Hey Heather!
The trip was really good; very interesting and educational – pretty eye-opening too. To me, at least, the best part about Guyana, and to a lesser extent, Suriname, was the complete lack of tourists. We knew going in that very few foreigners visited Guyana and figured there would be a decent supply of Dutch visitors in Suriname (there was). In spite of that, Guyana appears to have well-established tourism infrastructure in place. While we didn’t get to see a jaguar or harpy eagle (didn’t go with any expectations), we did get to see a variety of other wildlife “in the wild”, including spider monkeys, howler monkeys, a sloth, a snake bird, and a wide variety of flora. The falls (both) were positively breathtaking. As an American accustomed to such a “nanny state”, it was so refreshing to not see a bunch of guardrails and other barriers adjacent to the falls. We were able to get right on the edge and get some amazing photos. Both countries felt largely unspoiled – almost as if we had them to ourselves.
Danpaati Lodge was a really unique experience… riding 2+ hours in an open boat (and having to get out along the way and walk on land due to the low water level) and then arriving at a river-side oasis adjacent to isolated villages was pretty wild.
Overall, very pleased with Contours and left a Facebook review reinforcing this.
Thanks again,
Andy