Papua New Guinea
Suggested Itinerary
Day 1 - Wewak
Arrive in Port Moresby from Singapore and fly on to Wewak.
You will be picked up in Wewak outside security and taken to Inn Wewak. If you are feeling up to it have a private tour of the Wewak area, including the war relics and the local market, with your guide and private car and driver.
Inn Wewak is the best accommodation in Wewak, and has 43 air conditioned self-contained rooms, each with a private bath. You can leave some bags at the hotel because you will be returning here after your canoe trip.
Have dinner at the hotel.
Day 2 - Palimbe
Drive three hours in your 4WD vehicle to Pagwi and board your private wooden motorized canoe on the Sepik River heading east to Palimbe. You will be accompanied by three people including the driver and two escorts. Upon arrival at Palimbe village, visit the Haus Tambaran, a traditional ancestral worship house full of hand-carved and hand-painted pieces such as totem poles.
Spend the night at Palimbe Guest House which is run by a local family. Have dinner with the family and see a Sepik cooking demonstration of sago, a local diet staple.
Learn about the local spiritual beliefs of the people, and about their livelihood, possibly including crocodile hunting. If you are very intrepid, and if one or more of the village men happens to be going out night fishing or crocodile hunting, join them on their moonlight excursion — at your own risk!
The Palimbe Guest House has very basic accommodations, with thin mattresses on mats on the floor and very basic bed linens. You may wish to bring your own pillow and linens, as well as a mosquito net and a battery operated personal fan to keep yourself cool. There is no plumbing, of course — the loo is a "pit toilet", and you must bathe using a bucket. As long as you know this in advance and are physically and psychologically prepared for it, we hope you will not mind but will see it as all part of the great adventure you are on.
Day 3 - Kanganamun, Aibom and Mindimbit
Continue your Sepik canoe trip to Kanganamun and on to Aibom to see the clay pot makers and possibly buy some of their wares.
Visit Mindimbit, a large village on the Middle Sepik near the junction with the Korosameri River. About half the people are Seventh Day Adventists in this village, which is known for its distinctive artistic style, where moon-faced figures and wooden masks are carved in fine detail and accented with red clay and white lime paint. The designs used are similar those used to paint people during rite of passage ceremonies and initiations rituals.
Visit a Men's Spirit House which is a sacred house built by men where they keep their wooden masks, garamut drums, bamboo flutes and other ritualistic possessions. Traditionally, women were not allowed in the houses, but now you can go inside and hear the chief and the initiated men play their music and tell their fascinating tribal legends.
Return to Palimbe and have dinner again with your host family, and spend the night with them in their guest house.
Day 4 - Return to Wewak
After breakfast drive 3 hours by 4WD back to Wewak via Pagwi. Check into Inn Wewak again and have a hot shower and relax.
Have dinner at the hotel.
Day 5 - Goroka
Fly from Wewak to Goroka, via Mt. Hagen. Have a private tour of Goroka town and the surrounding area. Goroka is the provincial capital of the Eastern Highlands, and is known for its history of goldmining and coffee plantations, as well as the famous Asaro Mudmen tribal people.
Visit the lively and colorful Saturday market where you can buy everything from fruit and ferns to pigs and other live animals. Stop by the J.K. McCarthy Museum which has a good collections of historical photographs (showing early contact between Europeans and the local people), war relics, artifacts and local handicrafts.
Stay overnight at Bird of Paradise hotel, the best hotel in town, which, while hardly posh, is relatively clean and comfortable. It has 52 rooms, cable TV, IDD telephones, laundry, room service, outdoor heated pool and gym. The Lahani Restaurant offers exotic dishes such as crocodile, buffalo, venison, and pigeon as well as fresh Highland vegetables and fruit. The hotel also has a more casual cafe with outdoor dining, the Deck Bistro, and a bar called Birdy's Piano bar.
Day 6 - Asaro Valley
After breakfast visit a village in the countryside (possibly Kabiufa, or Mandio where the Asaro mudmen live) and go to church with the locals. Christian missionaries have been very active and effective in PNG, and 96% of the people are members of a Christian church (most also practice their traditional animist beliefs). Afterwards, trek one hour up the mountain, visit a lovely waterfall, and be rewarded with a panoramic view of the whole Asaro and Goroka Valleys.
Visit an Asaro Mudmen tribal village. Meet the village chief and his wife or wives (many rich and important men in Papua New Guinea have multiple wives). They earned the name "mudmen" centuries ago, when, according to Asaro legend, their warriors went to battle covered with grayish white chalk in order to look like ghosts and intimidate their enemies. Their dance technique of advancing slowly with graceful movements was also designed to scare off rival tribes. They will give you a short and informal private lesson in their traditional dance (rather than staging a phony dance — what is done for typical tourists, which you are not).
After the dance lesson, visit a family home and participate in a mumu, involving a fascinating cooking technique using rocks heated over fire. The menu usually includes chicken or pork, yams, sweet potatoes, taro and bananas, which are mixed together and sealed tightly inside banana leaves, flavored with coconut, and then cooked on the red-hot rocks for several hours. Enjoy a delicious feast with the family and neighbors.
After the mumu, visit a coffee plantation, learn all about the operations, and have coffee with the owner.
Dinner at the hotel.
Day 7 - Minj
Drive four hours from Goroka to Mt. Hagen, a busy commercial town and the provincial capital of the Western Highlands. This is a very scenic journey through a variety of landscapes from lush forests and rugged mountains to serene farmland and gorgeous orchid gardens.
On arrival in Minj near Mt. Hagen, visit some villages and hike about 45 minutes up Kondika Hill for a panoramic view of the whole Waghi valley.
In the evening visit a village and witness the remarkable courting ceremony known as "karem leg and turning head". If a wedding is going on we will try to arrange for you to attend as guests. Alternatively, have your own wedding vows renewed — Waghi tribal style — in a remote village in Minj. Dress up in traditional and elaborate Waghi wedding costume. A pig will be slaughtered and the entire village will come for a massive feast and party with singing, dancing and raucous entertainment. This will undoubtedly be the most memorable evening of your time in PNG.
Spend the night at Minj Tribal Tops, a small hotel with a restaurant and bar, and a dozen self-contained rooms, each with a private bathroom and color television.
Day 8 - Mt. Hagen and Magic Mountain
After breakfast drive to Mt. Hagen, and stop at one or more of the big coffee and tea plantations along the way.
Charter a helicopter and fly over Baiyer Gorge, Mt. Giluwe, Mt. Hagen, the Waghi valley and the Kuta Range for a breathtaking panoramic view of the Western Highlands.
Drive to Magic Mountain, and trek to the summit and back down for a total of about four hours.
Drive to the Highlander hotel where you have dinner and stay the night. The Highlander Hotel is one of the best hotels in PNG and has an outdoor heated swimming pool, tennis courts, restaurant and bar.
Day 9 - Tari
Fly from Mt. Hagen to Tari, located in the Southern Highlands and known as Papuan Wonderland by the Western explorers who discovered these stunning high valleys and limestone peaks in 1935. Tari is home to many types of orchids, over 13 different species of birds of paradise, and the remarkable Huli tribe. The Huli, who are famous for their wigs and for painting their faces yellow, live much as their ancestors have for centuries. They revere birds, decorate their wigs with feathers and imitate bird movements in their dancing.
Stay in Tiriba Guest House, which is very basic and has no private bathrooms or showers, but is the most interesting place to stay if you want to experience authentic Huli life. The Huli wig men and bachelor boys will be a common site for you staying at the Tiriba. Alternatively, stay in the Ambua Lodge, which has private bathrooms and is more comfortable.
Day 10 - Tari
Visit some remote Huli villages and participate in Huli wig making. Visit Pepoko village to see how Huli bachelor boys grow their wigs. Visit a Huli school, meet the children and teach them some basic English. Take part in a traditional Huli barbecue where the people kill a pig and roast it in a pit (only men can participate in this feast of pork and kaukau sweet potato).
If you are feeling up to it, trek to Lake Mindira to see the Day Spirit Dance (not to be confused with the Night Spirit Dance, which is somewhat different). Both are performed in order to contact and consult with the spirits of one's dead ancestors over matters of concern or uncertainty. Swim in the lake and then walk back to Tiriba, for a total hike of about three hours.
Day 11 - Rabaul
Fly from Tari to Rabaul (via Port Moresby)
Have dinner and spend the night at Taklam Lodge, the best hotel in Rabaul, with private bathrooms, air conditioning, cable television, and a bar and restaurant.
Day 12 - Rabaul
Rabaul, which means mangrove, was given its name in 1910 by the Germans who used it as a base. The Australians occupied Rabaul until 1937, when the Japanese stepped in and used it as a South Pacific base during WWII, stationing over 110,000 troops there. The Japanese occupied Rabaul until they surrendered at the end of the war.
There is still quite a bit of military debris remaining, including the Japanese barge tunnels at Karavia Bay and sunken boat and plane wrecks in Simpson Harbour. Spend the day on a private tour by car of the area, and don't miss the Bitapaka War Cemetary.
Day 13 - Rabaul
Rabaul, which means mangrove, was given its name in 1910 by the Germans who used it as a base. The Australians occupied Rabaul until 1937, when the Japanese stepped in and used it as a South Pacific base during WWII, stationing over 110,000 troops there. The Japanese occupied Rabaul until they surrendered at the end of the war.
There is still quite a bit of military debris remaining, including the Japanese barge tunnels at Karavia Bay and sunken boat and plane wrecks in Simpson Harbour. Spend the day on a private tour by car of the area, and don't miss the Bitapaka War Cemetary.
Day 14 - Port Moresby and Singapore
Fly from Rabaul to Singapore (via Port Moresby)
Private city tour of Port Moresby depending on your onward flight time.
Day 15
Fly home from Singapore