Guyana, the Land of Many Waters, is waiting to be explored

Guyana – blessed with gold, bauxite, and numerous other minerals and other resources – has attracted the attention of tourists from across the world, and ever since it discovered that precious resource, oil, there has been an influx of tourists as well as business persons and entities, all excited and anxious to participate in the economic boom in Guyana.
Visitors to Guyana will obviously clamour for intimate knowledge of this country’s rich diversities, its flora and fauna, and the many historic structures that decorate Georgetown and the other regions of this beautiful country.
We are now into November, designated “Tourism Awareness Month”. What has Guyana to offer?
Firstly, for the uninitiated, Guyana is divided into 10 administrative regions. Dubbed the “Land of Many Waters”, one’s thought is immediately directed to the Mighty Kaieteur Falls, the world’s largest single-drop waterfall, which is four and a half times the height of Niagara Falls. Located in Region Eight (Potaro-Sip Aruni), the Kaieteur National Park sits in a section of the Amazon rainforest. The Falls, which lies in the Potaro River itself, has been a ‘must-see’ for thousands who have visited this beautiful country with notepads in hand and cameras strapped across their shoulders.
This majestic landmark can be accessed by land or plane. By land, the journey starts with a nine-hour bus ride from Georgetown to the town of Mahdia. Many travellers have shied away from this route, since the undulating terrain along the trail can be treacherous.
Those opting for the overland trip upon reaching Mahdia will take a boat upstream, and from there, hike to the Kaieteur National Park and to the Falls. The return to Georgetown would most likely be by plane.
Guyana is noted for its biodiversity and even the uninitiated will agree that the wide range of attractions will encourage a second, third, and many other visits to this pristine place.
And with “Christmas is just around the corner”, Guyana is even more hospitable. Indeed, many carols already fill the air – “Jingle Bells”; “Jolly Ole St Nick”; “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, etc, but the season is mainly about the many finger-licking delicacies. Every family will soon be busy preparing that pot of delicious pepper-pot, and garlic pork along with the black cake, fruit cake, and sponge cake. This is the time to be in Guyana. Our tourism planners were super smart to have thought up the idea to celebrate Tourism Awareness Month in November when the preparations for the jolly season are in full flow.
Tourists will also delight in a walk through the shopping areas along Regent Street; a visit to the Bourda Market or Stabroek Market in Central Georgetown will heighten the experience. Fresh fruits and provisions are available “abhar, abhar” (which means aplenty in Guyanese parlance).
One cannot visit Guyana and not own a piece of jewellery that could be had at the many jewellery stalls in the Stabroek Market. Fashionable gold chains, popular cricket bands, or a beautiful designer ring made of ‘Guyana gold’ heighten the experience.
Those visitors who have been fed a litany of adverse dogma of lax security can be comforted that the men (and women) in blue and black are out in full force at strategic points in the city.
Guyana, the Land of Many Waters, is waiting to be explored, and the anticipated droves of tourists are guaranteed an experience that will be awe-inspiring, to say the least!
Happy Tourism Awareness Month, everyone!