One Cent Magenta Stamp Tour Georgetown: Colonial History & Lunch

The 1 cent Magenta was found in a newspaper in 1873. This tour traces where it came from and who discovered it.

A guided tour of Georgetown exploring the colonial history behind the 1 cent Magenta, the world's rarest postage stamp discovered by a schoolboy in 1856. You visit the Manatee Pond, the Walter Rodney Archive to see the original Royal Gazette newspaper, the Guyana Museum to view the printing press, Parliament Building's first post office, and the Philatelic shop. Lunch of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and traditional Guyanese fare is served at the Secret Garden. The tour runs 5.5 hours with a live English or German-speaking guide and hotel pickup included.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore stamp history and enjoy lunch

• Visit Manatee Pond in National Park
• See original Royal Gazette newspaper
• Visit original Royal Gazette newspaper site
• View original printing press at Guyana Museum
• Tour Parliament Building and original post box
• Visit Philatelic shop at Georgetown Post Office
• See tortoises at Tortoise Protective Haven
• Enjoy traditional British-Guyanese lunch at Secret Garden

The experience

If you have a free afternoon in Georgetown and want to understand how a discarded newspaper stamp became the most valuable in the world, this tour builds the story around the actual places where it happened. You start at the Manatee Pond in the National Park (manatees appeared on Guyanese stamps in 1993), then move to the Walter Rodney Archive to see the original 1856 edition of The Royal Gazette, the newspaper where a 12-year-old named L. Vernon Vaughan found the magenta among family papers. The archive holds the physical object that changed everything.

The tour then takes you to the original Royal Gazette printing site where the stamp was commissioned in 1856, and to the Guyana Museum to stand in front of the actual printing press that made it. You see the range of stamps in the exhibition, which anchors the magenta's place in Guyanese postal history. At Parliament Building, you visit the site of Guyana's first post office and view the original post box where the stamp was sold. The Philatelic shop in the Georgetown Post Office gives you a chance to buy stamps and First Day Covers if you want to take something home.

Before lunch, you visit the Tortoise Protective Haven, where giant yellow and red footed tortoises roam. They featured on the 2012 Reptiles of South America stamp edition. Then you move to the Secret Garden, where a traditional meal of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, baked pumpkin, callaloo and gravy is prepared, followed by fresh fruit salad with coconut patisserie and coconut jelly. The tour also includes a look at the original 1952 Donald Duck comic Walt Disney created to chart Donald Duck's adventures into British Guinea searching for the world's rarest stamp, plus photos of President Ali with the 1 cent Magenta in London. Soft drinks, tea and coffee are provided throughout.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup.
• a live guide in English or German.
• entry to the Manatee Pond, Walter Rodney Archive, Royal Gazette printing site, Guyana Museum, Parliament Building, Philatelic shop, and Tortoise Protective Haven.
• lunch of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, baked pumpkin, callaloo and gravy with fresh fruit salad, coconut patisserie and coconut jelly.
• soft drinks, tea and coffee.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 09:00

Book up to2h before

AgesAdult (15 to 64 years) · Senior (65 and older) · Youth (12 to 14 years) · Child (3 to 11 years) · Infant (1 to 2 years): free

GroupUp to 20

Live guideEnglish and German

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 15 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather or if the minimum number of travelers isn't reached. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 12 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Singing Chef Adventures

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to visit three separate locations (the archive, museum, and post office) connected in a single outing rather than coordinating multiple trips on different days.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and German.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (12 to 14 years); Child (3 to 11 years); Infant (1 to 2 years): free.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What is the 1 cent Magenta and why is it so rare?

The 1 cent Magenta is the world's rarest and most expensive postage stamp. It was discovered in 1873 by a 12-year-old schoolboy, L. Vernon Vaughan, who found it among family papers in an 1856 edition of The Royal Gazette newspaper in Georgetown. He sold it for six shillings, but no one has ever found another example like it. From the 1870s onward, it was kept in closely watched storage cabinets in palaces and bank vaults, shedding its original function as a disposable stamp to become a collected object of immense value.

Where exactly will we see the original stamp or the newspaper it was found in?

You visit the Walter Rodney Archive to see an original copy of The Royal Gazette newspaper from 1856, the publication where the stamp was discovered. At the Guyana Museum, you see the original printing press that produced the 1 cent Magenta stamp and view the range of stamps in the exhibition. The tour also takes you to Parliament Building, the site of Guyana's first post office where the stamp was sold.

How long is the tour and what's included in the lunch?

The tour runs 5.5 hours. Lunch is served at the Secret Garden and consists of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, baked pumpkin, callaloo and gravy, followed by fresh fruit salad with coconut patisserie and coconut jelly. Soft drinks, tea and coffee are provided throughout the day.