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We only got to stay at the Dadanawa Ranch for one night and I really wish we had allowed more time there before heading onto the river through the rainforest. We were picked up in Lethem in a 4x4 extended cab pick-up truck in good shape for the drive to the ranch. It took about 4 hours but we stopped at an Indian village and got to meet the chief and we did a bit of bird watching on the way there. The roads ranged from packed gravel to dirt tracks to driving through deep water to cross a stream. We were there in the dry season…although it had rained quite a bit this season and the rivers were up. In the rainy season the whole area floods and sometimes you need a boat to reach the guest house.
The ranch is massive and we certainly did not see much of it, but we loved the area around the main building and the guest house. The ranch is rustic, no electricity, no hot water, a living look at how everyone lived before all the modern conveniences we have grown accustom to. The manager, Duane, took us on a tour. The main house is where they have the meals. It is a very old building with large porches that everyone gathers for some rum punch before and after dinner. The kitchen is a small building next to the main house and still uses an old cast iron stove. There is a small tanning shed with hides in various stages of being processed. The camp store is full of cool things to look at, but is really meant as a place for the ranch hands to buy things that the ranch has shipped in. They have many semi-wild pigs and goats, horses running free…and of course cows. They do have a small slaughter house and, with no refrigeration, all their meat is used right away, or dried to make Tasso or jerky. He showed us the wood shop and the workshop. He has a collection of vintage vehicles that have succumbed to the rough terrain over the years including some very early Land Rovers. The grounds around these building have lots of plants and flowers and make for some good pictures. There is also a grass runway right in front of the guest house for people who fly right in. Tip: go out on the runway at night with a flashlight and look for the eyes of nightjars and paraques.
The guest house is up on stilts and has two rooms with some overflow sleeping available in between. Each room has a large porch with a couple of hammocks to relax in or even sleep in. Our room had two twin beds with mosquito nets and battery powered lanterns. Tip: put the lanterns or your flashlights in front of the mirror…it lights up more of the room. There was a dresser and our own bathroom. There is a sink with water outside the bathroom, a flush toilet, and a shower…no hot water. We drank the water with no problems. There is a very high roof that is common to both rooms so be aware that your neighbors could hear you. Our room has some bats in the roof during the day…very cool. There is also a large bat cave on the property and 18 species of bats; we did not have time for those bats on our itinerary this time.
The staff at the ranch – Rupununi Trails -was great. We felt 100% welcomed, safe, and at home. They arranged for us to be picked up in Georgetown at our hotel and taken to the airport for our flight to Lethem. They purchased all our internal flights for us and had the truck waiting for us to land. Mike and Erin from the ranch were in Georgetown and traveled with us giving us lots of facts about Guyana, the Rupununi and the ranch. We arrived for a late lunch at the ranch. The steaks may have been the best I have ever had and they were prepared peppered…excellent. Our dinner was a kind of beef stew, again very good. They also prepared a beef pepper pot for our river trip that we ate the second night…absolutely great for the middle of the rainforest. (They also have great fish, but Jodie and I do not like fish so they catered to us) Our focus was on birding for the 8 day trip they arranged and our bird guides were good. Our guide in the savannah was Asaf and he could see detail on birds with his eyes that I had trouble seeing with my $2,000 binoculars. He found the rare Red Siskin for us. Andy in Georgetown knew the birds of the area well and we quickly ticked off the ones we expected to see and he found the Blood Colored Woodpecker for us. Leroy and Justin helped us find birds on the river. They also arranged for us to stay at the Manari Ranch – great place near Lethem. Lots of birds and even saw a giant ant eater. They also arranged one night at the Caiman House. Overall we saw over 250 species of birds.
The highlight of our trip was the 5-day 4-night river trip they arranged to see the Harpy eagle chick. The team on the river took absolutely excellent care of us setting up camp each day and making us comfortable. The hammock had fully enclosed mosquito nets and tarps overhead in case it rained. We had chairs and a table to eat at, a full time cook (Berlinda was great) to prepare our meals and wash clothes, rum punch each evening after dinner…all the comforts of home but in the middle of an unpopulated protected mountain rainforest. We were able to see the harpys, a couple kinds of caimans, an ocelot, Jaguar tracks, giant river otters, turtles, and many other forms of wildlife along the way. We traveled in, bathed in, and drank from the river (sterilized) and had an overall great time… and we do not normally do much camping. We used canoes and a flat-bottomed aluminum boat. Three of our crew members were from the local villages. I highly recommend this trip.
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Date of stay: February 2013
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:The guest house on stilts is the place to stay - the room closer to the main house has a better...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Let's start with this: Dadanawa Ranch isn't for everyone primarily because the accommodations are at the bottom-end of basic. If you come to Dadanawa expecting to be pampered, you'll be miserable. But if you are open to a remarkable ranch-based experience and are interested in opportunities to see some rare wildlife, you just may find this place totally amazing.
You can drive to Dadanawa from Lethem... it's a few hours over a not-very-good dirt road. Alternatively, if you have a group, you can charter a filght to land right in front of the guest buildings. Sometimes TGA will divert their Lethem flight if there are enough passengers demanding it. There is a fee for this service.
At Dadanawa you can essentially be a ranch-hand for as long as you stay, working with the vaqueros to manage the 6000+ head of cattle that roam here. This was once one of South America's top-producing cattle ranches, and there is ample evidence of that history around every corner.
Our group visited with nature in mind: this is one of the only places in the world to glimpse the endangered Red Siskin, and also a really good place to spot the highly endangered Giant Anteater.
Justin DeFreitas and crew are a motley, friendly, slightly unruly bunch with remarkable wildlife and birdspotting skills. Their "I-cant-believe-that-thing-works" 4X4's will take you out on the savannahs along the Brazilian border and to the Kanuku foothills to find crittrers and to explore a really beautiful corner of this country. These guys have seen and done it all, and know their way around instinctually. I was impressed by everyone's stated commitment to natural conservation.
Justin's father Duane - and a crew from Dadanawa - also lead deep-jungle and river expeditions all over the country. When it comes to ambitious expeditions, they're pros. Duane happens to be a talented photographer and videographer as well, as evidenced by some of the most close-up shots I've ever seen of Guyana's Jaguars.
There are opportunities to learn about ranch operations by visiting the slaughterhouse, tanning shed, and stables. A visit to the infamous General Store is obligatory, as it epitomizes life in the rural "wild-west." Canoe and kyak trips are possible, too.
Meals are dead-simple home cooking fare. The main guest building has four guest rooms with ensuite showers and flush toilets, but walls don't reach the ceilings so privacy is limited. During my visit, linens were spotlessly clean and mosquito nets in good condition, but the bathrooms were a bit grungy. A nice balcony surrounds the guest building creating a perfect place for afternoon rum-hour. It is all bare-basic, but generally clean and all your fundamental needs are met.
If South American ranch life interests you, Dadanawa could be a very cool part of your Guyana experience based on the wildlife, a taste of Guyanese history, the wild-west ambience, and the jovial crew that runs the place. For the cost to stay here (driven up by high fuel costs) you would expect a higher level of polish and comfort; however, if you take Dadanawa for what it is - a working ranch in a remote corner of South America - a visit to here can be quite rewarding.
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Date of stay: April 2008
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Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Set in 1750 square miles of stunning savannah and bordered by the Kanuku Mountains it is a place you will never forget. The ranch itself has buckets of history and charm set deep in the interior of Guyana. The people are a treat and range from bushmen, amerindians, cowboys, researchers, and of course Duane Defrietas adventurer, anaconda wrestler, ranch manager, and raconteur. The accommodations are basic in the sense that there is no electricity but there is running water and the food is excellent. You go there for adventure, the wildlife, the land and cows...lots and lots of cows...
This is their website : http://www.dadanawaranchguyana.com/ This is my blog where I wrote about some of my experiences there: http://absurdtraveler.blogspot.com/
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Date of stay: February 2012
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Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:The main guesthouse is the best
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
First of al,l I wish Trip Advisor allowed for a score of 0. Second of all, the other reviewers must be e either friends of the kids who "run" this ranch or must be backpackers with a very low standard for accommodations. Everything went wrong with our Dadanawa experience almost from the beginning.
The experience started with a private transfer supplied by Dadanawa , which we paid for and which arrived a little late at Karanambu. Leroy our driver was about the only positive of our Dadanawa experience. He got us to Lethem with only one side trip he had to make to another lodge. OK no problem. We got to Lethem in time to meet the self introduced "partner" (although she acted like she was in charge ...of something) of the oldest son of the Ranch manager (who no longer lives on the ranch contrary to our itinerary). We also met some other guests with another vehicle at another lodge where Dadanawa had made arrangements for lunch. Our light lunch was followed by a two hour "shopping tour" while they shopped for gasoline (maybe 50 gal.) supplies, parts, two outboard motors, etc. - not stuff we were going to use. They never explained to us what was going on, much less apologize. Remember this was a PRIVATE transfer supposedly (all the other transfers in Guyana were strictly private even when we offered to let them pick up folks along the road - the drivers said that would not be right and he would get in trouble for taking on other passengers). We just stood around in the heat while they all shopped, joked and had a good time. Then they had to rearrange all the load of the vehicles and we took on the supplies and three new passengers on our vehicle - we had to move our luggage next to us inside the cab because they took up all the space in the back of the truck. OK by this time it is 3:30 and we finally head out for the 3.5 hour trip to the ranch. Now there is no time to do any birdwatching on the transfer because they want to get back before it is too dark.
We end up arriving about 7:00 or so and we are told dinner would be at 7:30. Fine - we are hungry. But first we are introduced to our room which clearly is staff quarters. It is NOT perfectly weathered as the Bradt Guide says - it was falling apart and filthy! Nails were sticking out of the wall, the shower was all kind of grimy, the railing leading up to the second floor room was visibly wobbling and would likely blow off in a stiff breeze. The floors had not been swept much less thoroughly cleaned. Anyway we went to dinner telling ourselves that we had put up with worse (we have visited well over 100 countries - most of them developing nations) and that a good meal would make the difference. Dinner consisted of a bowl of soup and a piece of bread in a hot room with no windows or ventilation conveniently located for the staff next to the kitchen. Not on the veranda with nice breezes upstairs. Anyway I should be glad the meal was so minimal because for the next several hours I was dealing with the meal on the toilet, if you catch my drift. I have not had travelers diarrhea for many years. But I could deal with that problem as well as all the others they kept throwing at us.
But the thing that finally pushed me over the edge was the mattress they gave us which was infused with some chemical that caused my eyes to burn and gave me a splitting headache. In any event I did not get a single minute's sleep the entire night due to the fumes. I made one of the guys smell the mattress the next day and he grimaced and said "mothballs"? It smelled like kerosene to me. Whatever it was it did not make for a healthy or restful sleep. Did I mention the ranch hand hacking and coughing all night long in the adjoining room - sounded like he was in our room.
So why didn't I use the hammock on the veranda as advertised in the guidebooks and literature? Because there was no veranda and there was no hammock. there was not even a chair in the assigned room - just a dirty floor.
The next day as soon as I could find someone I asked for the manager of the ranch - "not one of the kids". Well that question seemed to throw him for a loop. Apparently these kids have no formal structure, they do what they want, apparently with zero hospitality training much less common decency. It felt like it was a fraternity or sorority house (like Animal House). Finally he decided it was the manager's son who was in charge - but he was sick and would not meet with us although we had seem him out and about the prior evening. So two young women who have no formal role or training that we could discern came over to see what the problem was. The bottom line was that they really had no better, only worse, rooms and that I did not get the "good room" because they gave it to the other guests because they had booked two months ago. When i reminded them that I had a confirmed reservation through Wilderness Explorers nine months earlier they shrugged and said they knew nothing about that. As to the mattress they simply said that was the only double mattress they had. Couldn't tghey have shoved two singles together as other lodges do? The one young woman (I believe she is the daughter of the absent ranch manager) did finally state that all the problems were due to the board of directors not funding any capital improvements. You do not need much money to clean a floor, keep track of your reservations, provide a decent meal, pull rusty nails out of the wall or treat your guests like they are something other than a bother. When I pointed that out to her she said that maybe they should get someone to run the tourism part of the ranch. You think?!! Anyway at the end she apologized for the treatment and seemed genuinely sorry. By the way the "partner" girl clearly thought we were just a bother from the minute we met her - her attitude was very apparent from the beginning..
I booked Dadanawa as part of a package, touring the Rupununi. All the other lodges, meals, transfers were handled either superbly or at least competently - the sole exception was Dadanawa. I have already communicated my concerns to Wilderness Explorers. I do not think anyone other than a desperate backpacker should consider booking with Dadanawa until they get some competent management and repair the place.
We did not stay another night but got transferred all the way back to Lethem where we spent the night in a simple hotel by the airport. Leroy, the driver, clearly felt bad and also apologized and tried to give us some birdwatching on the way back which we appreciated.
So bottom line of a two night stay with private transfers, three meals a day and two days of guided tours we go two transfers - one anything but private, no guided tours, one sleepless night in a hell hole, a bowl of soup and a slice of bread. No reimbursement. You choose which of these reviews to trust.
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Date of stay: October 2014
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Do not go to Dadanawa until there are reports that the situation has improved. Or unless you do...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The place for eco tourism and a total outback adventure. Great people, great hospitality and amazing views. Sunrise and Sunset are out of this world. Great fishing and bird watching. Sandy and Duane are great hosts.
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Date of stay: March 2006Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you want adventure, unique experiences, tranquillity and opportunities to really appreciate nature, where generation old stories and superstitions are shared around camp fires and rum, where you sleep in hammocks in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, catch your dinner and canoe through the most untouched beautiful landscape with giant wild river otters swimming alongside, brightly coloured Macaws overhead and Caiman eyeing you from afar then I cannot think of anything better than Rupununi Trails.
When at Dadanawa Ranch I was awoken by a thundering noise and as I pushed aside my mosquito net to get up to investigate, squinting at the dawn light just encroaching onto my balcony I saw a herd of wild horses galloping through the ranch. What a start to my morning. The staff could not have been more pleasant and accommodating, with English being fluently spoken within Guyana, they prepared my meals and when we went on the river trip, tailored to my wants, into the bush a cook and several guides and helpers came along.
It was a strange paradox of being in a third world country sleeping in a hammock tied between two trees or at the top of a mountain on a blanket under the stars but feeling that it is the most luxurious holiday with dedicated people to educate, care for and attend to you. Every fish; they knew, every bird call; they could replicate and when I was thirsty they cut a vine from a tree to give me water. I feel privileged to have been in the company of such interesting, dedicated and knowledgeable people.
This is an adventurer’s holiday, a naturalist holiday and for people who want to push themselves to experience new things and new ways in which people live.
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Date of stay: January 2014
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I went two times to Dadanawa, and it's worth visiting! I lost my heart in the savannah and still hoping to go back. The overwhelming stunning nature, the brave vacquero's, the warm welcome by Duane and Sandy. Tidy clean and spacious rooms, delicious fresh food.... what more can I say
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Date of stay: February 2008
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Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I spent a week at the ranch, sleeping in a hammock on the porch, with great views of the savanna. I felt at home the minute I arrived and felt like part of the family by the time I left. Good food and very friendly people. Went horseback riding, fishing, and visited a neighbouring village with a great swimming hole. A highlight of seven months in South America so far.
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Date of stay: November 2014
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Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was an incredible experience. Riding out with the vaqueros, following there daily work. Sleeping under the stars. What a milky way!!! The staff is amazing and the bosses are too cool. If you are in the neighborhood, even if it's a 1000 miles, don't hesitate. You won't regret it.
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Date of stay: March 2008
Value
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
wonderful owners and staff we had an amazing experience with many guided tours and walks to see amazing birds and animals go we saw jabiru nesting high in a tree and over 100 species and the wondrous spirit mountains rooms were most comfortable and every demand was met They even ground up peanuts when we asked for peanut butter...
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Date of stay: August 2013
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:to hell with a room you are in Rupinuni its whatis around you and the way the people interpret...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
San Juan Island, Washington479 contributions468 helpful votes
"Do not go to Dadanawa until there are reports that the situation has improved. Or unless you do not care about spending a lot of money for poor quality."
There are more places to choose from in the Rupununi area.
LOCATION
GuyanaRupununi
NUMBER OF ROOMS
8
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