13-Day Guyana and Guiana Shield Birding with Nature Experience

Meet the local team at Georgetown’s international airport and transfer to the city hotel for two nights. If arrival time allows, begin at the Botanic Gardens, where mature vegetation and wet areas support a useful first selection of Neotropical birds. Dinner and lodging are at Parc Rayne Inn or a similar hotel.

Explore coastal marsh and mangrove sites around Georgetown. A regional river excursion adds boat-based birding for Hoatzin and other wetland species, with Red Howler Monkey and manatee also possible but never assured. Roadside stops broaden the search for mangrove specialists before a second night at Parc Rayne Inn or equivalent.

Take an early internal flight south for an aerial approach to Kaieteur Falls, whose principal drop is recorded as 226 metres. Land for about two hours of exploration and birding, then continue by air to the Surama community. After settling into Surama Ecolodge, use the afternoon in the surrounding savanna.

Follow forest trails near Surama in an attempt to detect Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo. The species is elusive and even hearing its bill-clapping is notable. Later, visit an area associated with a Harpy Eagle nest; nesting and the bird’s presence vary by year, so the itinerary makes no sighting promise. Return to Surama Ecolodge.

Use another morning for the ground-cuckoo area and Zigzag Heron habitat before travelling deeper into the forest. Pause at a Guianan Cock-of-the-rock lek, then reach Atta Rainforest Lodge within the Iwokrama conservation landscape. The nearby canopy walkway has three linked platforms, the highest about 30 metres above ground.

Spend a full day around Atta, combining forest paths, lodge gardens and the Iwokrama canopy walkway. These settings provide different angles on understorey, edge and treetop wildlife and allow quieter photography sessions between longer walks. Meals and the night are at Atta Rainforest Lodge.

Explore additional Iwokrama trails and return to the canopy platforms if conditions favour another visit. The day illustrates how bird communities change among savanna, hill, river and rainforest habitats around Annai, Surama and Iwokrama. A final night outing may add owls and several possible potoo species. Remain at Atta.

Complete a last Atta session, including low white-sand forest, then drive south as dense Amazonian forest gives way to the open Rupununi. Stop when new savanna birds appear en route to Caiman House Field Station. After the project introduction, take an afternoon river trip for birds, mammals and reptiles.

Search the marshes and open savanna around Caiman House, then examine gallery forest along local waterways. The visit also explains the community project’s work in wildlife research, education, sustainable livelihoods and cultural protection. An optional night activity introduces its Black Caiman study. Dine and stay on site.

Leave early for the isolated village of Karasabai, where community protection supports one of Guyana’s threatened Sun Parakeet populations. Access to the monitoring area requires special permission and contributes to local conservation. After the field session, continue to Manari Ranch near Lethem for the first of two nights.

Begin before dawn for a long, demanding day on Rupununi tracks with the team monitoring Red Siskin. Small groups use radio contact while covering the savanna, reflecting the local effort to protect both Red Siskin and Sun Parakeet from past trapping pressure. Birding stops continue on the return journey to Manari Ranch.

Use the final Manari morning in river-edge thickets and gallery forest for Hoary-throated Spinetail, Rio Branco Antbird and other localised birds. After lunch, transfer to Lethem for the internal flight to Georgetown. Dinner and the night are at Parc Rayne Inn or a similar property.

If international flight timing permits, take a last morning outing along the coast or at a productive site near Georgetown. Lunch is not included so travellers can organise around their departure schedule. Transfer later to Cheddi Jagan International Airport and conclude the programme.