The Pakaraima Mountain Safari celebrates its tenth trip this year, offering an ideal opportunity to experience Guyana’s pristine beauty through an extended adventure of a lifetime.
Roads linking the villages of Region 8, from Maikwauk to Monkey Mountain and from Karasabai to Yurong Peru in Region 9 once never existed. The villages of the Pakaraimas were land only accessible by air.
It was difficult for the Patamona and the Macushi tribes to traverse the area.
However, an access path/ trail was eventually constructed, and it was with pride that the villages of the Pakaraimas welcomed the first safari.
On March 2003, four land rovers, two tractors and trailers with passengers started a historic two-and-a-half day journey from Karasabai to Orinduik. The safari was led by Harripersaud Nokta, former Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, accompanied by other government officials along with the commander of the Lethem and Karasabai Police Station and 21 others. The historic journey is the birth of what we have today – the annual Pakaraima Mountain Safari.
This year, the fun goes March 30 to April 6 from Georgetown and ends at Orinduik Falls at the foot of the Pakaraima Mountain range bordering Guyana and Brazil. Enjoy the adrenaline rush as you travel through pristine forest, over mountains and hills teeming with wildlife and indigenous people. Breaks along the route provide adequate time to take pleasure in the aesthetics of Guyana.
Eat freshly made cassava bread, drink water from a natural spring spewing from mountains, wash off the stress of daily urban life under the magnificent Orinduik Falls and be guided to ancient petroglyphs. Camp out under the stars and be serenaded by the sounds of the forest.
On this ultimate trip, you have the opportunity to explore over 14 Amerindian communities, experience rich indigenous culture and enjoy the scenic beauty of our interior savannah. Participants would get a glimpse of the Black Caiman and the elusive jaguar and enjoy bird watching along the route or get a close up view of the Giant Anteater.
Travel across many rivers, hills and mountains and discover the beautiful geological features of the Pakaraima Mountain Range, which is blessed with a wide range of flora and fauna, and enjoy a refreshing dip in the Cheong, Ichilibar and Orinduik Falls.
This year, a memorial service in honour of the late Dr Cheddi Jagan, former President of Guyana, will be held at the monument square in Karasabai by the residents of Region 9. Dr Jagan is fondly remembered in this region for the ‘revolving heifer’ scheme in the 1960s.
Under this scheme, farmers were given a heifer and were only obligated to return the first heifer born to the Ministry of Agriculture, which would use it to continue the cycle. The scheme was a catalyst for the growth of the cattle industry in Karasabai.
The Pakaraima Mountain Safari is organized by the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority in collaboration with Rainforest Tours, Regions 8 and 9 and the Ministry of Local Government, and is sponsored by GUYOIL/Castrol, Digicel, Geddes Grant and MMC. (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
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