The Guyanas Tour

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This year YPT have resurrected an old favourite, our complete Guyanas tour which includes – Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana! Known as the “land of many waters” each with its diverse colonial past and not to forget some of the best distillers of rum in the world!

On this tour, we also go back to our classic roots, backpacking style but with your expert YPT guides leading the way through Guyana, a former British colony, Suriname, a former Dutch colony, and French Guiana, a French territory and part of the European Union!

We’ll do classic city tours loaded with colonial architecture, delicious street food, experiencing the nightlife in true YPT style and even casinos for those inclined. We’ll also board a small chartered flight to the pristine Kaieteur Falls, as well as visit the European Space Agency base in Guiana, and the infamous former French penal colony of Devil’s Island.

This is very much off the beaten track and keeping to our roots, a budget tour that’s packed with the best of the Guyanas – the least visited countries of South America!

ITINERARY

Monday 21st October – Georgetown, Guyana

Arrival at your leisure and self-transfer to Rima Guesthouse our centrally located hostel in Georgetown.
For those of you arriving early we will be heading to the Demerara Rum Distillery – this rum is unique to the region and our personal favourite! We’ll see and learn about the unique distillery process and of course tastes a few samples.
Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our hotel at 6:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
Head out for JR burgers – here you’ll have a unique Guyanese experience! This particular place has burgers with pineapple slices, heavily Jamaican influenced and delicious vegetarian options are also available.
After dinner we’ll move on to a local establishment which has selection of local rums and a local Banks beer, available as a lager or a milk stout and to know your group members.
Overnight in Georgetown.

Tuesday 22nd October – Georgetown – Kaieteur Falls – Georgetown

Morning

Breakfast at hotel
Head to the airport and board our chartered flight at 11:30am departing Georgetown to see one of the natural wonders of the world, the rarely visited Kaieteur Falls.
One of the highlights of this trip are the amazing views from our propeller plane as we reach the falls – here you can appreciate the sheer size of Kaieteur falls.
We arrive at Kaieteur Falls at 2:00pm – which is a short 15 minutes’ walk from the airport and have lunch.

Afternoon

After 2 hours exploring the falls and taking some epic photos. The Kaieteur Falls are on the Potaro River right in the middle of the remote location and dense Guyana rainforest was hiding the world’s largest single drop waterfall.
After an epic day we’ll catch the 4:00pm flight back to Georgetown.
We’ll head out to Salt and Pepper for some good Creole food and much deserved drinks.
Overnight in Georgetown

Wednesday 23rd October – Georgetown

Morning

After breakfast we head out on a walking tour to explore Georgetown known as the “Garden City of the Caribbean” – the only capital city in South America to have been a British colony.
You’ll explore with us the Gothic Revival City Hall, St. George’s Cathedral, and Independence Square.
Head to the Parliament Building which dates from 1829 – its history runs deep housing two cannons used during the Crimean War.
Explore the Stabroek Market with its prominent clock tower – this is the largest and busiest area in the city.

Afternoon

Street food by the market for lunch and continue to Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology which gives a great lowdown on the Amerindian heritage of the country.
If there’s time we’ll stroll around the Botanical Gardens which is where families head towards the evening to relax and unwind.
We’ll go for a quick rest back at the hostel before we head out again
Begin exploring the nightlife by hitting some of the many rum bars before finishing at the 24-hour nightclub/bar popular with the locals called Jerries.
Overnight in Georgetown

Thursday 24th October – Georgetown – Paramaribo, Suriname

Morning

Early wake up and board our private bus to Paramaribo – capital of Suriname. This is backpacking and adventure at its finest as we drive through pristine countryside as the sunrises to the ferry port to Suriname.
Board our 9:00am ferry, and board another bus to Paramaribo. We’ll have breakfast along the way.
Check into Guesthouse Zus for a quick freshen-up before we begin to explore the historic city, Paramaribo – a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002.
Our walking tour of the capital includes St Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Presidential Palace – probably the most stunning examples of Dutch colonial architecture.

Afternoon

Lunch in Paramaribo – our guides know the best places.
Begin making our way to Fort Zeelandia – which is an important site in Surinamese history and has the best views overlooking the Suriname River.
No trip to Paramaribo is complete without experiencing the beautiful Caribbean sunset at Waterkant – which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Dinner at a Javanese place – Java being where most Indonesian migrants to Suriname came from, with a bit of Dutch colonial history thrown in.
We’ll head out for a night in the town to see how the local rum compares to its western neighbour – it would be rude if we didn’t.
Overnight in Paramaribo

Friday 25th October – Paramaribo

Morning

Today we’ll be up early for a trip to the Paramaribo flea market where we can see the local people buying and selling a whole manner of things. This is a real look into the contemporary life of this developing country.
We’ll hire some bicycles and cycle out of town to explore the outskirts. This is where we can find former plantation grounds.

Afternoon

Lunch on the way
Seeing as we are in the Caribbean and having been traveling hard we take the afternoon to go to the main public beach to rock out and relax with a few cocktails and a swim in the sea. This can also be used as free time as it will be our last afternoon in Paramaribo.
Dinner in an East Indian restaurant another example of Dutch colonial history.
You cannot truly know a place unless you have been to its main nightclub, so we visit Mystique Pool café for a night out drinking with the locals.
Overnight in Paramaribo.

Saturday 26th October – Paramaribo – Cayenne, French Guiana

Morning

Breakfast followed by a free morning in Paramaribo before we begin the late morning drive to Cayenne, the capital of one of the furthest parts of the EU – French Guiana (they even take Euros!), again taking it to travel extremes by having to board a rickety boat to cross the river.

Afternoon

Afternoon arrival and check into our hotel Ket Tai for some quick R&R.
Lunch in the city before we begin a walking tour of this French territory/colony including Place de Palmistes, colonial French Architecture, St Saviour Cathedral, and Fort Ceparou.
After a long day we’ll have dinner and drinks in the city and overnight stay in Cayenne.

Sunday 27th October – Kouro and Devil’s Island

Morning

Early rise to catch a 6:00am shared taxi for the 1 hour drive to Kouro, home of the Guiana Space Centre and the main spaceport of the European Space Agency – we’ll have time for breakfast along the way.
Arrive for a 8:00am tour – this spaceport is close to the equator and thus easier to launch a spacecraft into an equatorial, geostationary orbit!

Afternoon

Lunch before we hop on a 1 hour cruise to Devil’s Island for a 3 hour tour of the most infamous penal colony in the world – only 2,000 survived out of 60,000 souls imprisoned there. This was a French prison in the 19^th and 20^th centuries with prisoners sent there from France and other French colonies worldwide. Home to Alfred Dreyfus in the late 19^th – a chilling place.
Evening arrival back in Cayenne hopefully in time for the sunset and our last farewell dinner followed by a night out!
Overnight in Cayenne

Monday 28thOctober – Cayenne, French Guiana