The Essequibo is Guyana’s largest river, rising near the Brazilian border and flowing about a thousand kilometres north to the Atlantic, where its mouth is more than 30 km across and scattered with large islands. For two centuries it was the heart of the Dutch colony, and the brick ruins of their forts still stand on its islands.
Some 60 km upstream, where the Mazaruni and Cuyuni rivers join it, is Bartica, a lively small town that has supplied the gold and diamond fields of the interior since the 19th century and calls itself the gateway to it. Around Bartica are river beaches, forested islands with small resorts, and falls where you can swim in tea-coloured water.
Because the road from Georgetown to the stelling at Parika takes only about an hour, this is where many visitors get their first taste of travelling by river — and one of the two day trips from the capital that can be booked online.
Highlights
- Fort Zeelandia and the Court of Policy on Fort Island
- The speedboat ride across the island-studded river mouth
- A walk and a meal in Bartica
- Swimming at Marshall Falls or Baracara Falls
- A night or two on Baganara or Sloth Island
- The single arch of Fort Kyk-Over-Al, one of the oldest European structures in Guyana
How long to stay
A full day from Georgetown covers Fort Island, Bartica and a waterfall. Two nights at a river resort lets you slow down and add birding, kayaking and Kyk-Over-Al.
Best base
Sleep at one of the island or riverside resorts — Baganara, Sloth Island, Aruwai or Hurakabra — for quiet and swimming, or in Bartica for local life and lower prices. Day-trippers stay in Georgetown.
