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Saturday 22 November 2008

Land of the giants

Jeremy Clarke marvels at the fauna of Guyana's rainforests

There was a punch-up in the cheapest seats on the flight going out to Guyana, three against one, women screaming, red wine flying everywhere. Afterwards, pouring oil on troubled waters, a steward came down the aisle distributing free copies of the Daily Mail. I hadn’t looked at the Mail for ages and I read it closely from cover to cover then afterwards lay back in my seat exhausted and slightly traumatised.

At Georgetown airport, Guyana, my suitcase failed to appear on the baggage carousel. So did the cases of half the other passengers. The tour operator’s assurance that it was fairly normal for tourists to arrive in Guyana minus their luggage, and that it was sure to be forwarded on by the end of the week, cheered me only a little.

Guyana is roughly twice the size of Britain. The rainforest, which covers 80 per cent of the country, is one of only four pristine rainforests surviving in the world. Of Guyana’s three quarters of a million inhabitants, half a million are trying their luck in the capital Georgetown, on the coast.

Our small package tour stayed overnight in Georgetown and early the next morning we struck out for the interior. Instead of roads Guyana has rivers. First we sped up the mighty Essequibo in big, fast motor launches; then we travelled in narrower craft with more modest engines; then, ducking under creepers and fallen boughs, we paddled our own canoes. From the mighty Essequibo we transferred by light aircraft to the great Potaro river. Then we crossed over again, via jeep and cattle trail, though clouds of yellow butterflies, to the Rupununi.

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