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Brazil Upside Potentials
Under Consideration by Guyana |
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| Hydropower:
Guyana has a hydropower potential of 7000 megawatts (MW)
and the largest single site in the Upper Mazaruni
has a potential of 3000 MW, MR. Hinds said. However,
with Guyana’s grid demand peaking at only 80 MW, and even
though it has doubled over the last dozen years,
hydropower development in the country would likely
require export to Brazil.
Free Trade Zone in Lethem
Allowing Guyana, CARICOM, Brazil and other countries in
South America to invest in that area. Lethem is expected
to become a major commercial centre through
cross-border trade, good potential for agriculture and
agro-based activities and road and air linkages to
Georgetown.
Deep Water
Harbor: The Guyana-Brazil road is linked to the proposed
deep water harbour on the Berbice River, which the two
countries are working on to give Brazil easier access to markets
in Europe and the Caribbean.
Agricultural
Integration:
Brazil is the number one global producer of five major
export products, including coffee and orange juice. It
is also the number two producer of soybeans and kidney
beans, and a major producer of corn and cocoa.
Market-friendly economic policies and advances in
agronomy have brought formerly unusable tropical
lands into production and increased productivity levels
beyond those in the United States and Europe,
challenging their traditional dominance of the global
farm trade. This success would potentially transfer to
Guyana's untapped lands as well.
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Lethem
(pop. 7,000), lies on the
Takutu River, which forms the border with
Brazil, opposite the Brazilian town of Bonfim. Lethem is
the main commercial centre
of the Guyanese
Rupununi savannah, where there are many vaqueros, or cowboys, and
ranches. The area's other economic activities are plant and
mineral extraction, and tourism.
The indigenous population
is comprised mainly of Makushi and Wapishana tribes.
Lethem is the largest town and the administrative centre of the Rupununi
Region, or Region 9, and includes a hospital, a police station, an army
camp, a telecommunication station, schools, guesthouses, restaurants and
stores.
The Rupununi Savannah is divided into north and south by
the Kanuku Mountains. Visitors can stay at cattle ranches here, and
locals provide guided walks across the savannah and up into the hills.
it is best to use tour operators when traveling
into the interior. Overland camping treks to the falls,
horse riding and hiking in the Rupununi, and whitewater
rafting are just a few options.
Rupununi Savana For going on a
"safari" in the Rupununi Savana on your own, you
can rent a bike at Don&Shirley's Airport shop
for approx. $5 US a day (but not during the wet
season).
St Ignatius: built around
a Jesuit mission, the nearby centre supports traditional Amerindian
craft work.
Visit
Kaieteur Falls: See Roriama Airlines at the
airport
Mt Roraima:
Guyana’s highest point, on the boundaries with Venezuela and
Brazil. It is the most famous of the table top mountains of the
Guyana highlands. With sheer cliffs rising 9,094 feet from the
surrounding savannah, it is rarely climbed from the Brazilian or
Guyana sides. Its ascent is a major attraction on the border of
Venezuela.
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GETTING THERE:
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(LTM) Lethem Airport, GY |
Airport: Lethem has an airport (IATA
Code: LTM) that connects it to
the capital,
Georgetown.
Note that Roraima
Airways has a baggage allowance of 25
lbs. (ca.12kg) including cabin baggage.
Each lb. excess baggage costs approx.
0,50 US$.
The two local Airplane operators are
TransGuyana Airways [transguyana.com ]
and Roraima Airways [roraimaairways.com
]who daily fly between Ogle and Lethem
Airstrip. [OGL-LTM] The Journey between
Ogle and Lethem is approximately two
hours |
bus
service Georgetown-Lethem: it takes
between fourteen to sixteen hours. Stops
along the way include Mabura Hill,
the Kurupukari pontoon crossing,
the Iwokrama Rainforest with its
Canopy Walkway and Annai.
Bus to
Georgetown:
daily bus to Georgetown. The
bus has 48 seats and starts at around
midnight in order to catch first ferry
at the river near Kurupukari at 06:00
AM.
Find the ticket office at the airport in
Lethem. The bus fills up fast with
people, so its best to make a
reservation the day before. After 15
hours you'll reach Georgetown at the
corner of Carlotte & Cummings Street.
Intraserv Bus Company 159
Charlotte Street Georgetown Tel:
226-0605 Fax: 225-1171
For the bus leaving for Lethem |
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Annual
Events: The International
Rupununi Rodeo
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There is a happening rodeo every Easter
weekend where you take part in the action by
dressing up
 as a cowboy or cowgirl. Competitions
include bareback riding, and it attracts lots of
Brazilians as both spectators and participants.
The fun kicks off on the Saturday and
continues to Easter Monday, with day time activities like
wild bull riding, horse racing, wild cow milking, wild horse
riding, a female barrel race, steer roping, etc.
The evening programme presents festivities in the form of a
cultural fair with food, games, music and the lively
so-called “Faha” dance, which is a pair dance and is said
to have its origin in the popular Northeast Brazilian
”Forró” dance. |
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Places to Stay:
Lethem
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Cacique Guest House
Rooms:
7
Lethem
Tel: 592-772-2083 |
Savannah Inn
Rooms:
13
Lethem, Region # 9
Tel: 592-772-2035 |
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Kaimbe Lodge Lethem,
Rooms:
4
Contact: Mrs and Mr Foo, Tel:
592-772-2031 |
Takatu Guest House
Rooms: 22
Lethem, Region # 9
Tel: 592-772-2034
or
226-9754
E-mail: morsha_j at hotmail.com |
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Inland from Lethem
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http://karanambu.com/
[5 traditional clay brick and thatched
cabins w/ private bath]
Karanambo Ranch Diane McTurk is well known for her
work in rehabilitating orphaned Giant
River Otters to the wild. Since 1927 this
has been the home of the McTurk family
and a working cattle ranch dedicated to
conservation of the Rupununi savannah
ecosystem and preservation of the
traditional way of life of the
indigenous Amerindians who make the area
their home. Rich in the vibrant bird and
animal life inhabiting the area,
Karanambu is a nature lovers paradise
Getting
Here |
Carahaa Landing Camp
Surama -
a hammock camp on the river edge
of Burro Burro River. Guests can also
stay in the village guest house, which
provides simple, comfortable
accommodation with shared facilities and
excellent meals. Common border with the Iwokrama International Centre. Observe
Giant River Otters, Tapir, Tira, Spider
Monkeys and many more species.
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ROCK VIEW LODGE (rockviewlodge.com)
is close to the Annai
airstrip. The resort offers a taste of
both Guyana and Brazil, with a bilingual
staff and cuisine from both countries.
The North Rupununi
Savannahs at the foothills of the
Pakaraima mountains and the Amerindian
villages of Annai, Woweta, Surama and
Kwatamang are all located nearby, where
you can learn about mankind's ability to
live in harmony with his natural
surroundings.
"Colin Edwards of
Rock View Lodge, has
steadily worked to create an
orderly little demesne in
the gorgeously sparse
savannah, adding to the
original ranch house two
lodges for guests, a large
kitchen and dining-house, a
shady orchard, what is
probably the only
swimming-pool in the
Rupununi, and even a small
zoo of animals
people have brought to Rock
View over the years
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Project
Guyana
The
Quarrie Bird Zone Group, led by
Macushi tour guide Paul Farias, has
completed construction on a small lodge
and camp area located on Eagle Mountain,
so named for the presence of Harpy
Eagles. Help local Amerincian take
control of the ecological destiny of
their country rather than bow down to
the exploitation of animal traders,
miners and loggers currently at liberty
to devastate Guyana's natural heritage.
fosterparrots.com |
Dadanawa Ranch [3
houses with 6 rooms with shared
bathrooms]
World's largest ranch, covering in
excess of 2000 square miles of tropical
savannah, containing about 28,000 head of
cattle. It is located on the Rupununi
River in the South Rupununi Savannahs.
Nature-loving tourists often use
Dadanawa as a base for journeys into the
nearby Kanuku Mountains, looking at
Amerindian paintings and petroglyphs
near the Rupununi River, or observing
the Harpy Eagle in the rainforest. Meals
by the staff are also a highlight, with
dishes with Amerindian and regional
flavour including baked cassava, tasso
and farine.
sbadventures.com/resorts_guide.htm
Getting There: By aircraft or vehicle
only or combination aircraft and ve | |
