Home to roughly 300 Makushi Amerindians, Surama is a serene village set amongst five square miles of the Rupununi Savanna that is surrounded by the jungle-covered Pakaraima Mountains. This idyllic setting complete with the meandering Burro Burro River and a dense collection of flora and fauna  has proved an ideal location for community-based ecotourism in Guyana. Surama has done so well developing their tourism products village tours, birdwatching trips, mountain treks, jungle walks, dugout canoe trips, wildlife spotting that the village has long been the role model for community tourism in Guyana. And with the Educational Travel Community recently naming Surama Eco-lodge as their 2009 Responsible Tourism Showcase Honoree, Surama will also be used as a role model for responsible tourism projects around the world.

Surama's location just south of Iwokrama International Centre (they share a border along the Burro Burro River) and north of Rock View Lodge helped to initially attract visitors to the remote village, but now Surama stands on its own as one of Guyana's finest destinations. From the Surama Eco-lodge there is easy access to great forest where there is a chance to visit an active Harpy Eagle nest, and see Northern Slaty-Antshrike, Golden Spangled Piculet, and Ferruginous-backed Antbird. Surama is also regarded as one of the best places to see any species of Ground-Cuckoo, including the prized Rufous-winged. And at Surama, this is all combined with a genuine Amerindian culture, welcoming locals, and guides with an encyclopedic knowledge of the jungle.

The Surama Eco-Lodge and all tours in and around Surama are managed and operated solely by the local Makushi Amerindians. More than 70 people in the village are employed either directly as hospitality staff, guides, cooks, artisans and drivers, or indirectly as farmers, hunters, fishermen, tailors, and construction and maintenance workers. Roughly 60% of the community's income is now sustainably generated through tourism-related activities, with 75% of village households reporting tourism as a source of income.

Surama's residents - especially the children - are also personally invested in the preservation of the biological diversity that surrounds the village. They lead visitors on hikes, enforce a ban on wildlife trapping, protect groves of endangered Bullet, Letter, Greenheart and Waramaden trees, and introduce tourists and researchers to medicinal properties of the rainforest.

In Surama, ecotourism helps support the conservation of the Makushi culture, and this is exhibited in several village activities. Within tourism in Surama there is a rotation of staff so that the traditional community lifestyle is not significantly affected and there is still time for necessary things such as farming, fishing and hunting.

Surama also has a cultural group that was formed to help motivate and preserve the culture of the Makushi people. The group is comprised of children and adults who compose and perform dances, songs, poems and skits that enlighten tourists about the Makushi way of life. A women's cassava-making project also supplies an interesting tour and a taste of local industry, and the Women's Activity Centre was created as a place for women to come together for craft making, sewing, embroidery, and for selling the items to visitors.

At neighboring Iwokrama, Surama has been active in surveying the one-million acre forest preserve, building the research station, monitoring the preserve and working with scientists and researchers from around the world.

Twenty square kilometres of community land at the edge of the village have also been set aside as protected, and anecdotal indications are that wildlife populations are rebounding and expanding in the area. A grant has recently been obtained from IUCN to conduct an environmental inventory of the area. And through the Makushi Research Unit (MRU), a Makushi biodiversity project was conducted involving the comprehensive study of traditional uses of local plants and animals and the ways in which these plants and animals interact.

Direct efforts to foster conservation awareness and natural resource management practices are made through public environmental awareness outreach programs. Community members have participated in a range of training and international scientific research programs that work to save biological diversity. Some signs of this include the fact that in Surama, wildlife trapping has been banned and enforced since 1994. Harvesting of endangered tree species are banned and monitoring programs have been introduced for other species.

In an effort to reach village youths, in 1998 Surama and other Makushi communities in the area started Junior Wildlife Clubs for children 6 to 18 years. The clubs develop awareness and understanding of the tropical rainforest environment, help conduct wildlife inventories in the area, and explain and practice natural resource management and conservation. Activities include forest walks, camping, learning the scientific and local names for animals and plants, wildlife knowledge competitions among villages, exchange visits to other communities, developing collections of insects, plants, and animals for the schools, and the preparation of wildlife related artwork.  Cultural activities are also practiced, including skits and presentations and competitions in traditional skills such as basket weaving, cotton spinning and archery. Many of the members of the wildlife club work in tourism, and several have become environmental leaders in the region.

The Eco-Lodge at Surama is the visitor's gateway to the idyllic Pakaraima Mountains and Burro Burro River that border the village. This part of Guyana features some of the most astounding examples of thriving rainforest ecology to be found anywhere on earth. The abundant flora and fauna are masterfully curated by local residents who convey a compellingly intimate fluency with nature through hikes, river canoe expeditions, and visits to community schools, centers, and traditional events.

The basic yet comfortable Eco-Lodge has four self-contained benabs, or cabins, and a new building with four additional rooms. Meals of local cuisine are taken in the large, open benab whose second floor serves as a wonderful platform for birdwatching. Guests can also stay at the Carahaa Landing Camp on the banks of the Burro Burro River (a three-mile walk from the Eco-Lodge), and if you're not opposed to sleeping in a hammock, it's highly recommended. Surama is also building a Makushi Spa that will offer massages and aromatherapy using local products.

The area is rich in bird and mammal life and most visitors to Surama participate in a few core activities: a village tour, a hike up Surama Mountain, and a walk down to the Burro Burro River for a dugout canoe trip. More recently, visitors can hike to a Harpy Eagle's nest that has been identified just outside of the village. On any forest walk be sure to ask your guides to point out the medicinal uses of the plants and trees you are passing.

Any river, forest or savanna outing doubles as an opportunity to look for the many bird and mammal species found in the area. Mammals include Giant River Otter, Jaguar, Peccary, Tayra, Capybara and several species of primates, including the noisy Red Howlers.

Some of the specialty bird species to look for in Surama include the Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo, Long-tailed Potoo, Finsch's Euphonia, Caica Parrot, Red-fan Parrot, Warbling Antbird, Ferruginous-backed Antbird, Capuchinbird (at a lek), Golden-headed and Blue-backed Manakin (also at identified leks), Zigzag Heron, Capped Heron, Striated Heron, five species of Kingfishers, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Pompadour Cotinga, Cayenne Jay, Dusky Purpletuft, Crimson Fruitcrow, and Bellbirds.

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