Rupununi eco-tourism set to take off

A Chieftain’s smile: Natoyah Fields tries on the Wai-Wai headdress at a tourist shop at Lethem, Rupununi.

Water tumbles over the ancient brownish-gray rocks of the Kumu falls in a never-ending white spray, splashing on the Portuguese-speaking tourists, swimming  in the clear, cold stream at the bottom.

The dozen people here on Sunday afternoon last week are a mixture of Brazilians from Bom Fim and Guyanese from Lethem. In this community, where the Rupununi savannahs meet the forest at the foot of the Kanuku Mountains, the falls are a growing attraction with an average of 50 visitors arriving on weekends