Ten-Day Four-Country Explorer

Your journey begins at Cayenne–Félix Eboué Airport in French Guiana. After clearing customs, you're met by your guide and transferred to your hotel in Cayenne (approximately 20 minutes). The remainder of the day is yours.

Morning city tour of Cayenne: the Musée Départemental Alexandre-Franconie (colonial history and indigenous cultures), the Place des Palmistes, colonial-era buildings and the central market. From Cayenne, you continue to Kourou (60 kilometers west) for a visit to the Centre Spatial Guyanais. The three-hour guided tour (conducted in French with translation from your guide) includes mission control, rocket assembly buildings and launch pads. The complex covers 700 square kilometers of coastal rainforest. Photography restrictions apply in certain areas. You check into your hotel in Kourou for the evening.

Departure from Kourou harbor for a full-day catamaran voyage to the Îles du Salut (Salvation Islands). You circumnavigate Devil's Island while your guide recounts its history, then land on Île Royale to explore the prison ruins, director's quarters, hospital, chapel and cell blocks. Continue to Île Saint-Joseph, where solitary confinement cells occupy the island's interior. Lunch is available for purchase at the restaurant on Île Royale before the return crossing, arriving approximately 5:00 PM. The sea crossing can be moderately rough, prepare accordingly.

Morning drive to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (approximately 3 hours), French Guiana's border town. Tour of the Camp de la Transportation, the barracks, director's residence and solitary confinement cells where approximately 70,000 prisoners were processed between 1852 and 1953.

From Saint-Laurent, you cross the Marowijne River by ferry or pirogue into Suriname, with your guide handling all border formalities. You continue to Paramaribo and check into your hotel.

Morning walking tour of Paramaribo's inner city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You'll visit Independence Square, the Palm Garden, Fort Zeelandia and the waterfront (Waterkant). The route includes the Central Market and the Basilica, Mosque and Synagogue standing side by side.

In the afternoon, you visit Peperpot Nature Park. The daytime walk focuses on birdlife (over 200 species recorded), sloths (near-guaranteed sightings), howler monkeys and capuchins. Trails wind through the old plantation grounds, with interpretation on forest ecology and plantation history. The visit concludes with a boat trip on the Suriname River, where pink belly dolphins are sometimes seen.

Full-day boat and walking tour of the Commewijne district. You depart Leonsberg pier by traditional tent boat, traveling along the Suriname and Commewijne rivers. Pink belly dolphins are frequently sighted during the river crossing, the boat slows for observation of feeding behavior and surfacing patterns.

First stop: Rust en Werk, an 18th-century sugar plantation with preserved brick factory buildings, overseer's residence and slave quarters foundations. Your guide provides context on the plantation economy, slavery and indentureship.

Second stop: Frederiksdorp, a 19th-century coffee plantation now operating as a heritage resort. Tour the preserved main house (now museum), worker housing and coffee processing buildings, then walk the Bonnie Trail through secondary forest and riverfront viewpoints. Plated lunch at Frederiksdorp's open-air restaurant.

Third stop: Nieuw Amsterdam Open Air Museum, the 18th-century Dutch fortification at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers. The fort and adjacent open-air museum hold historic cannons, the original commander's quarters and exhibits on the plantation economy, slavery and the indentured labor systems that followed abolition.

The order of stops may vary with tidal conditions. Return to Paramaribo by approximately 5:00 PM.

Morning flight from Paramaribo to Georgetown (included, with checked baggage allowance). Upon arrival, guided city tour: St. George's Cathedral, Stabroek Market and the Botanical Gardens.

After lunch (not included), transfer to Ogle Airport for a scenic flight to Kaieteur National Park. The 50-minute flight reveals the scale of Guyana's interior. At Kaieteur, approximately two hours on the ground at a 226-meter single-drop waterfall surrounded by primary forest. Return to Georgetown by late afternoon.

You depart Georgetown for your flight to Trinidad (not included in package price). Upon arrival at Piarco International Airport, you're met by your guide for transfer to Port of Spain and a city orientation tour: Maracas Bay (popular north coast beach, approximately 45 minutes from the city), Queen's Park Savannah and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Check into your hotel for the evening.

Today's focus is Trinidad's cocoa heritage. You're picked up from your hotel at 10:30 AM for the one-hour drive into the Northern Mountains to the village of Lopinot, once a prosperous cacao plantation district. Trinidad is one of the world's most renowned sources of fine-flavour cacao, and this tour connects that history to the table.

Your first stop is Lopinot Historical Park, the restored estate of Count Charles Joseph de Lopinot, a French planter who established the plantation in the early 19th century. From there, you continue to Café Mariposa Gardens, a mountain restaurant surrounded by forest where hummingbirds are a constant presence. A welcome drink is followed by a three-course meal prepared with locally grown cacao, main course is a choice of pork, chicken or fish, all incorporating cacao in the preparation. During cacao season (November to May), you can pick pods directly from the garden and taste the fresh fruit.

You return to your hotel by approximately 2:30 PM. The remainder of the day is yours.

Depending on your departure flight time, breakfast is included at your hotel. Transfer to Piarco International Airport with sufficient time for check-in.