Guyana | 2024-2025 Packages to Guyana at a bargain price

Highlights

Colonial architecture and parks in Georgetown
- Rupununi Savanna with its incredible wildlife
- The splendid falls of Kaieteur National Park

Geography

Guyana is the size of Idaho and is situated on the northern coast of South America, east of Venezuela, west of Suriname, and north of Brazil. A tropical forest covers more than 80% of the country.

Language

English is the official language of Guyana. In addition, Amerindian languages are spoken by a small minority, while Guyanese Creole (an English-based creole with African and Indian syntax) is widely spoken. Grammar is not standardized.
In addition to English, other languages of Guyana include Guyanese Creole, Akawaio, Wai-Wai, Arawak and Macushi.

Money

Credit cards are accepted at Georgetown's better hotels and restaurants, though not at gas stations, most stores or anywhere else. Credit card advances can be made only at the Scotiabank. The currency is Guyana Dollar G

Climate

The climate is subtropical and rainy. The average temperature at Georgetown is 27°C (81°F); there is little seasonal variation in temperature or in humidity, which averages 80–85%. Rainfall averages 229 cm (90 in) a year along the coast, falling in two wet seasons—May to July and November to January—and 165 cm (65 in) in the southwest, where there is a single wet season, extending from April through August.

Gastronomy

There can be found many influences in the Guyanese cuisine, due to the country’s position and historical background. The most important cooking styles have been adopted from the East Indian, Caribbean, African and Chinese cuisines, but there are also many European influences, as Guyana is basically a harmonic blend of these all. Most of these cuisines are based on seafood and fish dishes which include the traditional stew called pepper pot, which contains cassava juice, meat, hot pepper and various seasonings. The Guyanese cuisine is also curried and this characteristic belongs to the Indian people, which have roti and various spices. In the region of Danemara, there are many sweet local delicacies, as this region is famous for the Sugar that it produces and as well, for the traditional rum. In the capital Georgetown, the variety of foods is wide, as all Guyana’s influences, belonging to various countries, can be found in this city.

History

The first Europeans arrived in the area around 1500. Guyana was inhabited by the Arawak and Carib tribes of Amerindians. Although Christopher Columbus sighted Guyana during his third voyage (in 1498), the Dutch were first to establish colonies: Essequibo (1616), Berbice (1627), and Demerara (1752). The British assumed control in the late 18th century, and the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814. In 1831 the three separate colonies became a single British colony known as British Guiana.
The State House, Guyana's Presidential Residence.
Escaped slaves formed their own settlements known as Maroon communities. With the abolition of slavery in 1834 many of the former enslaved people began to settle in urban areas. Indentured labourers from modern day Portugal (1834), Germany (first in 1835), Ireland (1836), Scotland (1837), Malta (1839), China and India (beginning in 1838) were imported to work on the sugar plantations.
In 1889 Venezuela claimed the land up to the Essequibo. Ten years later an international tribunal ruled the land belonged to British Guiana.
During World War II the United States arranged for its air force to use British airports in South America, including those in British Guiana.
Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 and became a republic on 23 February 1970, remaining a member of the Commonwealth. The United States State Department and the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), along with the British government, played a strong role in influencing who would politically control Guyana during this time. They provided secret financial support and political campaign advice to pro-western Guyanese of African descent, especially Forbes Burnham's People's National Congress to the detriment of the Cheddi Jagan-led People's Progressive Party, mostly supported by Guyanese of Indian descent, which had ties with the Soviet Union. In 1978, Guyana received considerable international attention when 918 almost entirely American members of the Peoples Temple died in Jonestown, Georgetown and at a Temple attack at a small airstrip which resulted in the murder of five people, including the only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in U.S. history, Leo Ryan.

Religion

According to the 2002 Census, Guyana's religions breakdown is 28.4% Hindu, 16.9% Pentecostal, 8.1% Roman Catholic, 7.3% Muslim, 6.9% Anglican, 3% Seventh-day Adventist, 16.5% other Christian denominations, 4.3% no religion, 0.5% Rastafarian, 0.1% Bahá'í, and 2.2% other faiths. Most Guyanese Christians are either Protestants or Roman Catholics and include a mix of all races. Hinduism is dominated by the Indians who came to the country in the early 1800s, while Islam varies between the Afro-Guyanese, and Indian-Guyanese.

Culture

Guyana, along with Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil, is one of the four non-Hispanic nations in South America. Guyana's culture is very similar to that of the English-speaking Caribbean, to the extent that Guyana is included and accepted as a Caribbean nation and is a founding member of the Caricom (Caribbean Community) economic bloc and also the home of the Bloc's Headquarters, the CARICOM Secretariat. Its geographical location, its sparsely populated rain forest regions, and its substantial Amerindian population differentiate it from English-speaking Caribbean countries. Its blend of Indo-Guyanese (East Indian) and Afro-Guyanese (African) cultures gives it similarities to Trinidad and distinguishes it from other parts of the Americas. Guyana shares similar interests with the islands in the West Indies, such as food, festive events, music, sports, etc. Guyana plays international cricket as a part of the West Indies cricket team, and the Guyana team plays first class cricket against other nations of the Caribbean. In addition to its CARICOM membership, Guyana is a member of CONCACAF, the international football federation for North and Central America and the Caribbean. Another aspect of Guyanese culture is its rich folklore about Jumbees.

Music

Guyana is a South American country whose musical traditions are a mix of Indian, African, European and native elements. Important American, Caribbean, Brazilian and other Latin musical styles are popular. Popular Guyanese performers include Terry Gajraj, Mark Holder, Eddy Grant, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds, Aubrey Cummings and Nicky Porter. The Guyana Music Festival has proven an influential part of the scene.

Wildlife

Guyana abounds with plant and animal life. Each region boasts unique species.
The following habitats have been categorized for Guyana: coastal, marine, littoral, estuarine palustrine, mangrove, riverine, lacustrine, swamp, savannah, white sand forest, brown sand forest, montane, cloud forest, moist lowland and dry evergreen scrub forests (NBAP, 1999). About 14 areas of biological interest have been identified as possible hotspots for a National Protected Area System.
More than 80% of Guyana is still covered by forests, ranging from dry evergreen and seasonal forests to montane and lowland evergreen rain forests. These forests are home to more than a thousand species of trees. Guyana's tropical climate, unique geology, and relatively pristine ecosystems support extensive areas of species-rich rain forests and natural habitats with high levels of endemism. Approximately eight thousand species of plants occur in Guyana, half of which are found nowhere else.
Guyana is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Guyana, with 1,168 vertebrate species, 1600 bird species, boasts one of the richest mammalian fauna assemblages of any comparably sized area in the world.
The Guiana Shield region is little known and extremely rich biologically. Unlike other areas of South America, over 70% of the natural habitat remains pristine.
The rich natural history of British Guiana was described by early explorers Sir Walter Raleigh and Charles Waterton and later by naturalists Sir David Attenborough and Gerald Durrell.