Rupununi Savannas

Lonely Planet review

These Africa-like plains are scattered with Amerindian villages and an exceptional diversity of wildlife. Rivers filled with huge caimans, the world's largest water lilies (the Victoria amazonica) and a mindboggling variety of colorful birds, cut through plains of golden grasses and termite mounds.

The heart of the savanna is at Annai, a crossroads of Amerindian peoples with a police station and an airstrip, although the biggest settlement is much further south at Lethem, a cowboy town on the Brazilian border. Although the savanna stretches over an area of 104,400 sq km (40309 sq mi), there's a distinct feel of a tight community down here and you'd be hard pressed to find a safer place on earth. The region attracts and grows a collection of unique characters fanatical about wildlife and ecopreservation.