anyone here been to guyana?

[HABU]

i'm toying with the idea of going to guyana instead of costa rica this up comming year. anyone been there? got any tips? i think that the herping would be better but i've never been there before. i guess i will just show up in georgetown and catch a ride out into the boonies....

[Dexter]

Habu, you seem to be looking for rough places to have some adventure right ? I've never been to Guyana, but since I'm from Brazil, all those countries in north south america don't have a great reputation.

The beaches and landscapes canbe nice in certain areas, but definitely a place I'd like to go because of the lack of infrastructure, the poverty, the risk of diseases, etc.

As far as I'm concern there is a lot of crime over there, and not a place I'd pay to visit. There are thousands of brazilians who ended up going there and became sexual slaves in saunas, etc. I saw a program about that a few years back, and from there on, things didn't get any better.

Anyway, good luck wherever you decide to go.

[HABU]

crazy thing is that guyana is basicly empty. i mean even georgetown isn't that big. i see your point though dex, my biggest problem going anywhere is finding some friends to go with me. going places alone is nearly always just asking for trouble. being a 6 foot white looking guy just invites desparadoes to try their luck with me. i'd probibly be carrying money and other valuables. heck, it's all but impossible to get someone to go to florida with me. i don't know why it is people around me don't like to travel...they always seemed scared. they talk the big talk at first but always bail out when it comes down to going. not one person i know has ever had a passport except for me....bunch of light weights...one reason i was pondering going back to costa rica, was becasuse i could do that alone... man, guyana would be nice though...even if i got a travel partner, they'd probibly be a wimp out there. i got time, i'm getting a new passport next month and some gear...i'll see how it evolves.

[Dexter]

I know what you mean, I travelled a lot myself, but most of the time I ended up going on my own. Lived in America and Australia, and travelled in many countries in South America, grew upin Brazil where I travelled all over, been to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe too.

Nowadays I must confess I'm a bit lazy, maybe because of all hassle with airports, etc. I have lost interest in poor countries, because I end up suffering a lot when I travel to these places and see how cruel life can be to so many people, so nowadays I'd rather go to safer places TBH.

Because of my roots, I have to go to Brazil every other year, but that about as much as I can take of violence and poverty.

[boipevassu]

A few years back went to French Guyana (Guyane) and Surinam on a trip North out of Brazil. Had no problems.

Loads of Herps - Vipers (Fer de Lance, Bothrops bilineata, Lachesis, etc), Boas (Red Tails, Emeralds, Anacondas etc) Crocs (Black Caiman and Paleosuchus), Turtles (Greens, Loggerheads.) Frogs - Waxy Monkeys and Surinam Horned among others - but a million cane toads. Not to mention a lot of stuff that only has latin names - micrurus etc.

Locals keen to get into ecotourism. Cheaper flights out of Paris as it is still a 'departement' of France. The european space agency launch pad - in Kourou - so time your trip if there is a launch. Jaguars, Parrots, vampire bats, tarantulas and amazing Butterflies. The Kourou river. A boat ride to Devil's Island which is running with inquisitive Green Iguanas and history. Cayenne for a bit of local culture. And the French Foreign Legion stationed there so not much disorder.

Anyway - enough of the French tourist board bit - you get the picture. Definitely worth a look if you are in those parts.

[Dexter]

Nice one, that's very nice to know. Good information and description of what to expect.

Now Habu will feel like going there even more, although I guess he would not like to go to the french guyana

[HABU]

i am working on it. i'd like to see a place like that someday...i'm not getting any younger. i'm getting a new passport and getting all the details together. money is an issue. i am poor but am good at saving. gear is minimal. i can get all of my shots at veterans hospital. the biggest problem is finding folks going there looking for the same type of experience. it would not be safe at all to be going at it alone. i'll keep planning and buying my gear. i can always go back to costa rica. it's cool there to travel alone. when i backpack i guess i'm too hardcore for most. on the osa, in costa rica, i can just bum around and have a blast. i'll probibly end up back there. still, guyana would be a trip of a lifetime for me...

[talltom69]

Im half Guinese (mothers side) you wouldn't believe it to look at me, but I can highly reccomend Guyana, formerly known as British Guiana.

I have been there to see family and have never felt threatened or intimidated, infact the opposite, I think the locals found it odd that this 6ft6 honky was family lol

I'd highly reccomend going there any month of the year.