Rewa Eco Lodge, Guyana

My wife, Karen, and I took a bird-watching and nature trip to Guyana through Nature Travel Specialists (Dauphin Island, AL; 251/861-2524) and Wilderness Explorers (Georgetown, Guyana). We left Miami on Sept. 6, 2012, and returned Sept. 18, visiting four locations in Guyana.

The best lodge, in our opinion, was Rewa Eco Lodge, located at the confluence of the Rewa and Rupununi rivers. It is operated by the local community of Amerindians, and the guiding and viewing were excellent.

The guides took us in boats into the flood-plain forest, then shut off the engines and paddled us slowly through the jungle as spider monkeys, saki monkeys and capuchins played in the trees above us. We also took hiking and boating trips in early morning and in the evening after dark to see wildlife.

The accommodations were comfortable and spacious. En suite bathrooms (in some of the rooms) were very large. Meals were delicious, even for my vegetarian wife.

The only negatives were that the lodge was accessible only by a 2-hour boat ride on the Rupununi and that electric power was supplied (by generator) only in the evening.

Visitors to Guyana also should be aware of the unrelenting heat and humidity that permeate the entire country (located between 6 and 2 degrees north latitude), and buildings with air-conditioning are scarce.

During the trip, we also visited the Atta Rainforest Lodge, at the Iwokrama nature reserve, and the nearby Canopy Walkway, the Iwokrama River Lodge, itself, and Karanambu Lodge. I have ranked the locations in order of our enjoyment, with Karanambu being clearly the lowest.

Our tour cost $5,180 per person, excluding air from Miami and trip-cancellation insurance.

FRANK SCHNEIDER
Chicago, IL