One Cent Magenta Stamp Tour with Lunch
- 5h 30m
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 2 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
A journey into the colonial history of Guyana and the story of the 1 cent Magenta, the world's rarest and most expensive postage stamp. The One-Cent Magenta Stamp was first discovered by a 12-year-old schoolboy, L. Vernon Vaughan, amongst some family papers in the 1856 edition of The Royal Gazette, Georgetown, in 1873. He sold it for six shillings, apparently convinced he could find a better stamp example, but no one ever has. It was no longer an ordinary stamp, a disposable element on a newspaper that was itself disposable. From the 1870s, the one-cent magenta was prized, tucked away in closely watched storage cabinets in palaces or vaults in banks. It fits the definition of collected objects prescribed by the cultural historian Philipp Blom in 2011. Such things "are like holy relics," he wrote. "They have shed their original function and become totems." This tour will bring you close to the home of the world's rarest stamp.
Inclusions
What's included
- soft drinks tea and coffee
Itinerary
Our first stop is a visit to the Manatee Pond in the National Park . Manatee’s were depicted on Guyanese stamps in 1993.
Visit the Walter Rodney Archive and see an original copy of the Royal Gazette newspaper which the 1 cent magenta was found on
Visit the original site of the Royal Gazette newspaper who were commissioned to print the 1 cent Magenta in 1856.
Visit the Guyana Museum and see the original printing press that the 1 Cent Magenta Stamp was printed on. View the range of stamps that form part of the exhibition.
We then journey to the Parliament Building , the site of the first Post office in Guyana and view the original post box This was the Post Office where the 1 cent Magenta Stamp was sold
Then go to the Philatelic shop in the Georgetown Post Office and view and maybe purchase the Guyanese Stamps and First Day Covers .
Visit the Tortoise Protective Haven where 12 giant yellow and red footed tortoises roam. The tortoises featured on the 2012 Reptiles of South America Stamp edition.
Then its off to the Secret Garden with the coconut palm and bamboo gazebo where Eon John will prepare a sumptuous meal of traditional British fare with a Guyanese twist which the young finder of the stamp and his uncle the original owner of the 1 cent magenta would have enjoyed This will consist of Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding ,Roast Potatoes ,Baked Pumpkin, Callaloo and Gravy . After which a delightful fresh fruit salad with coconut patisserie and coconut jelly See the original Donald Duck comic that Walt Disney created in 1952 to chart Donald Ducks adventures into British Guinea to find the world’s rarest stamp and see photos of President Ali with the 1 cent Magenta in London
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
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Ratings come from 8 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Pickup
- Pickup is included for everyone.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Group size
- Up to 20 travellers
- Operated by
- Singing Chef Adventures
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How it compares in Georgetown
- Its from-price is 18% below the median of the 25 experiences we list in Georgetown.
- It is longer than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 9 of 25.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Georgetown
Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, is a low-lying port at the mouth of the Demerara River, of tall white wooden buildings, canals and a sea wall.
Georgetown was laid out by the Dutch and British on a grid of canals and tree-lined avenues on the flat coastal plain, which lies below high-tide level and is held back by a sea wall. St George's Cathedral, a Gothic building of timber more than forty metres tall, is among the tallest wooden churches in the world. The cast-iron Stabroek Market, with its clock tower, and the Gothic fretwork of City Hall show the city's colonial layers.
