Dhandarry Nature Resort – a paradise on the Abary River

By Andrew Carmichael

Dhandarry Nature Resort is considered a paradise on the Abary River where one can enjoy nature at its best while participating in fishing, kayaking and horseback rides.
The resort situated on the western bank of the Abary River is the number one tourist site in the county of Berbice.
It is situated 25 miles up the Abary River, but just five miles from Onverwagt where a boat takes you twenty minutes upriver to the resort.
It’s all nature and offers organic foods grown on the Abary River.
The resort even allows for visitors to do their own cooking if they wish to.
Dhandarry Nature Resort is owned by Kumar Ramdeo, who is also a rice and cattle farmer.
During a recent tour of the facility as part of the Tourism Ministry’s Media Fam visit, Ramdeo said the resort also offers boating and adventures. Tourists visiting the resort have the opportunity to explore on foot or go on a four-and-a-half-kilometre horseback ride across the savannah and into the forested area if they wish. They also get to pass through the rice fields and see grazing cattle in the savannah.
The resort was established in 2005, and according to Ramdeo, the motivating factor came when he was a little boy visiting the farm.
“When I would come to visit dad on the farm, I would sit in his camp house and imagine what can happen here but there was no tourism at that time in the late 70s.”
However, Ramdeo said he got inspired from watching movies and fantasised about developing his father’s farm into a resort.

That has now become a reality.
However, in doing so there were some challenges in developing the farm into a nature resort. Ramdeo shared that he fell ill after starting the project and had to put it on hold. Nevertheless, he was able to complete it.
Already, he has invested $20 million in the project and plans to expand.
“I would like to put in about six more rooms all to be fully self-contained with air conditioning.”
Currently, the rooms available are not air conditioned, thereby allowing visitors to experience nature to its fullest.
He pointed out that since the COVID-19 pandemic; locals have started to visit the resort. Prior to that, all of his visitors were foreigners; mainly from Europe. Now the ratio is more than two to one, with the locals outnumbering the foreigners.
The resort offers different packages which include day tours, overnight, and meals if required.
“Another part of it is if you want to cook for yourself, you can bring your own things to cook or you can have us provide – the resort is self-sufficient. We produce our own meat, eggs, etc. Our vegetables and all of our food is organic.”
The investment needed, he said, is a further $20 million and with an average of between six to twenty groups per month, Ramdeo said he will have to depend on his farm to supply the needed capital.
He said he does not have the needed capital, explaining that the 2021 floods hit both his rice and cattle business, resulting in heavy losses. However, the resort can stand on its own feet currently.
Ramdeo said everyone who visited has always said they want to return.
The resort also offers night-time nature activities which include alligator spotting, and star gazing.
“Early in the morning, you can look out for the manatees. You can also do bird watching. Those birds wake me up at five and then you have another set at six and then at seven thirty you have more. They all have different melodies,” he explained.