Iwokrama Forest, Guyana | maddestinations

Iwokrama Forest and River Lodge, Guyana

www.iwokrama.org

Iwokrama River Lodge is a wonderful place to relax, recharge and rejuvenate with nature. There's so much to see and do here. Set in a bird-filled clearing surrounded by 371,000 hectares of forest and on Essequibo River, Guyana's largest river, wildlife abounds and you can see it even from the veranda of your bungalow.

Large areas of the forest are also set aside for wildlife conservation so there are many plants and animals here.

There's a real sense of adventure at Iwokrama, whether you're on a night ride down the river spotting snakes or on a forest trail finding birds, butterflies and monkeys, and you are always surrounded by beauty. I just adored this place.

Iwokrama is also an international research centre, conducting projects with international partners from South America, the USA and Europe on sustainable forest management, the impacts of climate change on forests and wildlife and biodiversity conservation. The staff will be happy to tell you more about their work if you are interested.

Watch our videos on Iwokrama:

Why go? 5 fab reasons to visit Iwokrama

It's a bird watcher's bonanza.

Iwokrama produce a bird guide with 50 birds mainly seen here, and we saw about two-thirds of them. Here is the link to the pdf. If this fails, go to www.iwokrama.org and search for 'bird guide'. A lot of birds are just flying round the lodge and the trees on the grounds, or in the pools in the grass made by rain water.

Guides at Iwokrama will organise special bird watching trips. See https://iwokramariverlodge.com/activities/

There is heaps of wildlife here. For a start, there's a resident black caiman, Sankar, who spends his days lurking round the dock. Go and say hello to him but don't get too close.

Monkeys are best seen in the forest or on a boat ride round Indian House Island, which is a wildlife refuge. We saw three species of monkey at Iwokrama which I thought was really good going: red howler, black spider and squirrel.

Smaller animals like agoutis can be seen in the forest, generally scuttling across the trails in front of you at 50 million miles an hour. Don't set your sights on seeing a jaguar although they have been seen on the access road in the very early morning. Jaguars and ocelots have been picked up on wildlife cameras in the forests too throughout the day, even at noon.

Iwokrama has published a 50 mammals most regularly found at Iwokrama guide. Here is the link to the pdf. If this fails, go to www.iwokrama.org and search for 'mammal guide'.

Amphibians and reptiles can be seen in the forest and on a night boat ride. Expect to see amphibians such as the crested toad in the forest and reptiles such as the Amazon tree boa and baby black caiman on a night boat ride. There are laminated guides to frogs and snakes for reference in Iwokrama's main building.

Watch our videos on Iwokrama:

https://iwokramariverlodge.com/activities/

https://iwokramariverlodge.com/tours/

There's tons to do.

Activities include:

Walks in the forest and along the access road with your guide, who will share gruesome stories of horrible parasites and rashes you can pick up in the forest and trees that will cure you of these malignant ailments. Cures include boiling up the bark of trees and bathing in the liquid and drinking teas made from the leaves of various plants. Your guide will also spot birds and other critters you will miss and do their best to ensure you get good photos of them.
Night boat rides with flashlights to spot snakes, black caiman, tree frogs, iguanas and sleeping birds. These are really good fun.
Day boat rides round Indian House Island to find monkeys and birds. We saw lots of wildlife on these, including three monkey species (see point 1) and lotsa birds including swallow-winged puffbirds and red-capped cardinals. These first three activities are covered in our video: Iwokrama Forest, Guyana: South American extrav 4
Longer forest trails including a trek to the top of Turtle Mountain for a lovely view of forest as far as the eye can see, the Essequibo River and the distant Pakaraima Mountains. We saw black spider monkeys, lotsa butterflies and crested toads here, and heard red howler monkeys. See our video: Turtle Mountain and more, Guyana: South American extrav 5
Visiting a local village, Fair View, to find out about the indigenous way of life.
Staying at basic Turtle Mountain camp in the middle of the forest and waking up with the wildlife.

You can also combine your visit with a trip to nearby Atta Rainforest Lodge in the heart of the forest. Here is where the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway is situated and there is tons of wildlife and professional guides who work very hard to ensure you see as much as possible.

Iwokrama is a great place to just do nothing. From your bungalow veranda, you can see lovely Essequibo River and enjoy the breeze coming from it. Every veranda has a comfortable hammock and chairs. You can also watch ameiva lizards scuttling through the grass and various birds in the trees. A stroll round the grounds in the early morning and late afternoon will produce sightings of various tanager species, and if you go down to the river you are practically guaranteed to see the resident black caiman, Sankar. Come here just to recharge and relax and read a good book in your hammock.

The main building houses the dining room which serves buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is nutritious and tasty and caters for all tastes. The bar is sometimes open but you can always nab a beer from the kitchen if desperate.

https://iwokramariverlodge.com/nature/science/

Get involved. As an international research centre, Iwokrama has some very brainy people working in it who will be happy to share their research projects with you. There are also several research papers published online (see link above)

It's best to organise your interest in the research in advance as the scientists are basically working full-time. When booking your stay (see next section for details), make sure you specify you would like to find out more about their work. They are always looking for donations too so if you are in a position to contribute to their work, let them know.

It's also possible to work here, if you have the skills. Contact their Georgetown office (see 'Getting there').

Do an extended visit

You can combine a visit to Iwokrama with a stay at gorgeous Atta Rainforest Lodge, which is right in the middle of the lovely rainforest. The lodge gardens attract agoutis, birds, butterflies, bats and lizards and the lodge is a delightful place to stay.

It's only a 30-minute drive or less on a well-maintained dirt road from Iwokrama to here.

Atta Lodge is where the well-advertised Iwokrama Canopy Walkway is based. Sightings depend on what trees are fruiting when you arrive but there is other wildlife too. We were fortunate enough to see a rare and beautiful two-striped forest pit viper.

Watch our video on Atta Rainforest Lodge and Iwokrama Canopy Walkway.

Getting there

https://iwokrama.org/contact-us/

https://iwokramariverlodge.com/rates/

You can book to get to Iwokrama from overseas. The links above provide their contact details and the amount to pay depending on what you require (meals, standard of accommodation, flights etc).

If you are spending time in or live in Georgetown, you can visit their office there and find out more.

Iwokrama is a 50-minute flight from Georgetown to Fair View where an Iwokrama representative will pick you up. You can also go by road from Georgetown along a fairly rough dirt track in a 4WD vehicle. Apparently this is quite an adventure and you could see quite a lot of wildlife.

A lot of visitors, including us, visited Iwokrama as part of a tour, but I reckon you could spend longer there and really get into the place. It's fascinating. We met a few tourists at Iwokrama travelling independently and they appreciated setting their own agenda.

Watch our videos on Iwokrama:

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