The Marais de Kaw are a huge wetland east of Cayenne, where the Approuague river spreads into marsh, savanna and floating vegetation under the forested ridge of the Montagne de Kaw. It is a nature reserve, and one of the richest wildlife sites in French Guiana.
Trips start from the village of Kaw, reached by a long road from Roura over the mountain and then a pirogue. Most visitors stay a night on a carbet — a floating or stilted shelter — and go out after dark, when torchlight picks up the eyes of black caiman, the largest predator in Amazonia and up to five metres long. Days are for birds: hoatzins, herons, ibis and kingfishers along the channels, and howler monkeys in the forest on the slopes.
The drive from Cayenne takes around two hours, the last part on a rough road through the Kaw mountains, which are themselves good for birdwatching and for the cock-of-the-rock.