Way down in the Rupununi lies a lodge and education center focused on research and conservation projects. It is located in the Macushi village of Yupukari, Region 9. This fantastic lodge offers you the rare chance to stay in the middle of an Amerindian village, and has spacious ranch-style rooms with running water and solar power. Definitely, the Caiman House Field Station and Guest House is a place where you and your family would want to visit. For short, we’ll refer to it as Caiman House.
Here is the weekly schedule at the library at Caiman House.
Origin Of Caiman House
The Caiman House was built in 2005 by Americans Peter Taylor and Alice Layton. Peter who was a keeper and supervisor at the Bronx and St. Louis zoos for nearly 20 years came to Guyana (Yupukari) so that he could conduct an ongoing field study on black caimans (Melanosuchus niger). The black caiman is the largest member of the alligator family and are severely depleted in nearly all their former range, but are found in abundance in the waters of the Rupununi River.
The ongoing field study, which is now entirely run by community members, is an attempt to gain an understanding of the black caiman’s ecological role, as well as its context within local communities. By basing the study in a local village, and using local residents to run it, it will hopefully instill a better understanding of the caiman’s importance in the local ecosystem. The study itself, and the healthy population of caiman it is finding, has generated a sustainable ecotourism business for the community.
Did You Know? Visitors are drawn to the Caiman House mostly because of the research done on the black caiman. The guests are invited to join the caiman research crew in a night of caiman capturing.
The common area at the Research Centre
About The Field Station
- The Field Station is the hub of several participatory development projects, including the introduction of classroom libraries in all three village schools and an Internet-enabled public library. The black caiman research project is proving to be an excellent model and vehicle for indigenous capacity building, training and education.
- Other ongoing projects include the identification of Important Bird Areas (IBA) in association with the Guyana Amazon Tropical Bird Society, training local residents in field research techniques and natural resource management strategies, and a tree identification inventory to merge taxonomic indexes with indigenous knowledge and experience.
- There are also other important projects such as a turtle-rearing programme and a jaguar camera-trapping survey that attract both researchers and visitors to the field station and provide important data about these species.
The Kitchen & Dining Area
About The Caiman Guest House
The two-storey guest house features six charming and comfortable, handcrafted rooms with en suite bathrooms and three additional rooms with shared bathrooms. It can hosts up to 14 persons and also offers hammock or camping options for larger groups. The house is equipped with 100% solar power and internet 24hrs a day, safe drinking water, and a local team of hosts and guides. Meals are home-cooked and served family-style in the adjacent dining benab; stories and adventures are shared at a communal table with hearty, locally-sourced foods enjoyed by guests, lodge staff, guides, members of the community, and the Caiman Project research staff. Another excellent thing about the Caiman House is that it links easily with visits to Karanambu (40 minutes overland from airstrip), Surama, Rewa, Nappi, Dadanawa, or as a start or end to more adventurous tours with Rupununi Trails or Rupununi River Drifters.
The Village, Yupukari and Caiman House is a good place for fishing.
Contact Information Of Caiman House
- Yupukari Village, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, Guyana
- Tel: 592 772 9291
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- www.rupununilearners.org
Caiman House Tours
Visitors have many opportunities to observe – or become involved with – the projects at the Caiman House. A popular night time excursion allows guests to observe caiman capture and assist in data collection while caimans are weighed, measured, sexed, and tagged. Visitors also have the opportunity to meet local craftspeople, including the furniture builders at Yupukari Crafters, a nonprofit venture to create sustainable jobs and revenue for the village.
Caiman House at Night – The Starry Rupununi Skies
Explore Guyana Magazine Tour
- Advertising & Marketing Services (AMS)
- 213 B Camp Street P.O. Box 101582, Georgetown, Guyana
- Tel: (011592) 225-5384
- Email: [email protected]
Guests are invited to explore the nocturnal life of the Rupununi River on the “Creatures of the Night” tour, with the chance to see boat-billed heron, Common Potoo, the Black Caiman, Amazon Tree Boas and other wildlife active at night on the river, or assist the local research team as they capture, mark and release black caiman.
Early-morning experiences include the legendary El Dorado savannah and wetlands via 4×4 vehicle to spot giant anteater, or paddling a dugout canoe on the Awarikru Adventure, where one may meet giant river otters, capuchin monkeys and a wide range of local birds, including white-banded swallow and green ibis. Avid birders often visit to see the Crested Doradito, Agami Heron and Finsch’s Euphonia.
Additional experiences include hikes in the savannah “bush islands” and gallery forests; sunset floats to watch unfolding giant waterlilies, Wattled Jacana and Purple Gallinule; fishing in the river, ponds and lakes — you can bring your own gear, or learn local hand-line methods.
Guests often choose dry season (September to April) but visitors in rainy season are treated to spectacular flooded-forest excursions, shimmering savannah vistas and the range of seasonal avian visitors.
Caiman House In Guyana
In summary, the Caiman House Field Station and Guest House comprises of: a field station for ecological research and educational programmes, the headquarters of Rupununi Learners Incorporated, the office of Yupukari Crafters, the location of the Yupukari Public Library and a comfortable, rustic guest house for travelers, researchers and students. To get to here, the lodge will pick up guests from the Karanambu airstrip 20km north of Yupukari and use either 4×4 vehicles or motorized canoes to reach Yupukari. The Caiman House is packed with activities for you and your family. You won’t feel bored at all!
Article References:
- https://wilderness-explorers.com/guyana/lodges/caimanhouse/
- http://exploreguyana.org/portfolio-item/caiman-house-field-station-and-guest-house/
- https://www.bradtguides.com/destinations/central-south-america/guyana/caiman-house-field-station.html
- https://rupununi.org/tourism/lodges/caiman-house/
