Amazon Ranch Project

• Placement
  
  Amazon Ranch project
• Accommodation
  
  While working at the ranch you will stay in basic shared cabins next to the main ranch house. The cabins have simple beds or you can choose to sleep in a hammock if you wish! The cabins are open buildings with traditional thatch  made from Ité palm leaves. To begin with wash facilities will be in the main house. As you will read in these details, part of your tasks will be to improve the cabins, including building an adjoining washroom. But of course there is always the creek as the true vaquero way to wash! When Arriving in Georgetown and Lethem you will stay in a private hotel room!
• Meals
  
  While at the ranch you will eat with the vaqueros and all your meals are included. Local food is basic but hearty to keep your energy up for an active day on the savannah. Typical dishes include farine (a carbohydrate made from a local root called cassava) and meat either raised at the ranch, such as pork or chicken, or fresh fish caught by you from the creek! You will also help to develop the vegetable garden and harvest the fruit trees. Please note that the diet at Saddle Mountain Ranch is not suitable for vegetairians. During your short stopovers in Georgetown/Lethem, meals are not included.
• Airport Pick Georgetown + Hotel night
  
  
  An employee of the project will pick you up from the airport near Georgetown ( 1 hour) and will transfer you to your hotel where you wil stay for 1 night. The next morning you will be picked up from the hotel and you will be brought to a local domestic airport.
• Domestic flight (return flight incl) + Airport Pick up
  
  
  An employee of the project will pick you up from your hotel in Georgetown and will transfer you to the airport. Included in this package is a domestic flight from Georgetown to Lethem by small airplane (approximately 2 hours flying over seemingly everlasting jungle). You will be picked up from the airport and transferred to your hotel in Lethem where you will stay one night.
• Transfer to the project
  
  You will be  picked up from your hotel in Lethem and transferred to your project by 4x4. It is approximately 4 hours drive through the beautiful Tropical savannahs of Guyana (return flight inlcuded).
• Returning home
  
  
  After your time at the project has been finished you will be transferred back to Lethem by 4x4 after which you will stay one night in a hotel. The next morning you will take a domestic flight from Lethem to Georgetown. At this point you can choose to travel home or to explore more of Guyana. We are of course happy to assist you with this.
• Work permit
  
  For volunteering in Guyana a work permit is required as well as premmission needed to visit the Amerindian reserves. This will all be arranged after your arrival (as Guyana has no embassies abroad) and will be HASSLE FREE for you. The fee for this is included in the program cost.
• Mail and Communications
  
  
  It is possible to receive and send mail from the town of Lethem via our Fronteering representative, however the postal service is very variable in such a remote area and the process regularly takes over a month. It is not unheard of never to reach it's destination! There will be internet connection and cell phone reception in both Georgetown and Lethem. The ranch is very remote and the only communication is by transistor radio and satellite phone which are used for emergencies only.
• Ongoing service
  
  If there are any problems with your volunteer project we are always there to help you and mediate between yourself and the organization.
• Tours
  
  Through FRONTEERING you have the possibility to book tours, Spanish (at nearby Isla Magaritha) and English Courses in Guyana before and/or after you have finished your volunteer project.
• 24/7 Emergency contact
  
  If there are any problems during you stay at the project you can reach us 24/7 to assist you.

• Learn the tricks of trades of what it takes to be a real rancher and cowboy.
• Lots of opportunities to view wildlife including the odd looking giant anteater and hundreds of species of birds.
• Leave the rat race of the western world behind and enter the simplicity of the wild west instead!

• Project location
  
  Rupununi Savanna, Guyana   
• Area Famous For
  
  Savanna, Vaquero's (cowboys), Rupununi Rodeo Festival, Wildlife viewing, Fresh Beef, giant anteaters
• When to visit
  
  Year round
• Wildlife viewing
  
  Great wildlife viewing opportunities in the savanna's of Guyana: giant anteaters, monkeys, deer, Armadillo's, coati's, cougars 

When staying overnight in Georgetown *shared rooms, while in the savannah you will stay in shared cabins.

Things to bring from home

• Hiking Shoes
• Rain gear
• Jeans
• Anti Mosquito repellent + after bite
• Sunglasses
• Hat/cap to protect yourself from the sun
• Suncream
• Complete Kitlist will be provided after applying or on request

Meals

During your stay in Georgetown and Lethem meals are not included, while at the ranch all food is included. Each project member will be involved with preparing (and sometimes catching!) your meals.

Location

Guyana is a little smaller than Britain, with some 80 per cent of land covered in virginal tropical rainforest. After the jungle the main natural vegetation is savannah grassland, split into two distinct areas; one in the south west of the country, the second in the north east. The main population areas are along the coast, with some 90 per cent of the 750,000 population living there. This harks back to colonial days when the coastal port facilities were widely used for the transportation of goods. The difficulty of movement within the country also had a major impact on this statistic. Guyana is known as the land of many waters, it is criss-crossed with waterways and hundreds of waterfalls. The mouth of the Essequibo river is as wide as the English Channel and Kaieteur Falls is the longest single drop waterfall in the world at 741 feet.