Guyana Cost of living

Cost of living in Guyana - Excluding set up costs expenses are about £500 a month for a couple!

Accommodation - this is hard to find as no estate agents! so mainly word of mouth and asking around

For a small empty basic house with no mains water, electric or phone line it can cost as low as $4000 GYD a month
For an unfurnished house depending on amenities and size $10,000 to $38,000 GYD a month
For a furnished house with all amenities with a phone line for internet $40,000+ GYD a month

Transport

A trip to Georgetown from Rosignol costs $700 GYD each by No.50 bus. Note the bus waits until it is reasonably full to leave Rosignol approx 14 passengers needed.  But they run fairly frequently and the journey takes about 1hr and 40 min.  If you want to travel a little faster you can take a car costing $1000 GYD each and you need 4 passengers to go.  Watch out for taxi drivers, agree a price before you leave as everywhere else in the world they like to add extras eg $1000 for your bags or just try and get you to pay over the odds. To show a bus you want to stop it to go to Georgetown you have to point up.

Short trips in and around Rosignol locality cost $100 GYD each per trip. You need to point down to show bus or car driver you want a short ride.

The No.56 bus across the river from Rosignol to New Amsterdam is $300 GYD one way each due to the expensive toll bridge.  You can still catch the school ferry in the morning from the Stelling where the buses go from.  It leaves at 7.15am and about an hour later at 8.15am.  This costs only $60 each and you can take your bicycle also for $60. Down side is the ferry back is about 3.30pm and about an hour after for the 2nd ferry.

IMPORTANT if you only have UK bank cards you are restricted to using Scotia Banks to withdraw Guyanese Dollars.  Scotia banks are located in Georgetown and New Amsterdam.  Taxi drivers from the airport take US Dollars. Ask locals who can change money. We have used 'The Fat Man'  who's given us a good rate!

Buy your own bicycle, save money whilst getting exercise.   You really do save in less than 3 months our bikes had paid for themselves if we had used the bus instead! You can get a bicycle for between $14.000 and $19,000 GYD.  Sometimes you can haggle.

Bring some nice big, gel padded bicycle seats with you.  You can get bike parts here eg:

• Cycle Fender ( aka mud guards) $1396 GYD
• basket -  absolute must for ministry bag and shopping! $1695
• Bell vital for safety to warn dogs, pedestrians, car drivers, chickens, etc  $895

Above purchased from R. Sookraj & Sons , Main Street, New Amsterdam (333-5825) spring 2013.

Hardware

Insect mesh came with us taking up valuable but important space in our suitcase but we brought a glue gun to attach it around windows and openings.  Glue gun $2200, glue stick vary in price we brought 3 packs at about $300 GYD each to get us started and had to buy plenty more. Worth every cent keeping them insects at bay!

First thing we got was a new toilet seat! $3115 from A Ally  Sons Main Street New Amsterdam.  They threw in a free calendar which has been great to see when the local holidays etc are.

We got a Duel voltage travel iron in WM Fogarty Ltd, 34 - 37 Water Street, Robbstown, Georgetown (225-6870-9) for $3780 GYD which has been fab.  We made the mistake of getting an iron in New Amsterdam for a little more but it was 110 volts and when we used it with our transformer it blew it up! Too high a wattage.  If you're coming to Rosignol a lot of the houses are 240 volts and you can use your electrical things from the UK.  Over river.. 110 volts. 

Most furnished houses contain the very basics eg a bed and mattress, few chairs, table, fridge, gas stove with oven and twin tub washing machine.  Check what's on offer before you rent.  Everything else you need to bring with you, ship or buy here.  So make sure you set aside money for setup costs.  We spent $8000 GYD the first day at the hardware shop opposite getting a couple of towels, tea towels, cloths, large tub for water, bucket , bowl, cups, plastic beakers and pegs.  Most of which we have had to replace over the last 6 months.  Try avoid buying plastic things they seem to break easily in this environment.  We've now got wooden clothes pegs, metal washing up bowl, metal mixing bowls etc.

Gas - for cooker $3700 GYD a bottle of gas which lasts about 6 weeks

Electricity $3000 a month approx.

Phone  -  $600 a month on land line.  Mobile calls are expensive reasonable to text.

Internet - $5000 a month for 1/2 meg excluding set up costs and getting wifi!

Food 

There are two biggish supermarkets in Rosignol Low Cost and Stretch D Dollar and they are opposite sides of the road about 200 yards apart.  A typical shopping trip might be as follows:

$740   Tray of eggs

$340   Maid Marian self raising flour

$420   Thunderbolt 2kg plain flour

$275   1lb shortening

$395   baking powder

$595  corn starch

$500  packet of pakmaya instant yeast

$245   tinned tomatoes

$220   tinned sweetcorn

$260  tinned chick pea

$295  tinned mackerel

$338  24 oz ketch up

$341  Mayo 500g

$420  Soy sauce

$160  small condensed milk

$310  Hunts pasta sauce

$220  noodles

$200  spagetti

$400  whole wheat pasta

$450  900g pasta

$520  1 gal white rice

$1095 Oats

$280  small white loaf

$314  brown sugar

$385  milk powder

$550  445g margarine

$180  tomato paste

$260  small 1 pint ice cream

$720  6 pack toilet roll

$600  panty liners

$700  pads

$950 tresemme shampoo

$950 tresemme conditioner

$55     lux bar of soap

$120  soya cubes

$420  400g raisins

$300  200g mix peel

$1560 wesson vegetable oil 64 oz

$104  napkins

$1400 cranberry juice

$280  Pepsi 2l

$970  cocoa powder 250g

$240  75g tooth paste

$516  1.4 kg potatoes

$160  2lb onions

$200  1lb garlic

$40    a coconut

$100  dried split peas 400g

$160  dried black eye peas 400g

$695  Green works washing up liquid

$195 hard brush

$55  scouring pads

$340  bright bowl toilet cleaner

$200 bleach

$140 vinegar

$400  spray starch

$480  900g ariel washing powder

$695  baygon insect spray

$460  Shoe insect repellent contains deet

$500  Methylated spirits

$975  shilling oil (stops bites itching)

$1014 cheese

$400  200g oil cheese

$190  tiny piece broccoli

$210  200g curry powder

$200  Chicken stock cubes

$55    note book

$500  4 glass plates

$400  pack plastic cups

$200  pack plastic forks and spoons

$295  wax paper

$733  foil

$240  wood clothes pegs

$900  ziplock freezer bags

$295 gas cooker lighter

$95   matches

You can't shop like that every week as you won't get much changed from £120!! Thats not including fresh fruit and vegetables and meat brought at the large Saturday market.Price of fruit and veg changes every week. You need to be smart and buy what's in season.

A pound of beef (with bones) is about $400, steak is $500.  A 4 lb chicken will cost about $1500.  Some meat is tough and it's worth investing or shipping a pressure cooker!

Fish and salt fish is a reasonable price and there is lots of choice!

Eating Out

In Georgetown:

We really like the Roti Hut, 18 North Road, Bourda, Georgetown (227-3802) for Coffee, Cake and much needed toilet stop.  Drinks, cakes and savoury snack set us back $1600 GYD here but worth it.

Fogarty's on Water Street Georgetown have a cafe downstairs. We got some local snacks for about $100 each including the famous pine tart, coconut bun and chinese cake.  There is also a supermarket if you just want to grab a bottle of coke.

Local Chinese

Its $900 GYD for Chicken Chow Mein at the top of our road. One portion is plenty for 2. 

Guyanese Cooking book

We found 'What's Cooking in Guyana' at Gordon Stationery in Pitt Street, New Amsterdam (333-6705) This is the most expensive book i've ever bought at $7000 GYD.  We've used it loads.  You can get it much cheaper 2nd hand on Amazon in the UK. Recommended pre trip reading then scan any recipes you want to try!

Ask Locals what to cook and how to cook any strange veg, fruit, fish, even meat ( some comes with paws) that you've not seen before, the guyanese love to cook.