A roughly five-mile drive out of Lethem will get you to St Ignatius. Close to St Ignatius sits a conspicuous strip of sand, in the middle of the Takutu River which separates Guyana from Brazil. It is named Ariwa Beach and it is a microcosm of Guyana’s potential for the creation of an interior-based tourism industry, a resource to which, over the years, the authorities have paid ridiculously little attention.
People, however, both residents of close by communities and visitors to Region Nine have, it seems, come to realise the value of Ariwa Beach as a potential tourism outpost.
When Stabroek Business visited recently we were told that Ariwa is a translation of an English word and, as well, the name given to a small and apparently quite innocuous fish found in the Takutu River. All that we were able to learn about the fish is that it has black and orange fins.
From the vantage point of Ariwa Beach there are many ways in which you can enjoy yourself. You can go kayaking, paddleboating, sailing, or fishing in the Takutu River. Or if you have no inclination for the water you can settle for a ‘spot’ of bird-watching or else, a simple ‘throw back,’ and feed yourself some of the favoured foods of the community… like boiled or roasted tambaqui fish with farine. The options are really quite considerable.
That Sunday when we opted to go to the beach we had decided on the ‘throw-back’ option. There, we settled for the community’s signature cocktail, Caipirinha, a Brazilian beverage, reportedly, made from a distilled spirit named cachaça, sugar, lime and other fruit.
When we got there the beach was almost deserted. The ‘owners’ of the strip, Jonanthan and Edione Joseph told us that the beach had been closed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic and that they had only just received clearance to re-open. Visitors were beginning to trickle back but it would take time before it returned to normalcy, Jonathan told us. These days, he said, visitors could range from about a dozen to none at all, he said.
Jonathan related that just around the time that we were visiting there had been a ‘buzz’ in the area arising, apparently, out of the unexpected reappearance of a very rare, perhaps even endangered bird, a Hoary-throated Spinetail. He said that after it had been assumed some time ago that the bird, which was thought to dwell in both Guyana and Brazil had disappeared forever, one had been spotted recently spotted in the area of the beach.
Jonathan told us that he was anticipating a visit to the beach by a group of then North American birdwatchers who were due to visit the area on the very morning that we arrived there. As it happened, members of the party had fallen ill and the trip was cancelled. While he could hardly conceal his disappointment he felt sure, he said, that word about the reappearing bird would spread and more birdwatchers would come.
Ariwa Beach may not be the most popular visitor site in Guyana but, Jonathan says, it holds its own in Region Nine. He recalled that prior to the onset of the pandemic weekends and holidays would see large numbers of persons beating a path to the beach. Weddings and other celebratory events were held there and he recalled that the Phagwah national holiday would also see visitors gathered at the beach. Jonathan disclosed that as an additional attraction he and his wife had introduced a Miss Ariwa Beach Pageant with contestants coming from St Ignatius, Lethem and other nearby communities. The pandemic, he said, had forced the suspension of the pageant for the past two years.
The pageant would usually be a significant attention-getter for the neighbouring communities and the number of persons ‘taking a dip’ in the Takutu River would be sufficient to warrant the hiring of lifeguards from Brazil to watch over the swimmers. Being, themselves, trained lifeguards, both Jonathan and Edione ‘chip in’ when necessary.
Ariwa Beach was launched as a ‘place to visit’ in February 2016 and within four years it had received an award from Visit Rupununi, a body established in 2015 to develop, improve and promote the sustainable tourism offer in the Rupununi through building the capacity of local communities and tourism stakeholders; establishing standards on quality and safety while conserving the nature-based, traditional heritage of the Rupununi; and marketing the region as a single destination with a wide variety of offers.
Jonathan is Guyanese; Edionne is Brazilian. They met while Jonathan was in Brazil, working at a Sports Fishing Eco Lodge there. That was twenty three years ago.
Jonathan had received his primary education in Brazil and inevitably he became a fluent Portuguese speaker. He recalled a 1992 meeting with the CEO of Roraima Airways (currently serving as National Security Advisor to the Government) Captain Gerry Gouveia who was looking for a bilingual tour guide for a planned visit to Brazil. Following that visit he had applied for and secured a permanent job as a tour guide.
He had held that job for more than twenty years in Brazil. In the process he had acquired considerable competence in disciplines relating to interior tourism management.
The Joseph family, Jonathan, Edionne and their children, (two boys and a girl) had ‘come home’ to Guyana. Setting up a resort of their own seemed to be the natural thing to do.
Jonathan himself had visited the beach as a child. He recalled that he had spent much of his fifteenth birthday there. He and Edionne had decided to develop Ariwa Beach after probing options for employment. They had sought and secured permission from the St Ignatius Village Council to use the Beach as well as a nearby piece of land. He recalls that one day, whilst preparations were being made for the launch a Brazilian Coastguard Patrol ‘stopped by’ to enquire into his bona fides. The matter, he said, had been settled in an atmosphere of mutual respect and he had even received an undertaking from the inquiring Brazilian officials that the facility would benefit from such support as they could give.
COVID-19 has put a brake on the couple’s expansion plans for Ariwa. Going forward, they envisage the creation of an overnighting facility.
At 5:30 pm a PA system announces that the beach is closed. It is one of the protocols associated with the conditions under which the facility is operated.
Jonanthan and Edionne offer tour guide services to groups visiting the Rupununi. They have ‘done’ hiking trips to Shea Mountain, the Pakaraima Mountains etc. Jonathan says that the 3,500 ft climb to the summit of the Schomburgk Peak is one of the more popular pursuits. His service offers snack packs, breakfast, lunches and an overnight hike. Transportation leaves Lethem at 6am heading for Kumu, half an hour’s drive away. Overall, the trip to the peak takes about four hours and a further four hours to return.
Our visit to Ariwa Beach concluded with a short, particularly pleasant boat ride on the Takutu River. The ride had been timed to coincide with the setting of the sun, the sensation providing a timely reminder of the compelling need for us to stop ‘monkeying around’ with our tourism product.
Jonathan and Edionne can be reached of telephone number 667-6083.
