Friday 4th March 2022 - Pick up and transfer from the airport to Cara Lodge Overnight at Cara Lodge.

Saturday 5^th March 2022 -This morning you will meet Shebana Daniels, your local female tour escort who will accompany you throughout your women-only tour of Guyana. Shebana joined the Wilderness Explorers team in May of 2018 having worked as a tour guide and assistant manager at Kabalebo Nature Resort in Suriname for 5 years. An adventurer at heart, she brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience along with her infectious friendly personality and enthusiasm. She has a passion for hospitality and prides herself on going the extra mile to satisfy her clients’ requests. Her patience and humour make her a delightful guide. She enjoys sport fishing and mountain climbing, among other outdoor activities.

Sunday 6th March 2022 - Fly to Lethem. Transfer to Waikin Ranch for culinary demonstration and farm-to-table lunch and discussion with the owner of the ranch about life in the savannahs. Onward road journey to Karanambu Ranch.

Monday 7th March 2022 - This morning we make an early start to an area of rolling grasslands, home to a population of Giant Anteaters. With luck we shall locate one of these six-foot long animals excavating its breakfast from one of the termite mounds that stud the savannah. Though Giant Anteaters live in overlapping home ranges they are mostly solitary except during mother-offspring relationships, aggressive interactions between males, and when mating. Mother anteaters carry their offspring on their backs until weaning them. The savannah offers a great opportunity to see savannah birds and seedeaters. The ones to look for are the rare Bearded Tachuri and the Pinnated Bittern near the edges of the ponds.

Tuesday 8th March - This morning, a chance to see giant anteater if you were not lucky the day before. After breakfast, river journey to Ginep Landing which offers an excellent opportunity to look for giant river otters as there are several family groups which live along this stretch of the Rupununi River. Travel north by road from Ginep Landing to Pakaraima Mountain Inn, which sits in the Aranaputa Valley, just outside the village of Yakarinta. Enjoy a home-cooked lunch on the veranda along with fascinating stories from local character and host, Charlie De Freitas, continue transfer to the village of Aranaputa and their community operated Peanut Butter Factory. The area is suited to peanut growing, but a long way to the markets of Georgetown, and so this cottage industry provides local farmers with a viable market for their produce. Operated by a co-operative of local ladies they manufacture organic peanut butter which along with cassava bread is supplied to local schools. Continue by road to Bina Hill which is the gathering place of the North Rupununi Amerindian communities and houses the North Rupununi Development Board and offers a vocational centre for secondary school Amerindian children. The Institute also has a radio station which we may visit to see how it operates and even be invited for an interview.

Wednesday 9th March - Visit the home of Jean and Glenn Allicock, and learn about their lifestyle. Jean will take you through her fascinating kitchen garden where you can select items to be used to prepare your lunch. You can help Jean in preparing a local lunch or relax in a hammock. After lunch Jean and Glenn will show you how they make local handi-crafts and you can try your hand at making something yourself.

Thursday 10th March - Enjoy a dawn walk and breakfast before driving through the rainforest to a short trail in search of the stunning bright orange Guianan Cock-of-the-rock. The trail to its rocky nest location is through pristine rainforest and your guides will explain how they use the rainforest as their natural pharmacy and supermarket. We continue to Atta Rainforest Lodge, home of the Iwokrama canopy Walkway which is situated near the southern boundary of the Iwokrama Reserve in central Guyana. The walkway has four suspension bridges leading to three platforms, the highest of which is over 30 metres above the ground. The lodge is 500 metres from the base of the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, offering comfortable private-room accommodation with ensuite garden bathrooms, delicious home-cooked meals, and traditional Amerindian hospitality. The communal building houses the bar, dining area and kitchen and is open sided with views across the gardens to the towering forest, which completely surrounds the lodge. Hammocks and outdoor benches enhance the lovely gardens which include a variety of heliconias that attract hummingbirds, close enough for the perfect photo.

Friday, 11 March 2022 - Before dawn we will return to the canopy where we can birdwatch easily and from this tree top vantage you can sometimes see Red Howler and Black Spider Monkeys. Apart from the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway itself you can enjoy wildlife and birdwatching walks on the trails around the area. For those interested in botany many of the trails have the key tree species marked. Many bird species, stunning insects, noisy amphibians, and playful primates make the surrounding forest their home. Deer, Tapir and agouti are also regular visitors to the lodge. Serious birders will want to search the undergrowth for the rarely seen Rufous-winged Ground-cuckoo.

Saturday 12th March - Welcome the dawn chorus from the canopy walkway. After breakfast, drive along the only north-south road access in Guyana in search of the elusive jaguar. Traffic is only occasional and wildlife is often seen along the road, such as Agouti, Tayra, Tapir and Black Curassow. The journey ends at Iwokrama Rainforest Lodge. More – The Iwokrama River Lodge is set overlooking the Essequibo River. Accommodation is offered in eight spacious timber cabins with ensuite and verandas overlooking the river. Electricity is provided by a combination of solar and diesel generator systems, and wireless internet access is provided for free in the main building. Meals are served buffet-style in the Fred Allicock dining hall. The lodge is located to the north of the Iwokrama Rainforest Reserve which is a vast wilderness of one million acres. This protected area was established in 1996 as the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development. The Iwokrama Forest is in the heart of one of four last untouched tropical forests of the world - The Guiana Shield of North-Eastern South America. Iwokrama was established as a living laboratory for tropical forest management.

Sunday, 13 March 2022 - Leave the lodge by boat, birdwatching along the way, for the hike to Turtle Mountain. A well-maintained trail winds through the forest before an exhilarating climb up the mountain to its summit at 935ft (approx. 360m). It takes 1 3/4hrs to walk up the mountain, but the effort is more than worth it for the breathtaking views over the forest canopy when you get there and chances of Green Aracari, White Bellbird or a fly-by of one of five types of eagles. This trail is also a great location for seeing Black Spider and Red Howler monkeys. If you think this hike may be too strenuous you can take an alternative boat trip to Stanley Lake to search for Giant River Otters and Black Caiman. Fly to the breath-taking Kaieteur Falls, spending 2 hours on the ground. Kaieteur thunders over a precipice, plummeting 224 m (741 feet), making it the longest single drop waterfall in the world and five times the height of Niagara. This is Guyana's scenic jewel in the crown and one of the most impressive and beautiful sights in the country, with its perpendicular drop into cascading foam and spray over the great boulders at the foot of the cliff, producing breathtaking rainbows across the gorge if the weather is clear. Kaieteur supports a unique micro environment with Tank Bromeliads, the largest in the world, in which the tiny Golden frog spends its entire life and the rarely seen Guiana Cock- of-the-rock nesting close by. The lucky visitor may also see the famous flights of the Kaieteur Swifts or Makonaima Birds which nest under the vast shelf of rock carved by the centuries of water, hidden behind the eternal curtain of falling water. A tour around the Kaieteur Park will prove to be a truly fascinating experience. You will get the chance to view the Kaieteur Falls from several vantage points that offer excellent photo opportunities. The knowledgeable tour guide is a vault of information that is simply incredible. With stealth and a little patience, you can get a close- up view of the beautiful, but poisonous ‘golden frog’ and, if you’re lucky you’ll catch another glimpse of the brilliantly-coloured, orange ‘Cock-of-the-rock’. You will also make the acquaintance of several pretty carnivores’ plants, some of which feed on insects. There are lots of beautiful, wild flowers, including the decorative Heliconia.

Monday 14th March - Pick up and transfer to airport. Breakfast included