I spent time in the lower Essequibo region (mainly Rewa and Yupukari) in college using GIS technology to help locals identify and map what we called “IBAs” (important bird areas) so that they could avoid over-hunting the areas where certain bird species were breeding to preserve their populations. My advisor and another close professor were both ornithologists and my advisor had spent some time in Guyana previously, which was how I ended up in one of the most pristine, remote places on Earth.

Guyana is a small country, and it is really very hard to access the interior - or at least it was in 2009. To get to Rewa, we chartered a small plane (12 passengers) which dropped us on a dirt landing strip in Annai. From there, we took small boats many hours to Rewa and several hours in a vintage Camel cigarettes bus to Yupukari.

I took this photo on our way out of the interior (there are no roads in or out), and we stopped at Kaieteur Falls. It was just magical.