-Minister Prashad says farewell
THE British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) team has departed Guyana on completion of a five-week shoot for their ‘Serious Explorers Raleigh’ series that seeks to retrace the footsteps of Sir Walter Raleigh in search of the fabled City of Gold, El Dorado.
The 10, half- hour long programmes will be aired in October on  BBC 1 in the United Kingdom.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad, on Friday bade farewell to the team, including seven children, expedition leader Ben Major and Series Producer Corwin Marshall, at the Baganara Island Resort.
The BBC team, during their visit, had engaged in climbing Mount Roraima and scaling Kaieteur Falls. The latter mesmerized them leading to them describing it as one of nature’s wonders.
They reported spotting a 30-foot anaconda, harpy eagles, black caimans, and giant anteaters, and engaged in trekking in unspoilt rainforess, and experiencing the life of the local indigenous peoples after visiting Waini, Kaieteur, Rupununi, Madhia, Mt. Roraima and Surama.
Minister Prashad said the BBC series will help to sell and promote ‘Destination Guyana’, propelling it further into the international limelight, and that it will be a major boost for Guyana’s eco-tourism, nature tourism and adventure tourism.
He said Guyana really cannot pay for this kind of exposure, which will be valued at a minimum US$1M in advertisement, since this upcoming series will be aired in over 150 countries around the world, reaching an audience of over 60 million viewers.
Minister Prashad asserted that Ben Major is, indeed, an ambassador for Guyana, adding, “What you do is promote Guyana and we can’t ask you for more. We are very happy for this.”
He also deemed the children as ‘young ambassadors of Guyana’ .
Major said it has been a remarkable trip, absolutely phenomenal, noting that the “biggest thing for me was actually working very closely with the local people”.
One of the young explorers, Regan, said, “Every moment has just been mind-blowing, from the savannahs, the ranch, to climbing Mount Roraima…”
He said his most special moment in Guyana was getting to the top of Kaieteur Falls which is absolutely incredible and amazing to him.
Megan, another team member, said that her experience in Guyana has been absolutely amazing, the beautiful rainforests, horseback riding on ranches, and spotting three anacondas in just four hours, among other thrilling moments.
She concluded that “this whole place is El Dorado” adding, “I am going to have to come live here, I think…I love it.”
The Serious TV series is an observational documentary series made by the BBC and broadcast as part of its children’s programming.
It covers Serious Jungle (2002), Serious Desert (2003), Serious Arctic (2005), Serious Amazon (2006), Serious Andes (2007) and Serious Ocean (2008/09). Serious Ocean consists of ten 30-minute episodes, while each previous series comprised six 30-minute episodes. The programmes have won numerous awards, among them honours from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the Royal Television Society. (GINA)