South America's Forgotten Corner - Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana

Explore 3 countries in South America in only one journey! On this tour to remote corners of the world you will have the chance to explore some of the best preserved rain forests, some of the least inhabited areas on this planet, wild nature boasting a wide variety of vegetation – the world as it was millions of years ago. In addition you will meet people of various ethnic background – in the former Dutch colony of Suriname there live Europeans, African Americans, Chinese, Indians, Native Americans, Jews, Indonesians. Almost all world religions coexist peacefully in this country and in the capital Paramaribo you will see standing close to each other a synagogue, a mosque and a Hindu temple. Guyana is the only English speaking country in South America and one of the few Carribean countries that is not an island. And entering French Guiana you are actually entering the European Union as this is a French territory, where among all things you will find a Space center for launching satellites.

Itinerary:   

Day 1. Guyana
Arrival in Guyana. Transfer to hotel in Georgetown center (about 1 hour) for overnight.

Day 2. Historic Georgetown
Georgetown City Tour (Heritage Buildings & Sites). Georgetown's unique wooden architecture dates from the 18th and 19th centuries. Visit botanical garden and taste the local Guyanese Cuisine.

Day 3. Kaieteur Falls trip
Free morning to enjoy Georgetown. Today we continue to Ogle Airport (30 min) where we take a small aircraft to Kaieteur Falls (one hour flight). Kaietur is world’s highest single drop water falls measuring 226 m. We spend about 1,5 hours at the falls before we fly back to Georgetown.

Day 4. Parаmaribo, Suriname
Early departure to Suriname. We cross the border at Molsen Creek/Nickeri by ferry. Arrive Paramaribo in the afternoon.

Day 5. Colonial Parаmaribo
City Tour of Parаmaribo- historic buildings & heritage sites. Overnight Parаmaribo

Day 6. Parаmaribo - New Amsterdam - Parаmaribo
1-day trip to Fort New Amsterdam at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers. The fort was built in 1747, after the French under Cassard directly attacked the plantations instead of Fort Zeelandia and the city of Paramaribo. Lunch in a fishermans village. On the way back we will have the chance to observe Commewijne rivers pink river dolphins.

Day 7. Space Center-Kourou, French Guiana
Early start of the day and drive 150 km to Maroni river where we cross the border at Albina by pirogue to Saint Laurent in French Guiana. After another 2-hour drive we reach Kourou Space center - Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG), where a guided visit to the museum is included. Overnight in Kourou.

Day 8. Salvation Islands
After breakfast we catch the catamaran from the port at 08.30. Îles du Salut (in English: Islands of Health) are a group of small islands of volcanic origin and were called so because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland. The islands were featured in the popular novel Papillon by Henri Charrière. We visit two of the islands - Île Royale and Île Saint-Joseph and sail back to Kourou in the afternoon. Overnight in Kourou.

Day 9. Cayenne - Parаmaribo
We drive back to Albina and Paramaribo.

Day 10. Paramaribo
Transfer to the airport for a flight back home. 

Visa: All Europeans must have a visa in order to visit Suriname. It can be obtained at the Consulate in Netherlands. European citizens do not need visa for French Guiana. Some European citizens need visa to Guyana, which can be obtained upon arrival at the airport. 

Necessary equipment: hat; light clothes that can quickly get dried; sun protection cream; sun glasses; insects repellent; yellow fever vaccination; comfortable shoes and sandals; bathing suit; first aid kid and medicines like aspirin, against stomach problems etc.

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