About us

Rufous winged Ground-Cuckoo

Leon Moore Nature Experience offers small groups bird watching, photography and wildlife tours. Our tours are personalized and offer the best value for money.

Founded by tour leader and Naturalist Leon Moore, our tours are led by some of the most experience and knowledgeable tour leaders together with our excellent local guides in Guyana.

We travel to the best birding and wildlife hotspots across the country including Iwokrama River Lodge, Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, Surama Lodge, Karanambu Lodge, Caiman House Field Station, Rewa Lodge, Karasabai village where the stunning and highly endangered Sun Parakeets awaits you. Manari ranch for the Hoary-throated Spinetail and Rio-branco Antbird and Dadanawa ranch for the critically endangered and rare Red Siskin.

Adult Jaguars in Iwokrama

Our tour leaders are active eBirders so if you’re a registered eBirder, you can follow our eBirder feed for the latest bird checklist and more. Or, view our trip reports or checkout our outstanding Facebook photo galleries,  We also posted our videos on Facebook here.

Sun Parakeets

Our aim is to conduct successful and professional nature tours at the cheapest cost while at the time maintaining a very high standard through the service we provide for both tourist visiting Guyana and our own indigenous Guyanese people. Also making sure our communities and local lodges benefit through our unique product.

(Red Siskin © Jonathan de Groot)
Crimson Topaz spotted at Atta Lodge

About Guyana

My most famous photo Harpy Eagle.

Guyana rightly deserves its reputation as one of the top birding and wildlife destinations in South America. Guyana is a small English speaking South American Country resided on the Atlantic Coast east of Venezuela and west of Suriname. Our pristine habitats stretch from the protected Shell Beach and Mangrove forest along the northern coast across the vast untouched rainforest to the wide open savannah of the Rupununi in the south. Guyana hosts more than 850 different species of birds covering over 70 bird families and over 45 must see and Guianan Shield endemic species that is more easy to see here than any other Country in South America.

These species range from the outrageous and stunning Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Harpy Eagle, Rufous-throated, White-plumed and Wing-barred Antbird, Capuchinbird, Gray-winged Trumpeter and the Rufous winged-ground Cuckoo. Blood-colored Woodpecker, Rufous Crab-Hawk, Guianan Red-Cotinga, White-winged Potoo, Black Curassow, Sun Parakeet, Red Siskin, Rio-Branco Antbird, and the Dusky Purpletuft are just some of many birding highlights that can be seen in this amazing Country.

Our interior is magical with a wide range of protected areas. Shell beach, a major nesting beach for four kinds of marine Turtles, Kaieteur National Park, the Iwokrama rain forest reserve, the Kanuku mountain protected area and in the far south the Wai Wai community owned conservation area. Each area has unique biological diversity to offer. Guyana still has over 80% forest cover which is one of the highest percentages in the world.  We still have many undiscovered habitats waiting to be explored.

Guianan Toucanet

Not only is Guyana a spectacular birding destination, it also offers tourist the opportunity to observe so many other unique Flora and Fauna. The elusive Jaguar that can sometimes be seen along trails, and other road-ways. Several species of monkeys including Red-howler, Black-Spider, the two Capuchins, wedge-capped and Brown Capuchin, Golden-handed tamarin, Brown-bearded Saki and Squirrel Monkey are also very often seen in their natural habitats.  In addition, there is the opportunity to see Tapirs, Capybara, Sloths, the Black Caiman, (the largest member of the alligator family and quite plentiful along the Rupununi river) and of course you can’t leave out the giant Anaconda, the elusive Puma, giant Otters, giant Anteater and even the largest fresh water scaled fish in the world, the Arapaima, also the amazing diversity of reptiles and amphibians that can enhance your birding adventure. Our lodges are very comfortable, the diversity of our fresh food is amazing, our local knowledge about the area is outstanding and we have excellent birding/wildlife and photography opportunities.

Crimson-Hooded Manakin

Tour Facts

Guianan Cock-of-the Rock

Guyana is generally hot and humid. On most morning we will be up and out very early to take advantage of the cooler temperature and wildlife activity.

Our tour does not require a high level of fitness but participants should be in good general health as some of the birding will be done on foot and may require walking for several hours at times but at (slow pace). Should you have any physical limitation please let us know in advance before you leave your destination.

Accommodation is generally simple but comfortable, throughout they are no air-condition at the interior lodges but cool at nights, that’s Guyana temperature!

Some interior local roads can be bumpy at times based on conduction.

The vehicles we used are generally 4×4 and sometime open tops so at times we can be either sitting or standing to get a better view of possible wildlife or the forest.

A group of Wild Giant Otters spotted along the Rupununi River ©Leon Moore

Apart from your hotel in Georgetown, none of the interior Lodges have hot shower.

None of the interior lodges accept credit cards, on arrival you can change money  at our banks  or at a cambio however all the lodges accept US dollars.

Mosquito nets are provided throughout the lodges, you can expect some biting insect like mosquitos, sandflies, (noseeams).

The risk of catching malaria is low.

Electricity is available at all the lodges, generator or solar power. Although the lodges is 110V and the outlets/plugs are USA type.

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

The cost of this tour does not include the price of your international flight to and from Guyana. You are responsible for arranging these flights to and from Georgetown. I recommend that you arrive a day early to rest and adjust to the time zone before our early morning departure on day two.

TRIP INSURANCE

The purchase of trip cancellation insurance is strongly recommended. Leon Moore Nature Experience (LMNE) cannot accept liability for airline cancellations or delays or penalties incurred by the purchase of non-refundable airline tickets or other expenses incurred by tour participants in preparing for this tour.

IMPORTANT

On domestic Schedule flights within Guyana, passengers are allowed a total of 20Lbs or 9kg of luggage on Aircraft; if one is over the limit, he or she is charge US$ 1 or GY$ 200 Guyana dollars for every pound over weight. It is important that clients must provide his or her body and luggage weight in advance so this can be provided to the domestic airline in Guyana.

Because most of our clients comes from either north America or the UK; we know that clients would sometimes have to travel with weather clothing/extra jacket for cold weather; these and any other clothing or items he or she wish to leave in within our storage, arrangements can be made to facilitate this.