Program Dates: June 5th – July 10th, 2011
THIS PROGRAM HAS 2 SPOTS LEFT. APPLY NOW TO ENSURE THAT YOU GET A SPOT!
Trip Highlights
- Volunteer with Rupinuni Learners, exchanging skills with Amerindian people and recording cultural heritage and customs
- Explore Guyana’s diverse ecosystems teeming with wildlife
- Visit Karanambu, where researchers are caring for orphaned river otters
ITT Options
- Witness the hatching of endangered marine turtles along Almond Beach, the only place in the world home to the four of eight sea turtle species
- Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of colonial Georgetown
- Pay a trip to the infamous site of the Jonestown Cult Massacre (but don’t drink the koolaid)
- Hike to Kaieteur, the largest single drop waterfall in the world
Trip Itinerary
This summer we’re taking OG down to South America for the first time with a brand new program in Guyana. Aimed to offer participants an opportunity to visit one of the wildest and most inaccessible parts of South America, our main focus on OG Guyana is to have an unparalleled hands-on experience living and working in Amerindian communities.
“Generations of Amerindians have sustained themselves completely from the land. They drink the water from their rivers and mountain streams, which have not yet been turned to poison by pollution. They can derive their tools and weapons directly from the forest, fashioning bows and arrows from reeds, natural hardwoods, plant fibers and feathers. Dugout canoes are carved out of the trunks of trees. Palm fronds can just as easily be plaited into roofing material as they can be woven into an instant backpack for carrying food and supplies into and out of the forest. The Amerindians know which plants can be used to ease nausea, treat a headache, or prevent pregnancy. And they have folklore and songs about the plants and trees and animals of the rain forest that explain the natural events around them and define their own relationship to the land.” –Foster Parrots
Traveling for five weeks we’ll touch down on the North coast in Guyana’s capital and give participants a day to meet each other while experiencing the fascinating colonial history and Caribbean lifestyle of coastal Georgetown, visiting a local market and trying tasty local cuisine.
Before too long we’ll leave the bustling city behind and head south into the country’s sparsely populated and undeveloped interior Where the group will meet with an our partners and the OG style. The group will meet with an expert who will discuss the history, and culture of the peoples in the interior and highlight some of the ecological, political, and economic issues going on in Guyana. We will learn about some of the current efforts to protect the country’s natural and cultural resources.
Heading down further into Guyana’s lush tropical jungle, we will cruise down the river in the Rupununi district alongside black caimans, where the thriving wildlife includes parrots, monkeys and anacondas.
Our volunteer work will take place in Yupikari village working with Rupinuni Learners on a variety of projects. Our main focus will be journalistic. As infrastructure grows and there is more pressure to conform to 21st century standards of living there is a fear among Amerindian communities that their heritage will be lost forever. Rupinuni Learners has invited OG Guyana to record stories and traditions of the people of Yupikari and participate in a skills exchange where we will learn to hunt, trap, and fish with traditional materials in exchange for hands on teaching that focuses on science and English as a second language.
Participants will then head off on their own for a week of Independent Travel Time (ITT), a staple of all OG trips. In this time they may choose to travel north, to witness sea turtle nesting season along the NW coast, or visit the infamous Jonestown memorial, or they may head back south to explore Lethem, the eccentric cowboy border town, or Hike to Kaieteur the largest single drop waterfall in the world.
Following ITT, the team will meet up on the coast for a couple of days of disorientation and relaxation, where we will relive memories of the trip, unwind and prepare for life back home.
To apply for this life-changing program, please click on the Apply Now button on the right tab.
