minute boat ride from the Baganara Island Resort, where we can look for Violaceous Trogon, Channel-billed Toucan, Ringed Woodpecker as well as an excellent range of Antbirds including Grey Antbird, Dusky Antbird, Scale-backed Antbird and Long-winged Antwren.
We will then make a short transfer by boat to Shanklands Rainforest Resort which consists of a series of cottages built on a hill above the Essequibo River's right bank. We'll devote the day to birdwatching on the extensive network of roads and trails around the lodge, where we will look for species such as Spix’s Guan, Red-fan Parrot, Painted Tody-flycatcher, Racket-tailed Coquette and Black Nunbird. Overnight at Shanklands Rainforest Resort. (B, L, D)
Day 6 Makoura Creek. This morning we head out by boat to the Makoura Creek to birdwatch along this forested waterway where we can expect to see several species of kingfishers, Antbirds and Trogons. If we are lucky, we may also see Agami Heron and Sunbittern. Later we will return to Shanklands and continue our exploration of the forest trails where over 450 species have been recorded, including Silvered Antbird, Red-fan Parrot and Harpy Eagle. Overnight at Shanklands Rainforest Resort. (B, L, D)
Day 7 Demerara River/Santa Mission. We will enjoy a final morning’s birdwatching at Shanklands and then travel by boat to the mouth of the Essequibo River. From Parika, we will travel by vehicle along the coast and across the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
Upon arriving at the bank of the Demerara River, we will board a boat, travelling down the river and then into the black waters of the meandering Kamuni Creek. Overhanging jungle vegetation eventually gives way to wide open savannahs and there are plenty of birds to see as we travel, including Sungrebe, Wattled Jacana, Striated Heron and Greater Ani.
We will stop for a guided tour of the Amerindian village of Santa Mission, including a visit to their craft centre, before continuing on our river journey to the picturesque Arrowpoint Nature Resort.
In late afternoon, we will birdwatch on their extensive trail network, watching for flocks of Red-bellied Macaws crossing the sky en route to their roosts, and perhaps seeing an evening gathering of euphonias and tanagers in the low trees of the clearing. Sapphire-rumped Parrotlets occasionally roost in the area.
Dinner is served under the stars and as we enjoy our meal, we may see a Spectacled Owl or Short-tailed Nighthawk, both of which can be seen from the main lodge balcony. Overnight at Arrowpoint Nature Resort. (B, L, D)
Day 8 Arrowpoint Nature Resort. There are a variety of habitats around the lodge including open grassy marsh, scattered stands of moriche palm, fairly tall sandbelt forest and terra firma rainforest. These are home to a wide variety of hummingbirds, including the brilliant Crimson Topaz which is reasonably reliable at Arrowpoint.
The resort also has an extensive trail system and we will explore this for birds such as Black-throated Trogon, Paradise Jacamar, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Fasciated Antshrike, Rufous-bellied Antwren and Wing-barred Piprites.
Another attraction at Arrowpoint is the option of birdwatching from a canoe along some of the nearby creeks. This provides the best opportunity of seeing Sungrebe, Sunbittern and Silvered Antbird and by approaching some of the areas of moriche palms, there is a good chance of finding the strikingly beautiful Point-tailed Palmcreeper. Bonfire dinner tonight. Overnight at Arrowpoint Nature Resort. (B ,L, D)
Day 9 Depart Guyana. Transfer by boat and vehicle to Guyana's international airport for your departing flight. (B)
How to Book Your Birding Trip to Guyana
Itinerary © 2008
