Guyana Amazon: Where Fishing Meets Adventure

Jenna Farber of Emerging Destinations reports on a fishing expedition into the Guyana Amazon that she recently undertook with her father.

After years of working with the people of Guyana, learning their stories and becoming invested in their culture, I finally got a chance to achieve one of my bucket list experiences – leading a fishing fam trip in the country’s vast Amazon region.

The adventure began in Georgetown, where I met up with the group that would share this extraordinary journey. The first leg was a flight down to Kaieteur Falls, and nothing could have prepared me for what awaited. With the rainforest stretching to the horizon as we landed, a short trail took us to the edge of the falls. Its raw power left me speechless – a single, thunderous drop of water that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

That was just the beginning. The expedition took us deeper into the Amazon to two distinct fishing camps – Piraiba Lodge and Rewa Eco Lodge – each offering its own unique charm and challenges. Though our time at each location was brief (just two days) it was enough to leave indelible memories.

Piraiba Lodge is an avid catfish angler’s paradise. During our short stay, we had an unforgettable encounter with a massive Mau catfish. And I still think about the ones that got away. The Essequibo River is also home to the fascinating vampire fish, a species whose potential for attracting adventurous anglers seems criminally under-marketed.

Where science merges seamlessly with sport, Rewa Eco Lodge brought an entirely different vibe to the journey. Every giant arapaima fish caught in local waters is measured, tagged and released with reverence. The guides spoke of these river monsters like old friends, tracking their movements and growth with impressive dedication. Their fly-fishing-only approach to arapaima required a level of casting expertise that left me both humbled and inspired. I made a silent promise to return one day after honing my skills to try my luck (and casting) with these ancient fish again.

As the adventure continued, we found ourselves more and more attuned to the raw wilderness experience provided by Blackwater Adventures, the Guyana outfitter that organized the trip. Sleeping in hammocks under the star-studded Guyanese sky, we were serenaded by a symphony of jungle sounds after dark. And each dawn brought new possibilities – a glimpse of river otters gliding along a river or the flash of a peacock bass in the depths below.

The true magic of the trip revealed itself in those quiet moments between catches. The squawk of a Screaming Piha bird would break the silence, drawing my attention to my partner in the bow, poised like a statue, ready to cast at a moment's notice. Behind us, our guide's keen eyes would scan the water for the telltale bubbles or rolling motion of an arapaima, his whispered commands carrying the weight of generations of fishing wisdom.

When the strikes came, they were electric. After hours of patient waiting, our bodies would suddenly morph into pure adrenaline. In those precious moments, everything else fell away – it was just you, the fish and the ancient struggle between predator and prey.

The sound of your line cutting through the air, the gentle splash as it meets the water, the eager anticipation of what might lie beneath – that’s the poetry of fishing in Guyana. Those moments remind us that sometimes the greatest adventures aren't just about the fish we catch, but about the pieces of ourselves we discover along the way.

The nine nights of the expedition passed like a dream, each day adding new layers to our shared adventure. The trip may have been just a taste of what this remarkable country has to offer, but it left me with an insatiable hunger for more. As I prepared to return home, I knew this wasn't goodbye but merely “until we meet again.” With its wild rivers, mysterious fish and warm-hearted people, Guyana does have a way of calling you back . . . again and again.