• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Surama's wooden bungalows allow you to experience a traditional style of living.   (Photo: Nicholas Gill)

Capture a sense of Georgetown’s eclectic tastes at Hotel Ariantze (from $55), part-yesteryear inn, part-recording studio, and part-Caribbean jazz club that serves as a cultural center of sorts. The old rickety building and cozy wood-paneled rooms show their age with grace, and it’s by far the best deal in an expensive town.

Spot the elusive jaguar during your stay at the Iwokrama River Lodge and Research Centre (from $100 per person, plus transportation), located deep in the lush Iwokrama Rainforest. The rustic, eight-cabin wooden lodge, which shares facilities with a team of researchers, allows ample opportunity to explore the surrounding flora and fauna by foot, canoe, or 4X4.

Experience the traditional lifestyle while staying in rustic wooden bungalows at the Makushi indigenous community of Surama (from $148 per person, plus transportation) on the Rupununi Savannah. The well-trained Amerindian guides will give you the best chance of seeing extremely difficult-to-spot wildlife like harpy eagles, giant river otters, and the potoo.

Published on Dec 15, 2011 as a web exclusive.