One of the highlights of a recent trip to Guyana was a visit to the magnificent Kaieteur Falls, the world’s tallest single-drop waterfall.
But getting to Kaieteur isn’t like visiting Niagara or other easily-reached falls; it’s located deep in Guyana’s beautiful interior, where there are few roads and few towns. Driving there is a matter of days, not hours.
So, for most of the 10,000 or so visitors each year, the answer is a small-plane flight from Georgetown’s local Eugene Correia Airport, most often called Ogle after its location. It’s a small airport, so everything is in proportion, including the security and immigration desks.
Even our boarding passes were small!
The waiting room was pleasant; there was also a VIP waiting room, but we never figured out who it was for.
Finally aboard for our one-hour flight; seats in the 14-seat Grand Caravan plane were assigned by weight to keep the plane even. I was lucky enough to draw a front-row window seat.
On our way, starting with some aerial views of Georgetown as we flew along the seawall toward the mouth of the Demerara River, which we followed for the first part of the trip.
Among the landmarks spotted were the Movietown Mall, and the Arthur Chung Conference Center with its unusual dome. It’s near the headquarters of Caricom, the Caribbean Community, an alliance of 15 member states founded in 1973.
More views of Georgetown, including the round Pegasus Hotel and its aggressively blocky Conference and Executive Center.
Then a turn, and views of the port area along the Demerara River, and the eastern end of the Demerara Harbor Bridge, one of the longest floating-span bridges in the world, which George G recognized as our One-Clue Mystery.
Continuing down the river for the next part of the trip, we passed over agricultural areas, and a section of the river with numerous small islands.
Next, we passed over large areas of pristine forest, only occasionally interrupted by a road and small settlements, some of them in mining areas.
We passed by areas of low mountains, ancient and heavily forested, and over many streams and rivers; Guyana’s name is an indigenous Amerindian word meaning “many waters.”
And finally, the pilot announced we were approaching the falls, and that he would circle them before landing, so both sides of the plane could have a chance to catch photos.
And then, we were on the ground again, at the dirt airstrip that serves Kaieteur, and the small visitor center where we met our guides for the hike to the falls. But that’s a story for another day!
