The Rupununi is a region in the south-west of Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. The Rupununi river, also known by the local Indigenous peoples as Raponani, flows through the Rupununi region. The name Rupununi originates from the word rapon in the Makushi language, in which it means the black-bellied whistling duck found along the river. Relict Hadean zircons (xenocrysts) in the Iwokrama Formation suggest that older crust must occur at depth.

Animal life

The areas both in and surrounding the Rupununi river are home to a great diversity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that harbor many species extirpated from other areas of South America. The Rupununi's freshwater eco-regions are areas of exceptional species richness, comparable to that of the Amazonia. "The Northern Rupununi has more than fourteen hundred species of vertebrates, more than twenty-eight hundred species of plants, and countless species of invertebrates" (Rupununi, Rediscovering a Lost World). Another avian-survey of the North Rupununi river, conducted by David C. Morimoto, Gajendra Nauth Narine, Michael D. Schindlinger and Asaph Wilson (DCM, MDS), showed that "4243 individuals, 292 species, and 58 families" of birds inhabited the Northern Rupununi river. Rare bird species that were found in the survey were the Crested Doradito and the Sun Parakeet.

Notable species include:

  • Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja)
  • Red Siskin (Carduelis cucullata)
  • Rufescent Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma lineatum)
  • Wattled Jacana have been found in the most remote corners of the Rupununi river. However, these river monsters are seldom seen and are rarely ever caught. Overexploitation and overfishing have forced these two species of fish to migrate deeper into unexplored territory in the Rupununi.

Notable species include:

  • Arapaima (Arapaima)
  • Lau-Lau (B. filamentosum)
  • Red-Bellied Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)
  • Lukanani, Butterfly Peacock Bass
  • Redtail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus)

History

Precolonial civilization

thumb|280x280px|An Amerindian family traveling on the Rupununi River

Indigenous peoples have been part of the Rupununi landscape for millennia. Anthropologists have discovered Paleo-Indian petroglyphs, dated to be several thousands of years old along the course of the Rupununi river. Before the colonization of Guyana and the Rupununi region, the Makushi Amerindians, Wai-Wai and the Wapishana all inhabited the area. The Makushi migrated from what is now known as modern Brazil and Venezuela, to the northern areas of the Rupununi river, more than 400 years ago. that generate revenue from tourists visiting the Rupununi. Near to Karanambu is the ecolodge Caiman House, a social enterprise that drives revenue to a public library, raising the pass rate into secondary school from near-zero in 2005 to 86% in 2019.

Conservation International host a website on the Rupununi that includes details of ecotourism accommodation. Some tourists travel overland from Georgetown to Lethem via the Rupununi and on to Brazil, but the travel is very slow in the rainy season when the dirt roads degrade, and may be impossible. Rock View Lodge and The Pakaraima Mountain Inn are both near Annai 3 to 5 hours from Lethem. The Rupununi / Lethem Rodeo is a tourist attraction at Easter (during the dry season).

See also

  • List of rivers of Guyana
  • Rappu Falls
  • Rupununi Uprising

References

  • Vegamián, Félix María de (Father, Order of Friars Minor Capuchin). El Esequivo, frontera de Venezuela. Documentos históricos y experiencias personales. Madrid: Talleres Tipográficos Raycar S. A., 1968.
  • Aerial view of the mouth of the Esequibo River.