Dear Editor,
Tourism month has come and gone. I would like to share my experiences as once again there is some talk of tourism in the papers.
At the beginning of Tourism month there was this announcement of a safari from Georgetown to Boa Vista to celebrate 50 years of friendship between Guyana and Brazil. I was told that the safari will be coordinated by the Brazilian Embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rainforest Tours. Knowing that my daughter had gone to safaris in Africa I was excited to have her experience this one too. The ordeal was a nightmare.
I was told positively by the Tour Operator that a vehicle would be provided and the total cost of the three tourists for the trip. I relayed this information; everyone applied for leave and were quite upbeat. A few days before they arrived I called to confirm the arrangement only to be told that they cannot access a vehicle for them. In desperation I pleaded with the tour operator whether they could join other vehicles on the trip. This guy was so engrossed with self- importance and so, so nonchalant that I resorted to the Embassy as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two days before my party is to arrive I am running around like a headless chicken still trying to find a way for these kids to join the safari. They arrived, met a friend who said that he was travelling alone and would have welcomed the company! But isn’t this what I was asking the Tour Operator to investigate? I never saw anything in the newspapers as to the success of that trip.
In the meantime I had contacted Baganara Resort for a party of five to spend three days and two nights at the resort. On Wednesday, four days before our scheduled stay I offered to pay with a cheque. The Manager bluntly refused saying that a personal cheque will take five days to clear even though we were both using the same bank. She insisted that I pay in cash. She sent a driver and a clerk to the bank to collect the cash. I asked the teller in front of the clerk whether if we are using the same bank how long does it take to clear a cheque? Less than an hour he says. But this arrogant, adamant manager of Baganara knows differently even though I am pointing out to her that I have transacted such business before.
By this time I have a bunch of kids, one from the US, one from Barbados and one from the UK and was going out of my mind how to arrange entertainment for them. Scared to have them walk on the seawalls, terrified for them to go to a nightclub and could not even entertain the thought to have them stroll around in town.
Is Guyana ready for tourism? Hell NO. Definitely not from our experiences.
Yours faithfully,
Hema Persaud
