According to extreme world travellers, I am now on the downhill run to finishing all countries in the world – the mighty 150 Milestone !!!
Welcome to Guyana, my 150th Visit and 145th Run UN Country out of a UN total of 193. After my blog photos below are the key statistics, brief history and interesting facts about this destination.
Thursday 19 February was another one of those sad and happy days in travel. Sad because I was leaving the Caribbean after completing AI CARABBINA and happy because I was sleeping in Guyana in South America and starting this blog AI CARAMBA 2 !!! After a record 22 hire cars in a row, I drove this last one to meet Kalique downtown at 830am. He drove me to Argyle International Airport to fly InterCaribbean from St Vincent & The Grenadines to Barbados and then on to Georgetown Guyana. The whole thing went so smoothly. Barbados flight on-time with terrific shots of both St Vincent taking off at 1220pm and Barbados landing at 120pm. I had 5hrs in Barbados until my 625pm to Guyana so swung into action to complete AI CARABBINA blog and start AI CARAMBA. At 430pm I visited Duty Free to renew my rum, this time with the local Mount Gay Rum, the first in the world. Then I purchased a bottle of wine, visited the toilet, transferred the precious liquid from wine bottle to yogurt container. Add a double paddy hamburger and I was off to the gate to enjoy my stash over a movie. I do not like late afternoon flights because I am forced to eat fast food at the airport and by the time I reach the hotel, unpack and shower it is usually after 9pm and almost time for bed. Guyana was like this. My guide Malcom met me at Georgetown Cheddi Airport on time at 750pm and it was a long 34km to the Ramada, my best accommodation to date. I was doing the “3 Guinas” on a private tour with only 2 others so it was a rare move from 2-Stars to 4-Stars for me on this trip !!! As predicted, it was 930pm when I settled but this time, no more wine, just early bed so I could complete my 145th UN Country run in Georgetown GUYANA at sunrise because of the heat and humidity generated by being 6.8 degrees North of the Equator – same as Bangkok !!!
I set out on my run at 630am and conditions were great. Clouds hid the rising sun and a breeze kept humidity at bay. The run and daylight revealed a Georgetown that is in a hurry to catch up with the second world. A recent discovery of huge reserves of crude oil just offshore as brought Exxon-Mobile to the country and boosted the economy. As a result, Guyana has used the oil money to hire China to build new infrastructure. The prize was the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara Bridge, opened in October 2025 which I would walk across later. In the meantime, my run introduced me to a flat landscape, busy roads undergoing improvements, reasonably well-kept older houses, new gated communities and a mix of peoples – this place look more like a Caribbean island that it does a Latin-American nation. In fact, there are 7 ethnic groups here dominated by East Indians and West Africans. I noticed lots of trucks carrying sand for concrete which further validated the construction boom here. I completed my run without pain and rejoiced in it given my groin. After my run I spent the whole morning walking across the newly completed Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara Bridge. It is 2.65km long and 51m above the Demerara River. The views from the top are terrific. It took me a total of 2hrs to do the 6km round trip across and I made it back just in time for Malcom to take me and two others on a 4hr tour of the city.
Antonia and Bruce are in their early seventies and like me travelling to every country in the world – if their health allows them. They are sitting at 131 and from Sacramento, California USA. A lovely couple that I got to know very well because of our collective love of travel. We exchanged heaps of travel stories. The city centre of Georgetown is unimpressive. It is neat and tidy but not good looking or sophisticated. Its only jewel is several old 1700s English Colonial buildings made entirely of wood and brightly painted. As you will read below, Guyana was first a Dutch colony but ended up British before becoming a “Co-operative” Republic in 1966. No other Republic in the world uses this term “Co-operative” – only Guyana. Malcom explained that this is because the title was adopted on February 23, 1970, chosen to honor the history of freed slaves who pooled their resources to buy abandoned sugar plantations in the 1830s and 1840s, creating the country's first legal entity cooperatives. Today the term signals a shift toward a socialist economy where the "small man" would become a "real man" through collective ownership and development of resources.
Malcom took us to the following attractions: Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Parliament, St Andrews Kirk, Stabroek Market, City Hall, St Georges Cathedral, Anthropology Museum, National Museum, Promenade Gardens, State House, I LUV GUYANA sign, African Liberation Monument, Sea Wall. There are no real highlights but if I had to pick one it would be the St Georges Cathedral because it is one of few Anglican Churches in the world that is built entirely of wood in the TUTOR style. Georgetown CBD is on the coast with the Atlantic Ocean in front of it but because it is next to the long and wide and deep Demerara River, which brings tons of mud and silt from the Amazon, there are no beaches and foreshore is all mud until you reach the deep blue Atlantic. Heavens knows why the Saudi Government is building the biggest resort hotel right here – in front of mud instead of beaches !!! Maybe they haven’t told anyone that they intend to dredge the coast and replace it with blue swimmable Atlantic !!! The other interesting fact about Georgetown is that it is 5m below sea level. When the Dutch were here, they built a dyke along the coast to keep the Atlantic out, which is still there but adorned with a small 1m concrete wall adorned with street art – this is known as the “Georgetown Sea Wall”, which is lined with restaurants and bars and therefore the main hangout for the hip and young. Even though the city is not eye-catching, it was an interesting tour with lots of information on the past and present of Guyana. You will read all about this below but one thing is for sure – this country is in a hurry to catch up and doing exactly that. Malcom dropped me off at the huge Massy Supermarket where I stocked up on wine and a local hot packaged Creole Fish with rice. By the time I walked back to the Ramada I was exhausted but not enough to celebrate my 150th Visit and 145th Run UN Country with that delicious fish and lots of wine !!!
Saturday 21 February will probably end up as the “Best Daytime Experience” and “Best Attraction” for the BEST and WORST Awards at the end of AI CARAMBA Part 2 !!! Why ? Because we flew out to the mighty Kaieteur Waterfall. This adventure started with a 545am rise for a 645am pickup by Malcom to take us to the smaller Eugene Correia Airport, only 6km from Ramada versus 36km to Cheddi International. We were joined by 8 others and crammed inside a three propeller-engined relic called the “Trilander BN2A Mark III” built in 1976 on The Isle of Mann in the UK. 1976. It looked like someone stole it from an aviation museum. This plane is owned and operated by Roraima Airways and is very reliable. It is also very loud. Takeoff was at 830am and it took a solid hour to fly just 278km to the waterfall. We flew at 6,500ft (1,981m) at 135 Knots (250km/h) since this aircraft is not pressurized and has a ceiling of 10,000ft. The views were stunning. Started with fantastic views of Georgetown and its Bridge followed by endless jungle. This flight brought back memories of my Cessna Flight to Angel Falls in Venezuela. Similar landscape, similar feel. Before landing we made a low pass of the waterfall and yes, it is spectacular. We were met by a local indigenous woman guide who took us to two viewpoints of the waterfall. Both viewpoints are literally cliff edges with a 250m drop to the valley below. Scary stuff but stunning views. The Kaieteur Waterfall is officially the most “powerful” single-drop waterfall in the world. By “powerful” we mean the flow rate (volume and speed) of water that pours over the edge, being 663 cubic metres per second. There is a series of cascading waterfalls in the DRC called The Inga Falls that has a flow rate of 25,768 cubic metres per second but it has several drops. Kaieteur is fed by the Potaro River. The top of the waterfall is 433m above sea level and the drop (height) is 226 metres, making it four and a half times the height of Niagara Falls and twice the height of Victoria Falls !!! Amazing. And it looks it too !!! Wait to you see it below. The Kaieteur is often referred to as the “Coca Cola Waterfall” because of the ribbons of red and orange and brown in the water caused by alluvial silt being dragged by the Potaro River over its edge. The best views of this miracle of nature is from the air and we made two passes after takeoff so that both sides of the aircraft could see and photograph it – so do not worry what side of the aircraft you need to sit on. I was very lucky to have the seat behind the pilot with large windows forward of the props allowing me to swing to both sides of the aircraft for footage. What a sight ! The flight back revealed ironies. The jungle out here is VAST. Everywhere you look there are trees with no gorund visible except… the many completed mines, mostly bauxite for aluminum but the big one now is gold – it has even replaced diamond mining given the abundance and high price gold. Landed at 1240pm with Malcom waiting to take us to the Cheddi Airport for our 630pm flight to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. It is here that my speed of light trip in Guyana ends. But not for you – enjoy what you can of Georgetown but feast your eyes on what will likely become the highlight of AI CARAMABA Part 2 in the footsteps of Angel Falls in Part 1 – The mighty Kaieteur Waterfall…
GUYANA IN A NUTSHELL:
Guyana is currently the world’s fastest-growing economy, a transformation driven by massive offshore oil discoveries since 2015. It is also one of the world's most biodiverse nations, with approximately 93.5% of its land covered by forest.
• GDP Growth (2024): 43.6%.
• GDP (2025): $USD25.8 billion for 2025.
• GDP per Capita (2025): $USD32,326.
• Inflation (2024): 2.9%.
• Unemployment (2024): 10.2% (Youth 22.3%).
• Total Population (2025): 835,986.
• Population Density: 3.9 people per km².
• Ethnic Composition: 39.8% Indian, 29.3% African, 20% Mixed, and 10.5% Indigenous.
• Religion: 63.9% Christian, 24.8% Hindu, and 6.8% Muslim.
• Life Expectancy (2025): 70.3 years.
• Literacy Rate: 97.9%.
• Petroleum: Oil production was 645,000 barrels per day by late 2024 and is expected to exceed 1.3 million by 2027.
• Agriculture: sugar, rice, and vegetable oils.
• Mining: gold, bauxite, and diamonds.
• Forestry: Guyana is a major exporter of hardwood timber and is active in carbon credit markets to preserve its forests.
• Official Language: English (the only English-speaking country in South America).
• Government Type: Unitary presidential.
BRIEF HISTORY OF GUYANA:
Guyana’s history is a complex narrative of indigenous roots, centuries of European colonial struggle, and a post-independence era marked by ethnic political divisions and a recent, transformative oil boom.
• Arawak, Carib, and Warao since 300BC.
• Christopher Columbus sighted the coast in 1498, but dense rainforest and lack of gold initially discouraged Spanish settlement.
• The Dutch established the first permanent European settlement in 1616.
• The Dutch and later the British imported hundreds of thousands of enslaved West Africans to work on sugar, coffee, and cotton plantations.
• 1763: Enslaved Africans led by Cuffy (now a national hero) staged a massive uprising that briefly overthrew European control.
• 1814: After alternating between Dutch, French, and British rule, the colonies were formally ceded to Britain.
• Following the total abolition of slavery in 1838, the British brought indentured labourers from India, Portugal and China to solve labour shortages.
• Guyana gained independence on 26 May 1966..
• 1970: The nation became a Co-operative Republic within the Commonwealth, led by Forbes Burnham of the People's National Congress (PNC).
• 1964–1985: Burnham’s increasingly authoritarian and socialist rule was marked by economic decline, allegations of fraud, and the 1978 Jonestown Massacre.
• 1992: The first internationally recognized free and fair elections since 1964 were held, resulting in the victory of Cheddi Jagan and the People's Progressive Party (PPP).
• 2015–Present: The discovery of massive offshore oil reserves by ExxonMobil in 2015 has made Guyana one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GUYANA:
1. World's Fastest-Growing Economy due to discovery of massive offshore oil reserves in 2015.
2. Home to Kaieteur Falls, the world's largest single-drop waterfall by flow rate of water.
3. The Only English-Speaking Country in South America.
4. "Guyana" is derived from an indigenous Amerindian word meaning "Land of Many Waters," a nod to the country's vast network of rivers, including the 628-mile-long Essequibo River.
5. Culturally and politically, Guyana identifies more with the Caribbean than its South American neighbours.
6. 85% to 90% of Guyana is covered by untouched tropical rainforest, one of the highest proportions in the world.
7. Inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous 1912 novel, The Lost World.
8. Rare and Giant Wildlife: Known as the "Land of the Giants," Guyana is a haven for massive species, including the giant river otter, the giant anteater, the harpy eagle, and the Arapaima, one of the world's largest freshwater fish.
9. Home to the World’s Rarest Stamp: The British Guiana 1c Magenta, printed in 1856, is widely considered the most expensive and rarest postage stamp in existence.
10. World's Longest Floating Bridges: such as the Demerara Harbour Bridge (1,851 meters).
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