| Guyana ((gcr) Lagwiyàn) | |
 | |
| The Amazon forest | |
| Flag | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Country |  France |
|---|---|
| Prefecture | Cayenne |
| Ocean | North Atlantic |
| Area | 83 534 km² |
| Population | 259 865 hab. (2015) |
| Density | 3,11 inhab./km² |
| Nice | Guyanese |
| Official language | French |
| Other language | Guyanese Creole |
| Telephone prefix | 594 |
| Internet suffix | .gf |
| Spindle | UTC − 03: 00 |
| Location | |
 4 ° 4 ′ 48 ″ N 53 ° 6 ′ 36 ″ W | |
| Official site | |
| Touristic site | |
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The Guyana is a region and an overseas department-region (DROM) French ofSouth America, frontier of Brazil to the south-east and Suriname West.
Understand
Geography
Guyana is almost entirely covered with primary forest, with many rivers and creeks. The territory is delimited by two large rivers: the Maroni in the west and the Oyapock in the east. There are also islands off Guyana, the islands of Rémire Montjoly (ilet the mother, ilet the father, the Malingre and the 2 mamelles) and the Salvation Islands opposite Kourou. In addition to its border rivers, many rivers and their tributaries ("creeks") cross Guyana from all sides.
Guyana is part of the Guyana massif with the east of the Colombia, the Venezuela, the Guyana, the Suriname and the north of Brazil. This region, heavily watered by abundant precipitation, contains an abundant and varied flora and fauna. Large quantities of gold are extracted from the subsoil of this small country.
Weather
The climate is mainly broken down into the rainy season and the dry season.
The rainy season begins mid-November until the end of February, then there is the small summer of March (small dry season). then the rainy season continues until mid-July - end of July. Then there is the great dry season until November.
History
Link to general Wikipedia article onHistory of Guyana.
First Amerindian, the history of Guyana is then a long colonial history. After World War II, it became a French department. From 1965, it hosted, by decision of Charles de Gaulle, the project of a Space Center which has today become Europe's space port.
In 2008 and 2017, strong mobilisations block the roads in the region and lead in 2017 to the agreements of the protocol "Pou Lagwiyann dékolé".
Population
The inhabitants are concentrated mainly on the coastal strip. Cayenne, Kourou and Saint-Laurent du Maroni are the main towns, but there are many villages in the forest along the rivers.
In 1961, the population rose to 33,000 inhabitants. Thanks to its attractiveness linked to the Space Center, its high birth rate and the various waves of immigration since those years (and in particular since the civil war that devastated Surinam, formerly Dutch Guyana, from 1986 to 1991), the population in 1999 officially amounted to 160,000 inhabitants.
In 2012, 239,000 inhabitants were officially counted.
Guyana is made up of very varied populations:
- the Amerindians: population composed mainly of six groups: the Kalina (formerly called Galibis) and the Wayana of the Caribe language, the Palikur and the Arawak proper, of the Arawak language, the Wayampi (or Oyampis) and the Tekos (formerly called Emerillons) of Tupi language.
- the Creoles (descendants of slaves from the colonial era)
- the metropolitan
- the Brazilians (border country by the South and the East)
- Haitians
- the Hmongs (refugees from Laos in 1977)
- The Neg-marrons (Saramaka, Boni ... from the Maroni river and Suriname)
- the Javanese (immigrants first to Suriname, then to Guyana)
- the Hindus (immigrants first to Suriname, then to Guyana)
- Georgetownians (from Guyana)
- Latino-Hispanics (Dominicans, Colombians, Peruvians, Venezuelans ...)
- the West Indians (Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Lucians ...)
- the Chinese (very present in the trade)
- the Lebanese (mainly present in business).
Guyana has approximately 235,000 inhabitants listed in 2011, to which must be added the illegal immigrants estimated between 40,000 and 60,000.
Holidays and public holidays
Guyana is unemployed the same days as the rest of France. It also celebrates June 10, the feast of the abolition of slavery.
Quasi holiday: Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday.
Summer / winter hours
Summer and winter hours do not exist in Guyana. When there are these changes of time in metropolitan France, this influences the time difference in relation to the metropolis: from - 4 hours in winter, it changes to - 5 hours in summer.
Regions
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Guyana is both a region and a department. The Territorial Collectivity of Guyana (CTG) therefore brings together the powers of a department and a region. The State is represented on the territory by the Regional Prefect, who is responsible for national interests, law enforcement, security and administrative control. Guyana is organized into two districts, Cayenne, where the prefecture is located, and Saint-Laurent du Maroni, which is the sub-prefecture located in the west of Guyanese territory.
Guyanese refer to their region as divided into several parts. Thus, we distinguish the East (from Cayenne, Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock, Regina) from the West (from Mana, Awala-Yalimapo, Saint-Laurent du Maroni to Apatou).
Cities
- 1 Cayenne
- Remire-Montjoly
- Matoury
- Roura
- Regina
- Cocoa
- Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock
- Montsinery-Tonnegrande
- Kourou
- Sinnamary
- Iracoubo
- Mana
- 2 Javouhey – village in the commune of Mana, populated by Hmong refugees from Laos
- Awala-Yalimapo
- Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
- Apatou
- Grand-Santi
- Papaiichton
- Maripasoula
- 3 Saul – Village in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, accessible only by plane.
Other destinations
To go
By plane
Since the France (mainland): a daily flight (Air France) and 4 times a week (Air Caraïbes Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) and connects Paris Orly to Félix Éboué airport, a few kilometers from Cayenne. The rates are not very competitive. They vary according to the season and are higher during the tourist period, school holidays (July - August, Christmas and Passover)
There are also connections to the West Indies and Miami, as well as to Suriname (Suriname Airways) and Brazil (Macapá and Belem) with Suriname Airways or AZUL (Brazilian company).
Circulate
There are no railways in Guyana. The towns of Cayenne and Kourou have a few bus lines. That's it for public transport.
The typical mode of travel is the collective taxi, which leaves when it has a sufficient number of passengers. A Kourou / Cayenne costs 15 € (in 2016) per person with one to three departures per day, a Cayenne / Saint-Laurent costs 50 €, a Cayenne / Saint-Georges costs 31 €.
Taxis are plentiful, comfortable, but expensive: 35 € to go from the airport to the city of Cayenne (15 min) and 85 € to make Cayenne - Kourou.
TIG transport (a "TIG" sticker distinguishes them) at fixed times on regular lines.
The reliable solution is car rental: several companies are present at Cayenne airport and in the main cities.
Hitchhiking also works quite well in general, on the other hand the climate being very changeable, it is not guaranteed that you arrive at your destination without getting wet ...
For more distant destinations you will have the choice between canoe, walk (if you have the time) and plane. It may be interesting to contact local pilots who can possibly take you by private plane for a contribution to the costs.
Walk
- Hiking – the guide to hikes in Guyana
Speak
While the official language is French, almost all Guyanese speak one or more regional languages.
The most used languages are:
- French (official language)
- Guyanese Creole
- many Native American languages
- a tongue bushinengue : the various peoples descended from escaped slaves from Suriname, use several dialects (we find Ndjuka, Aluku, Paramaka, Saramaka) which are Anglo-Dutch Pigdins. In Saint-Laurent du Maroni especially, we call "taki-taki"a general language taken from one or more Bushinengue dialects - but it is a rather derogatory term that the Bushinengue themselves do not use to describe their language.
- with the Brazilian community becoming more and more important, especially in the east of the region, Portuguese can be a means of communication.
- without forgetting Spanish for the Latin-Hispanic communities, and Laotian, Chinese and Vietnamese spoken by the various Asian communities (the H'Mongs from Guyana, the Hindus from Suriname, the Chinese expatriates).
Buy
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The currency of Guyana is the euro (€, EUR).
A complementary local currency, the KWAK was created in 2018, it is intended to promote Guyanese trade and can only be used in this region: http://kwakguyane.fr/
- Local rum is good and inexpensive.
- The craftsmanship of Guyana wood (snake wood, amaranth, patawa, wacapou, rosewood, Wapa ect ...) offers very pretty things.
- The carved wooden objects of the bushinenges are worth a detour (sold everywhere, produced in Mana especially), allow for transport costs due to the heavy weight.
- The tembé art paintings, still produced by the Bushinenges, are particularly expressive.
- Food and most manufactured goods are imported. The Court of Auditors estimated in 2015 that the additional cost compared to the metropolis was overall from 13 to 18%.
Eat
Food
Guyanese cuisine is very varied, you can eat fish, wood meat (game), vegetables and exotic fruits. For the tourist, the dishes may seem too spicy, do not hesitate to ask the restaurant owner to reduce the amount of spice. Guyanese are fond of smoked fish and meats (traditional cooking).
Fish and seafood
Rivers and streams are numerous, so there is a large quantity and variety of freshwater fish. Some fish are only caught in certain municipalities. On the high seas, we catch large prawns, sharks and original fish. http://www.amazonie-peche.gf/
Excellent very complete page: List of fish from Guyana
Fish to taste:
Never tasted, endemic fish of Maroni,
Atipa
Acoupa (sea)
Snapper, (sea) Much sought after goldfish.
Machoiran (sea)
Palika (sea) tarpon in mainland France
Aimara (rivers)
Croupia (sea) particularly tasty
Guyana wild shrimp (fished on the high seas on the continental slope)
Sardine (local name)
Game (Wood meat)
The forest is immense, there are many species of game and other exotic meats.
Pig bwa, cap, pakira, agouti, doe ...
Some species are protected and therefore prohibited from hunting.
Local dishes
The dishes are always often with rice / red beans or quack.
Awara broth, Guyanese dish par excellence, based on awara (palm fruit). Prepared to celebrate the Easter holidays.
Colombo, Creole dish with pork or chicken.
Red beans, red bean dish with wood meat or fish.
Lentils, lentil dish with wood meat or fish.
Kalou or Kalalou , smoked fish dish with spinach and Okra.
Chilli pepper, fish dish in tomato sauce, spicy and seasoned in lemon.
Fish blaf, fish dish prepared in court bouillon.
Roti couniad, grilled fish dish with its scales.
The Quack, cooked cassava flour.
The VSassav, cassava flour pancake.
Drinks and specialties
The rum (Beautiful Cabresse, Heating Heart and The Cayennaise).
Sorbets with local flavors (Comou, coconut, pineapple, maracuja, guava, avocado, corn, country cherry)
Have a drink / Go out
During the Carnival which lasts about 2 months (first Sunday in January until Ash Wednesday), Guyana beats to the rhythms of its masked balls with the Touloulous (women disguised from head to toe who dance to frenzied music). One can also participate and watch the parades that take place on Sundays at Cayenne, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Kourou.
Housing
To find accommodation in Guyana, there are two possibilities:
- If you are on vacation on the banks of a river in a carbet (rudimentary dwelling made up of a roof placed on poles): all you need to do is buy a hammock, a mosquito net and possibly a tarpaulin. Some carbets offer hammocks and mosquito nets directly on site. The carbets are rented by municipalities or private companies for a weekend, transport on the river is included in the rental.
Useful link : Guyana guide to tourist accommodation in carbet: http://www.escapade-carbet.com
- If you are staying in large cities (Cayenne, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Kourou), you have to choose the hotel. The prices are high, but the rooms are ok. There are many homestays accessible through Airbnb.
Learn
The University of Guyana (UG) http://www.univ-guyane.fr/ provides higher education in Guyana, at two sites:
- Saint Denis campus in Cayenne
- Guyana Higher Education Institute (IESG)
- the Faculty of Medicine
- Nursing School
- Kourou
- University Institute of Technology (IUT)
The University Institute for Teachers' Training (IUFM) offers preparation for certain competitions to become a primary or secondary teacher and trains trainee teachers.
The Guyanese University Pole (PUG) opened its doors in September 2009 on the Troubiran site, near downtown Cayenne, on the road to Baduel, under the authority of the Antilles-Guyane University based in Martinique. In 2014, following a major movement of professors and students, the University of Guyana (www.univ-guyane.fr/) was created. Its administration, now completely independent from the Antilles, is centralized in Cayenne on the Troubiran site.
It includes among others:
- Guyana Higher Education Institute (IESG)
- the Faculty of Medicine
- some training from the University Institute of Technology (IUT)
- The University Institute for Teachers' Training (IUFM)
- research organizations
Communicate
- Until recently, the easiest way to call the mainland was to use the prepaid cards found in grocery stores (France Telecom's Alizés card for example, 15 € For about 13 h communication from a landline). Today, unbundling has been completed on the coast, and remains in development in the rest of the territory, but the unlimited supply is, although more expensive than in metropolitan France, in full expansion.
- GSM operators: Orange Caraibe, Digicel and Sfr (ex-Only). Roaming no longer exists between the metropolis and Guyana since mid-2016. The price of an unlimited mobile subscription (to 100 numbers, landline or mobile, including SMS) is around 45 to 59 euros.
European roaming
Since June 15, 2017, "European roaming" has been introduced. It allows all SIM card holders belonging to one of the European member countries to maintain the same pricing conditions as in the country of origin.
Telephone calls and Internet browsing are valid at no additional cost in all European countries, unless authorized by national authorities (generally minor operators) or when a data Gbit threshold is exceeded, which increases year by year. To use this service, simply activate the roaming option on your mobile phone.
The participating countries are those ofEuropean Union (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary , Ireland , Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, UK, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden), those ofEuropean Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and some Oversea territories (Azores, Canary Islands, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, The meeting, Saint-Martin).
Manage the day-to-day
Health
Guyana has the best health system in South America. According to European criteria, it is barely average. The risks associated with yellow fever and malaria are limited in cities.
- Yellow fever : compulsory vaccination at least 15 days before departure in an approved center which will issue you a vaccination card to present when boarding in mainland France (compulsory) or when crossing borders to Brazil where the Suriname. Since 2016, it is no longer necessary to make a booster after 10 years for the yellow fever vaccine in Guyana.
- Malaria : very low risk in large towns and along the coasts. Preventive treatment should however be considered for movements in the forest inland and along rivers such as the Maroni or the Oyapock. In high-risk areas, it is essential to avoid being stung, so wear long-sleeved clothing that may be impregnated with a repellent.
- The dengue regularly rages in the form of epidemics. It is therefore necessary to protect yourself from mosquito bites.
Note: Guyana is not as hostile as some rumors suggest. There are few dangerous animals and encounters are rare. Obviously, like everywhere there are some risks, but some simple advice can avoid being confronted with them:
- Avoid swimming in stagnant water because of the parasites that can be caught there. Rivers are not a problem, you just have to probe the water with a stick to dislodge any rays present in the sand of the shores (poisonous).
- In the forest, you must absolutely avoid standing in trees because of any spiders, snakes or centipedes and wear high shoes.
- The large black spiders with white legs, called "Matoutou" are absolutely not dangerous, although they should not be handled with bare hands (they are stinging at certain times).
- We must beware of snakes; however only one is really dangerous, the Graje.
- In the savannah, the "agouti lice", local name for chiggers, tiny mites which take up positions at the top of the grasses to grip the legs and then pass under the skin. It itches a lot for a few days but it's benign. It suffices to protect yourself by wearing long clothes and by using a curative anti itching ointment such as "Ascabiol" since Elenol (preventive and curative anti-parasitic ointment) is no longer distributed. You will easily find Carapa oil that people also use to protect themselves from Agouti lice.
European citizens
Citizens ofEuropean Union (EU), who fall unexpectedly ill during a temporary stay, studies or a professional stay, are entitled to the same medical care as in their country of residence. It is always useful to take the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which constitutes physical proof of your insurance in an EU country. However, if you do not have the card with you or if you cannot use it (as in the case of private assistance), you are still entitled to treatment, but you are obliged to pay the costs on the spot. , then you will ask for a refund on your return.
The countries in which health coverage is provided are all those that are members of theEuropean Union (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary , Ireland , Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden), those ofEuropean Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), the Swiss, the UK and the Oversea territories member of the European Union (Azores, Canary Islands, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, The meeting, Saint-Martin).
security
 | Emergency telephone number: Police :17 Ambulance:15 Firefighter :18 |
Government travel advice
Canada (Government of Canada)
Respect
Guyana being very far from mainland France, it is very often forgotten, Guyanese people are anxious to be considered. So never forget that Guyanese are French, while having a rich and varied regional culture.
The Creole culture is very present in Guyana, especially in the region of Cayenne and Kourou.
The Guyanese having very different ethnic origins, it is necessary to come to Guyana in a spirit of discovery and not to come to Guyana as in a conquered country.
Ask them questions about their cultures, the history of their region, and they will be very happy to answer you.
Around
You can reach Brazil very easily by taking the RN2 from Cayenne to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock (about 180 km). From this town, there is the possibility of crossing the Oyapock river to the small town ofOiapoque (located on the Brazilian side) with smugglers or by taking a road bridge (closed on WE). From there, buses or taxis leave for Macapá, capital of the Brazilian state of Amapa. This city is located at the mouth of the Amazon: you can therefore cross to Belem or go up the Amazon to Manaus by boat (departure from the small port of Santana. All Brazilian cities are also accessible by plane. There is a Cayenne / Macapá air link (~300 € AR) and Cayenne / Belém (~500 € AR).
To the west, you can visit the Suriname, a former Dutch colony, famous for its national parks, its luxurious hotels, its restaurants in Paramaribo, its capital. The safety of travelers is not really guaranteed: it is better to travel only by car (rental or taxi) and to stay in a good hotel or hostel, in the city. To get to Paramaribo, you have to take a ferry or canoe from Saint-Laurent du Maroni to Albina, after applying for a visa at the Suriname consulate (in Saint-Laurent). Albina is a buffer zone, on the banks of the Maroni, Suriname side. West Guyanese go there regularly, often to buy gasoline. In Albina, you have to go to customs and then, there, take a taxi to Paramaribo (pay attention to the prices, it is better to find out about the usual prices in advance). From Suriname airport, flights are available between Paramaribo and the tourist islands of Trinidad and Tobago or Curaçao.
Regular connections between Cayenne and the other departments of the Antilles are provided by the various airlines (Air France and Air Caraïbes). Prices vary greatly depending on the time of year: it takes between 200 and 600 € round trip.
