.png)
The Wichabai Story
Wichabai is the culmination of our family's dream: to have our own ranch in the South Rupununi, to concentrate on impactful conservation, invest in agriculture, and to show off the Rupununi to guests and researchers from all over the world.
The Defreitas family moved to the Rupununi from Guyana's capital in the 1970s, and for many years lived in and managed the historic Dadanawa Ranch. Justin and his sister Kayla grew up on the ranch with their parents Sandy and Duane Defreitas.
By 2016, we (Justin and Erin) began building our own home just across the river at Wichabai. Wichabai itself has a long and fascinating history - we'll tell you about it when you visit us.
By Christmas 2016 the main house was partially complete, and work was halted for our wedding right on the airstrip near the house. The celebrations, which lasted nine days, included a mini rodeo, a drive up a mountain and a tour of friends and family in nearby villages.
In the first part of 2017 the main house was finished, compound fenced, fruit trees planted, and the cattle was brought in.
Building the dream
We opened our first two guest houses, called Kathy and Sandy after our mothers, in October 2019. This was an exciting time: Erin was working on a giant anteater research and conservation project with the South Rupununi Conservation Society and guest visits took off at the start of 2020.
Of course, everything closed when the pandemic hit, but we were so lucky to have our cattle and our garden to keep us going. We spent more time in the wild, and built Camp Kumeran right in the heart of the Kanuku Mountains, on the edge of the Rupununi River. This is now a home for river turtle research and a rainforest/river/mountain home for guests.
In 2021, when Guyana was still closed to international tourism, we invested in 2 more guest houses, and the South Rupununi Conservation Society Headquarters was built at the ranch. The building has an office, library, meeting/workshop room, two bedrooms, small kitchen and bathroom.
As more guests came to the ranch, and more staff were employed full time, we realised a small school was needed for all the kids now living at the ranch. We were so privileged to have the support of the local Department of Education, and the SRCS meeting room became a school room during the week, with six happy pupils and one amazing teacher.
Wichabai has become its own small community, where every day friends and family work together to build a home for tourism, education, research and conservation.