Growing up in Cove and John on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) was what Shivana Gulchand described as a simple environment with most people being farmers including her father but more importantly, it was an area where many women got married at a very young age and rarely worked.
Her mother, however, was the exception, being the only of her ten siblings to pursue an education and eventually become a Grade Six teacher. Gulchand always knew she wanted more than the simple life and believes seeing her mother venture out in what was at the time considered an unfamiliar path, was somewhat responsible for her career-oriented mentality.
“She was the one that broke that barrier and made the exception that you had to get an education and a job, and I guess that kind of broke the path for my siblings and me,” Gulchand said. Now, the 35-year-old holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, several previous jobs within Information Technology (IT), and a new tour agency under her belt.
“As a child growing up, people always bragged about places in the US, Trinidad, and Suriname but nobody ever said anything about Guyana,” Gulchand said. “I wanted to see more; I figured it couldn’t have just been this coast that I’m accustomed to seeing.”
Her first trip out of the coastland was in 2009 during one of her first jobs as a secretary at Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute which involved capacity-building studies for single and abused women. This trip to Kamarang, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) was the first of many she’d take across Guyana.
“It was quite remarkable to see how different it was: the rainforest and the jungle that you often hear about and not only the scenery but how different life was compared to the very protective home I grew up in,” Gulchand said. “It was like an eye-opener and I just wanted more of that.”
As she started earning more, she started saving and conducting research on other trips she wanted to go on. “Every year, I would put aside money to go somewhere new I hadn’t been before or somewhere I just heard about and it was mainly just that curiosity to see more faces…While everybody else wanted to go out of Guyana to see other countries, I wanted to see more of Guyana.”
Given the travel component of her jobs, she was awarded even more opportunities to explore the country. During her first three months in the IT department at the Ministry of Finance, she travelled to all ten regions in Guyana. “When I finished with my work at the end of the day, I’d always find out from the locals what there is to see and do.”
She had accumulated so many photos and notes about her experiences on her trips that she needed a space to share them, leading her to create an Instagram page aptly titled “Touring Guyana.”
“Guyana’s natural, unapologetic beauty was what captured me. I love the peace, quiet and tranquillity of nature…I think that drove my passion and I just started to share pictures of the different places, a description as to where it is, and so on.”
Naturally, she grew a following and when people started reaching out for travel recommendations, she began informally putting together packages for them until her husband urged her to start doing so professionally. In 2021, she launched her first tour of Dhandarry Nature Resort on the Abary River in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) following a personal visit the year before and a conversation with the owner to begin a partnership.
Now, Gulchand works full-time at Touring Guyana in a team of five – including three tour guides – and organises about 10 trips per month, the most popular ones being to Kaieteur Falls, Mazaruni River and Rupununi River. When putting together a package, Gulchand considers several factors: the travel time, ensuring it’s not too tedious, if the location has a wow factor like a waterfall or specific attraction that it is known for, if it incorporates a historical element and if it offers a chance for those interested to swim.
Some places, like Dhandarry Resort, are already established while others require her to find vendors and train tour guides, a process that she works with the Guyana Tourism Authority to ensure is done correctly. Owning her own business has its fair share of challenges: finding the right suppliers to partner with, dealing with disagreeable customers, and investing her time and money into the venture. “It requires a lot of patience and customer skills to ensure that everything goes okay.”
But the young woman has done what many may hope to: turn a passion into a profit.
In July, Touring Guyana is planning to launch two new tours: one along the Demerara River and another going from Pomeroon in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) to Santa Rosa in Region One (Barima-Waini).
“When I see the smiles on people’s faces and how excited they are to get somewhere, it just reminds me that this is why I started this and this is why I’m doing this.”
