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01/05/2022
As a responsible traveler, you might be considering your impact on the places you visit. 🌎 We asked Jaremy Boyal, the Toshao (mayor) of Warapoka, how tourism contributes to economic development in his village. For remote destinations, like Warapoka, tourism provides great financial opportunities to local populations and can incentivize people to protect wildlife. Tourism allow Warapoka's inhabitants to protect their cultural heritage and their environment. 🌳
In Guyana, six ethnicities and nine different indigenous nations coexist. 🤝 These diverse cultures, languages, and traditions are bound together by one central element: cassava. Cassava is a root 🌱 that is used everywhere in Guyana, it is cornerstone of Guyanese culture and gastronomy. 🇬🇾 Guyanese people cook meat in cassareep as pepper pot(a liquid extracted from cassava) 🍲, they prepare cassava bread 🍞, cassava chips as snack and even a rice-like flour called 'farine'... - you cannot miss it!
Book a tour with us to Guyana and try cassava in all its glory! 😋
29/04/2022
What makes a trip to Warapoka so unique? Sharing daily rituals with the local community. ✨ Cultural immersion offers you an unforgettable experience, and the Warau people of Warapoka will share their culture with you. For example, when traveling to Warapoka, you roast your own coffee ☕ and brew it in the indigenous tradition, with fresh coconut milk! We guarantee coffee tastes best in the middle of the Guyanese rainforest!🏞️
28/04/2022
Are you ready to embark on a life-changing adventure in the remote village of Warapoka? Book a tour with us to explore Guyana: meet incredible people, have deep conversations about traditions and indigenous ways of living, and protect a rich wildlife and ecosystem!
Easily recognizable from their bright green color 💚 and white lightning bolt patterns ⚡on their skin, emerald tree boas 🐍 are among the most magnificent snakes you can spot in South America. Emerald tree boas are non-venomous, but they can be quite aggressive when facing predators. They especially enjoy curling themselves around branches 🌳 but you might also see them laying on rocks to warm themselves under the sun. ☀️
📖 Fun Fact: Emerald tree boas are carnivorous and prey on rodents, monkeys or small mammals - they play a crucial role for the environment as help manage the population of the animals they prey on. 🏞️
🔸 Conservation Status: Least concern
26/04/2022
Warapoka is a small village, located in the middle of the Guyanese rainforest, only accessible by boat 🚣. As a result, the Warau people have been developing their dugout canoe building skills 🛶 to move around, go fishing and explore their surroundings. Warapoka is now home to some of the best canoe builders in the country! 🇬🇾
Traveling with us to Warapoka is the chance to explore an unknown destination in locally-made boats for an unforgettable experience. You might even get a chance to paddle yourself into the jungle!
25/04/2022
For this week's Tuesday trivia, we want to know if you carefully read our blog articles! 🤩 If you did, you should remember what a toshao is.
🔎 hint: a toshao is very important for Guyana's indigenous communities!
21/04/2022
Back in Georgetown after a week full of exploration, learning more about traditional indigenous ways of living, and exchanging with new Guyanese friends, we are sure you will have memories to cherish for the rest of your life. 😍 If Guyana stole your heart just like it stole ours, ❤️ you can stay on a bit longer to see the Southern savannahs or central rainforests and keep on exploring this off-the-beaten track destination! 🇬🇾
20/04/2022
The world's largest single-drop waterfall is waiting for you! 🌊 A majestic landscape will greet you as you fly over Kaieteur Falls. 🛩️ Appreciate the wonders of nature and enjoy a scenery you will never forget. 🏞️ Seeing Kaieteur Falls is the perfect way to end this trip. 💦
19/04/2022
Your stay in Warapoka is already coming to an end.
On your 6th day, you will visit one of Warapoka's historical sites, the Alaka Shell mound, which can be traced back 7000 years. 🌿 We'll close our trip with a dance and song farewell from the local cultural committee. After saying goodbye 👋 to your new friends of Warapoka, it is time to travel back to Georgetown. 🛶🛩️ But don't worry, your journey with us in Guyana is not quite finished yet!
18/04/2022
Day 5 is the day of giants! Today, you'll explore the creeks around Warapoka by canoe in search for black caimans 🐊 and giant river otters! 🦦 Your guide will also teach you how to fish tarpon, a popular local fish. 🎣 And for dinner, you will be eating the tarpon you caught! 🍽️
After a lively day, you will enjoy a night of storytelling back at the lodge. 🎇 This is the perfect moment to exchange with your hosts and to have fascinating late-night conversations!
17/04/2022
If you didn't get enough of birds 🦜 on day three, today is your chance to potentially see hundreds. Rare Agami herons nest near Warapoka in the summer months, so we'll paddle hours into the jungle (with the help of your guide) 🛶 to monitor these shy birds. Along the way, keep your eyes wide open and look out caiman 🐊 and snakes 🐍 who live in these forests and along the rivers. Back in the village of Warapoka, Auntie Irene will be there to teach you everything she knows about traditional Warau crafts. 🧵
16/04/2022
Take out your binoculars and camera 📷 for this third day and look up in search of tropical birds 🦜. With hundreds of birds that live in Guyana and around Warapoka, you are sure to be amazed by unique creatures! ✨
You will also get to meet with local elder, Uncle Henry, who will teach you how to make coffee by hand. ☕ Have you ever prepared your own coffee from tree to cup? You will soon tick it off your bucket list! ✅
15/04/2022
Here we go for the second day of the trip! Traveling to the remote village of Warapoka is an adventure and is definitely part of your experience in Guyana. You will start the journey in a small charter plane 🛩 followed by a boat 🛶 in the middle of the Guyanese rainforest before arriving to Warapoka. You can expect fresh coconuts to celebrate your arrival! 🥥
14/04/2022
For the first day of the trip, we all meet together in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. 🇬🇾 Georgetown is a unique city where many cultural heritages all coexist! 🌎 This is the perfect place where to get to know your guide and travel companions while you start exploring Guyana through its cuisine! 🍲
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12/04/2022
We recently launched our Guyana tour 🌟, and wanted to give you an overview of what you can expect when visiting the indigenous village of Warapoka with us! 🤩
Starting tomorrow, we will share what your trip in Guyana could look like! Stay tuned this whole week!
Be ready, your journey starts tomorrow! 🎒🥾
11/04/2022
Hanan used to be an intern with us at Friends of Wallacea, and as a Guyanese citizen, we knew she would be the best person to tell us about Guyanese food! 🤩 Guyana is home to different ethnic groups who all live together 🌎 and bring their own culture to the table. And gastronomy is definitely on the table! 🍽️ Chinese🥟, African 🍲 or Indian 🍛food compliment each other to make Guyana the paradise for food lover.
Traveling to Guyana is the guarantee to explore new flavors with each meal! 😋
30/03/2022
Guyana is home to the green anaconda 🐍, one of the largest and heaviest snakes in the world. This gigantic and impressive creature is able to refrain from eating anything for months! 😯 When traveling to Warapoka, you might stumble upon one of these impressive anacondas; they enjoy sleeping in the sun ☀️ and won't even notice you.
📖 Fun Fact: The green anaconda is not venomous - to hunt, it asphyxiates preys and swallow them whole!
🔸 Conservation Status: Least Concern
29/03/2022
What's the most memorable thing you've experienced on a trip? For us, it's genuine connection with local people and opportunities for mutual learning and understanding. 🗣 When you share deeply with others, you create memories and discoveries that last a lifetime.
Trivia Tuesday: Do you know what the official language of Guyana is? 🇬🇾🤩
27/03/2022
Have you heard about Guyana's "bird races"? 🐦 Contrary to what you could imagine, this is not a race between birds to determine which can fly the fastest. 🪶 Bird races are actually singing competitions! 🎶 Each early Saturday and Sunday mornings in Georgetown, you can see Guyanese men, meeting together with their birds to have them compete! Even though we are not fans of birds in cages, this is still a cultural tradition in Guyana that you might want to observe.
25/03/2022
Traveling to a foreign country often means living traditional experiences to embrace the culture of the destination you visit. When visiting the indigenous village of Warapoka, you will have the chance to try a coffee like you never had before! ☕ You'll roast your own coffee beans over a fire, and then drink it with coconut milk 🥥made by hand by your local hosts! 😋
Read more about Warapoka and its incredible coffee in our latest blog post: https://bit.ly/3u4b9DQ
23/03/2022
The Hoatzin is an intriguing bird ✨, with a distinctive smell, as well as a digestion process close to the one of ruminants; it regurgitates food to digest it a second time 🍃. Hoatzins are also bad at flying, and as a result, the young have claws on their wings 🪶, that they use to climb trees and escape predators. A bird this unique could only be Guyana's national animal! 🇬🇾
📖 Fun Fact: With a unique and almost prehistoric look, the Hoatzin is said to be a far-off relative to a dinosaur, the Archaeopteryx! 🦖
🔸 Conservation Status: Least Concern
22/03/2022
World Water Day 🌎 is the perfect day to reflect on the global importance of clean, fresh water. 💧 The Warau community that inhabits the village of Warapoka know how to live in close connection with the rivers 🏞that surround them. Warapoka is actually an island 🏝in the middle of the rainforest and to move around the area, paddling is the best option. 🛶
Traveling to Guyana with us and paddling through the forest 🌳 with the Warau is a great way for you to connect with nature and to appreciate the moment. 🚣 Book a tour with us and travel to Warapoka to discover the Amazon River.
21/03/2022
Did you know that about 87% of Guyana is covered in forests? 🌳 This includes the incredible Amazon Rainforest, one of the most important forests in the world, which plays a crucial role in balancing global climate and is home to thousands of unique animals and plant species. 🦋🌿 Guyanese people are particularly attached to their natural environment and are involved into its conservation - by booking a tour with us to visit the village of Warapoka, you contribute to supporting local communities who protect the rainforest! 😍
18/03/2022
Traveling to Warapoka is a chance for you to experience a whole new culture. 🌎 The Warau people, inhabitants of Warapoka, are more than happy to exchange with visitors and to share about their culture and knowledge. Slow down and follow your Guyanese hosts around the rainforest 🌳, explore their village 🏠 and learn about their traditional crafts 🍶. Check our link in bio to travel with us to Guyana and live a life-changing experience with the Warapoka community! ✨
16/03/2022
The white-faced Saki Monkeys 🐒 live in South American rainforests and particularly enjoy fruits 🥭. Those primates are used to scent-marking fruit trees in order to mark their territory. But white-faced Saki monkeys are not only territorial fruit eaters; whenever a predator shows up, they cooperate together 🤝. One monkey will alert the others with an alarm call, and the rest of the group will mimic it to scare the threat away.
📖 Fun Fact: Since white-faced Saki monkeys spend more of their life in trees 🌳, they are often called "flying monkeys". Look up, you might spot one of them in a tree! 👀
🔸 Conservation Status: Least Concern
15/03/2022
We asked Luke Johnson, our Guyanese guide, who would enjoy our trip to Warapoka! Here's his answer! Read more about Luke's experience in Warapoka:https://bit.ly/3u4b9DQ
12/03/2022
Is Guyana the perfect destination for bird lovers❓Our Guyanese guide Luke Johnson seems to think so! 🤩 Read Luke's interview and learn more about the attachment Guyanese people have towards birds 🐦 and why you should definitely travel to Guyana if you want to meet extraordinary birds in the middle of the rainforest. 🌿
📷 Jonathan de Groot
11/03/2022
Calling all fellowship applicants! If you haven't watched the webinar yet (a requirement to be considered), you have 6 hours left to ask us for a link of the recording. Don't miss out on this opportunity of a lifetime.
09/03/2022
American Pygmy Kingfishers are very small birds 🐦, no bigger than 5.1 inches, which live in tropical forests and mangroves, like the Guyanese rainforests. Mainly carnivorous, these birds eat small fish 🐟 and insects 🪲 and tend to stay close to river banks to catch food on the surface.
📖 Fun Fact: Despite theirappearancee and small sizem which give them a cute look, American Pygmy Kingfishers are very territorial and do not hesitate in fighting other birds for food. 🦜
🔸 Conservation Status: Least Concern
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Videos
We love a good buttress root. 🌳 Guyana abounds with these beauties. 🇬🇾
Ready to visit with us? Stay tuned, more info coming soon.
Casual Sunday coffee prep in Guyana. ☕️
How do you take your coffee?
Happy Monday! Wish you had a Guyanese commute (like this one!) today? 🐎
Our tours are launching dates for 2022 soon. Stay tuned.
All great things take time. ⏰
We know you're patiently waiting (like these guys!) to see what we've cooked up for you during the last few months. Well you're in luck:
MONDAY IS THE DAY! Stay tuned for an exciting announcement.
The journey into the Amazon is always an adventure.
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This video was taken at the entrance to Sani Lodge, an indigenous-owned reserve in Ecuador.
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Every visit to Sani Lodge helps protect species such as jaguars, harpy eagles, monkey frogs, and squirrel monkeys. Oh, and you get a chance to see them, too.
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What would you want to see in the Amazon?
https://friendsofwallacea.org/sani-lodge/
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About Us
Friends of Wallacea connects international travelers with communities involved in wildlife conservation, providing unique experiences for tourists and essential income for local businesses. Our tours are 100% locally-owned, generating income, employment, and economic growth opportunities in rural communities worldwide.
Community-run tourism operations are proven to effectively replace extraction-based economic development (mining, logging, agriculture, etc) to incentivize and fund the protection of threatened ecosystems. Friends of Wallacea works with rural and indigenous communities who are actively involved in local conservation efforts to help them reach a global audience of intrepid travelers who care where their tourism dollars land.
How Do We Select Our Partners?
Friends of Wallacea works with local partners and communities to create sustainable, local businesses that promote wildlife conservation. These communities were selected based on their track record of working with Operation Wallacea, a conservation research organization that funds long-term biodiversity monitoring in threatened ecosystems around the world.
Friends of Wallacea vets each organization intensively, selecting only those communities that have demonstrated a strong commitment to conserving their local environments, as well as providing an excellent, unique experience to each tourist and student that visits their community. These organizations drive regional economic growth by spending over 80% of their income locally, supporting farmers, schools, and nonprofits focused on conservation efforts.
