NONE OF US HAD EVER BEEN TO GUYANA, including our fearless leader, Bill. This was an exploratory trip for Caligo Tours and Bill volunteered to lead it for Peg, Caligo’s boss lady. But the guys (and girls) at Karanambo had been doing this for years and the guides were up for the task. Connie had her target list ready to go and she more-or-less appointed Garry as her special guide.
Connie's target list Connie and Gary
We set out each morning around six — sometimes on foot, other times in the trucks — returning for breakfast around nine. There were optional hikes before lunch and a formal outing, including a boat trip, in the afternoon. Each trip was to a different location, often a different ecosystem.
On the birding trail A boatful of birders
It has been a long, dry season but there are plenty of birds to see. Many of them are small and secretive antbirds, ant shrikes and puffbirds and are hard to photograph. We saw nearly 200 species in total and 38 of them were “lifers” for us. I was the only one of our group with a “real” camera so I felt the pressure to get good shots for everyone. The highlights were the capuchin bird, blue-backed manakin and ringed woodpecker.
Capuchin bird Ringed woodpecker
Birds weren’t our only targets. We also saw giant river otters, red howler monkeys, iguanas, caimans and our favorite, the giant anteater. The guides spotted it first, of course, and ran out to drive it towards us. Sometimes we wondered who was chasing whom.
Caiman Who is chasing whom?
