Georgetown is an extremely quirky and interesting place. Indeed, the whole country of Guyana has kind of a strange an interesting vibe to it.
This whole country was completely off of everybody's radar until just recently, when huge offshore oil deposits were found. Now, it's in boom mode, but receives next to zero tourism.
In the solid month I spent here, the only people I ran into at the hotel were either Guyanese people living abroad or oil workers. Since the country borders Venezuela, you can also find a good number of Venezuelan immigrants here. But, by and large, people still have not heard about this place.
This may be just the ticket for you, the adventurous expat type, especially if you are like me and want to avoid all the typical tourist traps.
Georgetown, Guyana 🇬🇾
Population:
Official figures have the population of the city proper at just under 120,000 human beings.
Georgetown is pretty sprawled-out, though. Many nearby towns form the greater Georgetown area, and, including all of them, the overall population is more like 300,000 or so.
Weather:
Georgetown is at sea level and near the equator, so you'd expect it to be blistering hot, but, for whatever reason, the heat and humidity aren't that bad.
It generally stays under 90 F (33 C) in this place, all year round, with humidity usually staying in the 60-70% range. It does rain quite a bit, though, as the chart shows.
Also, when that sun is out in the middle of the day, it's a force to be reckoned with. Take standard precautions.
The biggest issue with the climate is the rain, which is pretty bad in:
May
June
July
December
You’ll still get rain in the other 8 months of the year, but nothing too bad.
Why Visit Georgetown, Guyana?
The first reason you may want to visit Georgetown is simply bragging rights. How many people can say they've been to Georgetown, Guyana?
But if that doesn’t move the needle for you, then there’s this…
You'll be one of very few expats in town
It's surprisingly well-adapted for the digital nomad lifestyle
There's plenty of great things to do as far as day trips, especially in nature
Local girls are extremely approachable and friendly
It's an English-speaking country, so there's no need to learn a new language just to communicate with the locals
Overall…
The main reasons to come here is it’s a “hidden gem” with insane nature and friendly women.
Getting to Guyana 🇬🇾
Georgetown actually has two international airports servicing it. If you are coming from outside of the area, you will almost certainly be flying into GEO, the main airport, located almost an hour south of the city:
As you can see, there are not many destinations, but the ones that exist include several key transfer points. You can fly direct from:
Toronto
NYC
Miami
Panamá
If you are already in Port of Spain (Trinidad), Bridgetown (Barbados) or St. Lucia, you can also hop on a direct flight here.
Georgetown's second airport, OGL, is located on the eastern edge of town, in a neighborhood called Ogle. You probably won't touch this airport, as it only has flights coming in from Suriname, Trinidad, Barbados, and domestic flights.