–with experiential tourism product

GIVEN that Guyana is among the most stunning tropical travel destinations in the world, the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) continue to provide support to locally licensed tour operators to foster growth and the promotion of sustainable tourism across the country.

During the launch of an experiential product, the Sakaika Falls tour, and Demerara Sunset Cruise between GTA and Blackwater Adventures, the Director of GTA, Kamrul Baksh, commended the founders of Blackwater Adventures, Stephanie and Dillon Ross, for revamping the Demerara Sunset Cruise with better reliability and improved accessibility.

According to Baksh: “I would like to congratulate Dillon, his wife, and the team at Blackwater Adventures for taking the initiative and having the vision to repackage the sunset cruise. To be able to have no minimum is a first for Guyana; one of the challenges of a cruise is that you need a certain number of people to commence the tour, but by eliminating that, it makes the tour much more accessible.”

He further said that the accessibility of the Blackwater trip will augment and improve the experience of being in Guyana, given the increased volume of business travel occurring in the country due to events such as the FAO meeting.

“Apart from making the tour accessible to tourists, Dillon is one of the few operators that sells on commissions. One of the challenges in the industry is having a higher level of participation in the industry, working on commissions, and understanding those concepts.

That is something we want to drive home with our partners this year to ensure that more operators are working on commission so that all can benefit from the influx of visitors that we have in the country,” Baksh added.
Additionally, the GTA Director also emphasised that even if many operators have great ideas on what they would like to do, they are also faced with the issue of financial difficulties.

“Many operators and individuals have great ideas, but we may not be able to take on all the costs associated with them, so what we did was partner with licensed operators; we only support licensed operators.

That simply means you would not be able to benefit from the grant if you’re unlicensed, and with every initiative and every project that the tourism authority and the ministry take, we always link it to licensed businesses so that we can drive more benefits to licensed businesses. That will of course improve the insurance for the visitor in terms of safety and quality,” Baksh said.

Emphasising the wonders of the tourism product, Ross said that while Kaieteur Falls is admired for being the highest single-drop waterfall in the world, the Sakaika Falls and the journey to get to the Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) destination equally, if not more, create a lasting impact on one’s mind.

The route to the fall entails taking an aircraft from Georgetown to the Blake Slater airstrip, travelling 15 miles by boat, taking a tractor to Karaku bottom, and walking for 17 miles to reach Sakaika Falls.
According to Ross, while getting to the destination may seem like a long and laborious journey, the experience is once in a lifetime.

He said: “The journey to Sakaika Falls is breathtaking; what makes this place so special is the experience of getting there. One of the beautiful things about Sakaika that we noticed is that you have various different vantage points as far as you want.”

While the aim is to enjoy the adventure, Ross related that in the case of an emergency, they are fully equipped to handle the situation or contact help via satellite phones for a helicopter to be flown in.

“We know that this is in the remote areas of the forest, so in the case of an emergency, we have an arrangement in place to get in a helicopter to you…if it’s not as major, we have a few people with ATVs and tractors, and we could coordinate that to get you to the airstrip and work on getting you a flight out as fast as we can,” he said.

Ross also added that he and his tour guide are both medically equipped with the right training to handle a situation if the need arises.

The Sakaika Falls package for four persons includes four days and three nights, all-inclusive (round-trip flight from Ogle, stocked backpack, camping gear, meals, and a guide), at a cost of GD$250,000. While the Demerara Sunset Cruise has a set price of $15,000 per person and $8,000 per child.

Blackwater Adventures is a family-owned eco-tourism business that is based in Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). They offer fishing charters, boat-based tours, and trips to Fort Nassau, which is up the Berbice River. Like the director of GTA, Ross also emphasised that they offer a daily tour at no minimum.