2020-03-01_Wanderlust

GUYANA

wanderlust.co.uk March 2020 57

afewminuteslaterwouldcomeadownpourof

warmrain.Eventuallywepulledintothebankand

tookawoodlandtrail,leavescrunchingbelowour

feet.Wecouldhearspidermonkeysmovinginthe

trees,whileinthedistancehowlermonkeyscalled.

Stoppingatamound,Rudycrouchedinfrontof

aholeandproddedtheentrancewithalongtwig.

Tooursurprise,ahugespiderappeared,hopingfor

atastymeal.“Thisisthegoliathbird-eatingspider,”

Rudyannounced.“Theydon’tusuallyeatbirds,but

theycaniftheygettheopportunity.”Thelargest

arachnidintheworldisanopportunisticfeederbut

itmusthavebeendisappointedtofinditselfbeing

staredatbybeastsitcouldn’teat.

Backattheboat,ourboatmanhadbeenbusy

fishingandhadcaughtfourpeacockbass.We

headedoffbackdowntheriverasthesunstarted

toset.Tooursurprise,theboatpulledintothe

baseofalarge,steepsandbank.Wegotoutand

weremetbythesightofateamfromthelodge

makingafireandsettingoutcampchairs.Drinks

wereservedasdarknessfell,andabrightmoon

bathedusinitslight.Meanwhilethebasswere

barbecuedandweatetoasoundtrackofjungle

noisesandafrogchorus.

Flyingthenest

Withthesuccessofcommunity-basedeco-tourism,

othersarelookingtoseeiftheycanmoveinto

low-leveltourismtoo,andRewahelpsadvisethem.

AtthevillageofWarapokainnorth-eastGuyana,we

werethefirsto„cialtourists–eventhepaintonthe

wallsoftheguesthousewasstillnotdry.

AswithsomanyplacesinGuyana,justgetting

therewasanadventure,withaninternalflight

overrainforestasfarastheeyecouldsee,followed

byathree-hourboatjourneypassinghouseson

stilts,fishermenandmyriadexoticbirds.

Eventually,weturnedofftheWainiRiverinto

aquietchannel,fringedbymangroves,and

overhungwithtrees.Asweroundedabendinto

brightsunshine,thevillageofWarapokacameinto

sight,distinguishedbythelargegraniteboulders

scatteredaroundit.Weweremetonthejettyby

membersofthevillagecommitteeandwalked

‘Later that day, we took the boat

upriver past sandbanks covered in

clouds of yellow butterflies’

⊳

⊲

Down stream

(clockwise from this image)

Rainforest excursion; a golden

rocket frog at Kaieteur Falls;

Warapoka’s Tashao (chief);

vivid local lora; Rewa Lodge

Simon Chubb; Sarah Marshall; Alamy