Guyana

Friday 27 January to Thursday 9 February 2012

with Gavin Bieber and a local guide as leaders

Cost: £3320 plus about £1220 for flights (2012)

Single room supplement: £290

Please click here for details and an explanation of the price breakdown

Maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader.

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Guyana is a neglected jewel of Neotropical birding. Long overshadowed by its better-known neighbours to the west and the south, this English-speaking country on the northeast coast of South America includes vast expanses of unbroken forest among its wide range of habitats. The sun rises relatively late here, just north of the equator, making it possible to take advantage of dawn birding without keeping extreme “birder’s hours,” and the country’s impressive system of rivers makes for easy travel by boat to many of the prime birding areas. This tour to South America’s best-kept secret is a fine introduction to the continent’s birds and a unique opportunity to enjoy the region’s many endemics, some of them recently split.

The Guyanan government is working closely with indigenous peoples to create a sustainable ecotourism economy in the country’s interior, and our use on this tour of indigenous guides and lodges in local communities contributes directly to that effort, an experiment in conservation on the grandest possible scale.

Day 1: The tour begins with an overnight flight to Georgetown.

Day 2: On arrival we'll transfer to our hotel for the rest of the day. There will be an introductory meeting with the leader before dinner.  Night in Georgetown.

Day 3: We’ll depart before dawn for the Abary River, where if we’re lucky the trip’s first ornithological highlights will be Blood-colored Woodpecker, Rufous Crab-Hawk and Guianan Piculet. On the way back we’ll stop and bird as opportunities arise for Black-capped Donacobius, Point-tailed Palmcreeper and Moriche Oriole. We’ll travel along the coast to the Mahaica River, where we’ll take a boat to see Guyana’s national bird, the Hoatzin, which is found in abundance along this river system. In the afternoon we’ll visit the extensive and beautiful Botanical Gardens, where with luck we’ll have more views of Blood-colored Woodpecker. Endemic to the Guianas, this colourful bird is restricted almost entirely to the narrow coastal region. The gardens are also home to Snail Kite, Gray Hawk, Pearl Kite, Carib Grackle and Red-bellied and Red-shouldered Macaws. Along the trails in the back of the gardens we may see Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Black-crested Antshrike, Silver-beaked Tanager, Buff-breasted Wren, Golden-spangled Piculet and Ashy-headed Greenlet. Night in Georgetown.

Day 4: We’ll leave early for the Demerara River. If the tide is out, the exposed mudflats should host feeding Scarlet Ibis, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons and several species of shorebirds while Magnificent Frigatebirds wheel overhead. From the airport at nearby Ogle, Red-breasted Blackbirds sing and Snail Kites patrol the marshes. Here we’ll board our flight to the interior of Guyana, past the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers and over hundreds of miles of unbroken tropical rainforest to land at Annai, the northernmost community in the Rupununi. The Rupununi Savanna is to Guyana what the Gran Sabana is to Venezuela, an extensive area of grassland with termite mounds and scattered or riparian woodland. It differs in that much of it is devoted to cattle raising, though the large ranches are not very productive. Indeed, one can travel for hours without seeing a domestic animal of any sort. Needless to say, the birdlife here is markedly different from that of the rainforest. Our home for the night, Rock View Lodge, is located where the savanna meets the forest-covered foothills of the Pakaraima Mountains. With its tropical gardens and flowering trees the lodge is an oasis, attracting many species of birds, particularly nectar feeders and frugivores. Amethyst Woodstar, White-chinned Sapphire, Long-billed Starthroat and several hermits patrol the grounds. Nearby patches of light forest are home to Amazonian Scrub Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike and a variety of antbirds including White-bellied. We may also see Cayenne Jay and Green Aracari, and of course the grasslands support an avifauna of their own. Night at Rock View Lodge.

Day 5: This morning we’ll bird in the foothills of the Pakaraima Mountains, looking for Cinereous Mourner, Finsch’s Euphonia, Reddish Hermit, Rufous-bellied Antwren and Green-tailed and Yellow-billed Jacamars. After breakfast we’ll transfer by truck to the indigenous village of Surama. This community is set in five square miles of savanna and surrounded by the densely forested Pakaraimas. Surama’s inhabitants are mainly from the Macushi tribe and still observe many of the traditional practices of their forebears. Our accommodation will be in benabs (thatched sleeping shelters), and our meals will feature excellent local produce. There is great birding leading to the village and in the surrounding savanna, and we may see White-throated Toucan, Pearl Kite, Great Potoo and White-tailed and Savannah Hawks. During our stay we’ll visit a nearby Harpy Eagle nest if it is active. The nest is located in a huge tree only a couple of miles from the village, and if we are very fortunate we may see one of the adult birds bringing a sloth or monkey to the nest to feed its chick. In addition, Surama offers one of the best chances for seeing the elusive Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo, thanks to expert local guides. Neomorphus ground-cuckoos are undoubtedly among the toughest family of birds to locate anywhere in the Neotropics, and we’ll consider ourselves extremely lucky if we succeed in getting good views of this hard-to-find species. Night at Surama Eco-Lodge.

Day 6: This morning we’ll rise before dawn for a three-mile walk across the savanna and through the rainforest to the Burro Burro River. With luck we’ll see both Black Curassow and Gray-winged Trumpeter before our local guides paddle us by canoe along the river in hopes of spotting Giant River Otter, Brazilian Tapir, Black Spider Monkey and a wealth of birds. After we walk back to the village, we’ll have several options: rest; an escorted tour of the village to see the local school, medical centre, and church, along with some of the houses; or of course more birding. Night at Surama Eco-Lodge.

Day 7: We’ll begin with dawn birding near the lodge. After breakfast we’ll travel by truck along the rainforest trail to a location where Guianian Cock-of-the-rock is known to display and nest. And there is another Harpy Eagle nest nearby which we hope will be active. The trek to the nest site is about an hour each way on a reasonable trail. Afterward we’ll continue to the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, not far from the Atta Rainforest Lodge, our base for the next two nights. Night at Atta Rainforest Lodge.

Day 8: Although the forest around Atta Lodge is excellent for birds, the major attraction here is the nearby Iwokrama Canopy Walkway. The 500-foot-long walkway has four platforms, the highest of which is about 100 feet above the ground, and these will allow us to get great looks at a range of canopy species, many of which are difficult to see well from the forest floor. We’ll welcome the dawn chorus from the canopy walkway as Short-tailed Nighthawks settle in for the day, swifts take to the sky, White throated and Channel-billed Toucans yodel, and Barred Forest Falcons call. We can spend the day birdwatching from the middle and upper canopy on the walkway, where the flocks traveling past include Paradise Jacamar, Guianan Puffbird, Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Todd’s Antwren, Black-tailed and Black-crowned Tityras and Dusky Purpletuft, or we can bird along the jungle trails, where antbird flocks include White-plumed, Spot-winged and Ferruginous-backed Antbirds, Ash-winged and Long-billed Antwrens, McConnell’s and Gray-crowned Flycatchers, Plain Xenops and Wedge-billed Woodcreeper. Night at Atta Rainforest Lodge.

Day 9: We’ll rise early to bird the walkway or jungle trails in the hope of seeing Mealy, Orange-winged and Blue-cheeked Parrots, Flame-crested Tanager, Slate-colored and Yellow-green Grosbeaks, Slender-footed Tyrannulet, Black-capped Becard, Gray-fronted Dove, Ruddy Pigeon, Buff-checked Greenlet, Purple-breasted Cotinga, Golden-winged Parakeet, Black-throated Antshrike, Red-and-black Grosbeak, Rufous-throated Sapphire, the recently split Guianan Puffbird and perhaps even the rare Crimson Fruitcrow. After breakfast we’ll travel by truck along the road through the heart of the Iwokrama Forest, where there is a chance - just a chance - of seeing the elusive Jaguar, as the healthy local population seems untroubled by the appearance of curious humans. We’ll stop along the road at numerous locations to look for Guianan Red-Cotinga, Pompadour Cotinga, Blue-backed Tanager, White-winged Potoo, Olive-green Tyrannulet, Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo and Marail Guan. The road also passes through an unusual low, sandy forest known as Mori Scrub, which supports an interesting assemblage of bird species, among them Rufous-crowned Elaenia, Black Manakin and Red-shouldered Tanager. In the afternoon we’ll arrive at the Iwokrama River Lodge, our base for the next three nights.

The Iwokrama Rainforest is a vast wilderness of one million acres, established in 1996 as the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development and located in the heart of one of the last four untouched tropical forests of the world, the Guiana Shield of northeastern South America. This is a protected area with a difference: the full involvement of people. Iwokrama is exceptional among conservation organizations because it joins with local people in every aspect of its work, from research to business, ensuring local economic and social benefits from forest use and conservation. Iwokrama is home to an abundance of birds, including Capuchinbird, Black Nunbird, Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, Amazonian Antshrike, Brown-bellied, Spot-tailed and Todd’s Antwrens, Spotted Puffbird, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, Green Aracari, Guianan Toucanet, Guianan Red-Cotinga, Pompadour Cotinga, Rufous-crowned Elaenia, Bronzy Jacamar, Chestnut and Waved Woodpeckers, Gray Antbird and Strong-billed Woodcreeper. Three other sought-after Neotropical species at Iwokrama are White-winged  and Rufous Potoos and Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo. After dark we’ll set out on the river to listen for nightbirds such as Spectacled Owl, White-winged, Rufous and Long-tailed Potoos, Zigzag Heron and Blackish Nightjar. We may see some of the four species of caiman and we’ll most certainly see snakes, tree frogs and some mammals, if we’re lucky, possibly including a puma or capybara. Night at Iwokrama River Lodge.

Day 10: This morning we’ll bird along the Greenheart and Woodcreeper Trails close to the lodge. Quill rattling by Spix’s Guan or Crestless Curassow may start us off, and then we’ll look for Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Eastern Slaty-Antshrike, Sooty-headed Tyrannulet and Tiny Tyrant Manakin. In the afternoon we’ll take a boat to Stanley Lake, along whose banks we may see Sunbittern, Green Ibis and Capped Heron. During our stay at Iwokrama we’ll also look for Black Nunbird, Blue Dacnis, Spangled and Pompadour Cotingas, Red-eyed Vireo, White-shouldered, Blue-backed and Turquoise Tanagers, Buff-cheeked, Lemon-chested and Tawny-crowned Greenlets, Brown-throated Parakeet, White-crowned and Golden-headed Manakins, Violaceous, White-vented and Golden-sided Euphonias, Fasciated, Mouse-colored, Dusky-throated and Cinereous Antshrikes, Guianan Red-Cotinga, Black-necked Aracari, Rufous-capped and Black-faced Antthrushes, Gray-crowned and Yellow-margined (Zimmer’s) Flycatchers, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Spotted Puffbird and Musician Wren. Night at the Iwokrama River Lodge.

Day 11: Making another early start, we’ll embark on the Essequibo and circumnavigate Indian House Island, where we’ll experience dawn song on the river from a chorus of five species of tinamou, Marbled Wood-Quail, Band-rumped Swift, White-banded and Black-collared Swallows and Guianan Streaked-Antwren, before returning to the lodge for breakfast. We’ll then set out by boat for a ride of half an hour or less to the foot of Turtle Mountain. Along the way we’ll have a chance for Harpy Eagle, and we may also see Greater Yellow-headed and King Vultures, Gray-headed, Double-toothed and Plumbeous Kites and Black-faced Hawk. Here we’ll explore for a few hours, first visiting Turtle Ponds to see anis, herons and Green and Rufous Kingfishers and then climbing to an elevation of 900 feet for a view of the forest canopy below, with a possibility of seeing Green Aracari, White Bellbird or perhaps a flyby of up to five types of eagle. The trails may also reveal Little Chachalaca, Marail Guan, Black Curassow, Squirrel and Black-bellied Cuckoos, Eastern Long-tailed and Reddish Hermits, Blue-crowned Motmot, Guianan White-necked and Collared Puffbirds, Pygmy, Todd’s, Spot-tailed, White-flanked, Gray, Long-winged, Rufous-bellied and Brown-bellied Antwrens, White-lored Tyrannulet and Helmeted Pygmy-Tyrant. On the return trip we could spot Caica, Blue-headed, Blue-cheeked and Mealy Parrots, Cocoi Heron, Bat Falcon, Lined Forest-Falcon and Pied Lapwing. Later we’ll visit Fair View, a nearby indigenous village, and in the late afternoon we’ll take a walk around the lodge to look for Swallow-winged Puffbird, Black-spotted Barbet, Golden-collared, Yellow-throated, Crimson-crested and Red-necked Woodpeckers, Guianan Toucanet, Black-headed, White-browed, Ferruginous-backed, Warbling, Scale-backed, White-plumed and Rufous-throated Antbirds, Ringed Antpipit, Black-tailed Tityra and Thrush-like Schiffornis. Finally, after dark we’ll set out on the river once more, in search of caimans and nightbirds. Night at the Iwokrama River Lodge.

Day 12: After birding this morning on the trails around the lodge, we’ll transfer by truck to Rock View Lodge at Annai for an early lunch, after which we’ll fly back to Georgetown. If there’s time, we’ll make a second visit to the Georgetown Botanical Gardens, where we’ll have last chances for several species of open-country birds, and perhaps more views of Guianan specialities such as Blood-colored Woodpecker or Golden-spangled Piculet.  Night at Cara Lodge. 

The ground arrangements for this tour are organised by our American associates WINGS.

E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.

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