The Times Online has an excellent article in their Travel Section today on trekking the rainforests of Guyana, a nearly unspoiled region of jungle that sees little traffic.
The article mentions that the South American country is roughly the size of Great Britain, but has only 750,000 citizens, most of whom live in or near the capital of Georgetown, located on the countries east coast. Further inland however, finds a staggering 85% of the country still covered by rainforest, much of which is unexplored or surveyed in any way.
Steve Backshall, author of the story, has studied rainforests all over the planet, but found this one to be a refreshing surprise, as it was free of underbrush, had very few biting insects, and lacked the usual tropical diseases of malaria or dysentery. He did, however, have interesting encounters of a different variety, including getting bitten by a vampire bat, stung by a bullet ant, and shocked by an electric eel. Despite all of that, he says “But it was still heaven.”
From his description, Guyana sounds like an adventure traveler’s paradise. There are few tourists, the region is practically untouched by man, and you can trek to some very isolated, and unique areas, without encountering another soul. In fact, Backshall says that Kaieteur Falls is Guyana’s foremost tourist attraction, and yet you’re likely to have it all to yourself most of the time.
This sounds like an amazing place, and real opportunity to visit a wilderness that remains much the same as it has for thousands of year. Go there while you can however, as once the word is out, it’s probably not likely to stay that way.
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