thrustworthy guides in West Papua (1 Viewer)

Hello there,
We have been traveling independently in South America, Sri Lanka and Europe and are considering a 4 week trip to West Papua (3) and Sulawesi
(1). We are interested in birds but also in nature/animals in general. We do not know every bird by heart/scientific name, so we are just 'afficionados' but we do dream away above our birdingguides..

Despite the fact that we'd prefere to travel independently, that doesn't seem like a good idea in West-Papua. So we are thinking about hiring a guide for a few days/week to see the Arfak Mountains (a hike for about 4 days) and Lake Habema for example. But we'd also like to do some snorkeling and 'relax'.. just walk around alone a little.
Is it possible to hire a guide on the spot? Or should we arrange things before hand? We are on a relatively tight budget but used to 'no-comfort places' but I've read it's still very expensive.
Anyone out there who has a good trustworthy guide/bureau to recommend? I'd love to hear some tips. Any guide with humour and knowledge would be fine, preferably one from the local community so that our cash flows to the right place.

p.s. one of the reasons we didn't like guides in Bolivia for example is that they 'speeded' right through the mountains so we hardly had any time to watch birds! Also, we are 42 (and like a beer from time to time) so we are not in 'absolute top' condition but good enough to do some strenuous hiking... we just like watching birds/insects/plants at our own pace.

Hello grapevine,

I used to live and birdwatch extensively in West Papua for many years and could probably give you some usefull tips about the West Papuan part of your trip.

First of all, there is a number of large birdtour-companies (birdquest for ex.) that offer birdwatching trips to West Papua twice a year, usually in the periods May-June and July-September. But aim well aware that this type of birdwatching trips is not suited for everyone as the groups usually consist of 10-15 people (more or less) and its hard to customize the trip after your personal interests.

They tends to rarely spend more than 2-3 nights (enough for some) at each locality which mean that you are likely to be on a thight schedule to see as many species as possibly in as few days as possibly.

This thight schedule usually means that there is not much time to do something else apart from birdwatching. And as some West Papuan birdwatching localities are notorious to offer some "challenging birdwatching" the 2-3 days at each site often mean that you are likely to miss out on some species (goodies!) that usually require some dedicated birdwatching to find.

Take the Snow Mountain Robin as an example, many people do birdwatch around Lake Habbema for a couple of days but the Snow Mts Robin is rare (absent?) around the lake itself, and to have a good chance of seeing this species it usually require some hiking further up in the mountains, a additional day or so that most people that are on a thight schedule can not afford with the result that they miss one of the most unique and least known birds on New Guinea.

There is also a number of (regional) West Papuan birdwatching companies that offer different birdwatching "programmes" throughout West Papua. They usually visit the same birdwatching localities as the larger birdtour companies but my impression is that is is much easier to customize your own birdwatching trip if you book a tour through one of the regional companies, the groups are much smaller (often your group can be eniterly alone with the guides), the tempo is more relaxzed and you tends to get in more contact with the people you are staying with.

Maybe you could even customize a entire birdwatching trip through the Papua Bird Club or Papua Expeditions, they are probably very flexiable and have alot of contacts throughout West Papua so this could be your best bet. Though without saying to much about that, get in touch with them directly instead of taking my word for it.

There is also many other companies arraning diving/culture/birdwatching trips to West Papua, and if you intensions are to do something else apart from birdwatching it is probably best to try and book a tour through one of these companies, there should be plenty of these if you check the net.

I do not have any idea about how much it would coast to book a trip through Birdquest/reginal company/other operator. I would think that the price do variable quite much depending on which company you book through.

Certain places in New Guinea can be pricey and booking a tour spanding over 2-3 weeks is probably gonna be expensive, its difficult to to a "low-budget" trip in West Papua unless you only intend to visit 2-3 places

It is easy to travel independently in certain parts of West Papua (Batanta, Biak, Sorong lowlands etc) while its more difficult, but not impossible, to do so in other parts of West Papua (Waigeo, Lake Habbema, Nimbokrang etc).

It is defintely possibly to go on your own everywhere but if you intend to make as much out of the visit as possible I would arrange something through a tourcompany. There is usually alot permit needed when visiting different parts of West Papua (to get acces to birdwatching sites) and also arrangments with local people which never/or almost never speaks english so unless you are fluent in bahasa this is another thing that would prove very difficult if you travelled on your own.

Also, many popular birdwatching spots, ex. the Arfak Mts, Batanta, Nimbokrang are visited by large number of birdwatchers during certain periods of the year and getting accomondation/getting a local guide may prove very difficult unless you have done some pre-arrangments (as far in advance as possible), again, if you book through a tour company they will help you with all of these arrangments so that you do not have to bother about it yourself. I know that Zeth Wonggor (the "man") in the Arfak Mts have acconmondation but during the most popular months of the year its virtually impossible to stay there unless you have booked several months in advance

Zeth himself is also a very popular birdguide so if you intend to spend some time in the Arfak Mts make sure you get him as an guide (mention it for the tourcompany) if possible. He also use alot of the money to protect the local birds and forest and I believe he plans to built somesort of lodge so that he can accomondate more people.

There is amazing birdguides at most well-visited birdwatching spots in West Papua (Batanta, Biak, Nimkobrang etc) but most are also very popular and are usually fully-booked.


Here is some useful links.

Papua Bird Club
http://www.papuabirdclub.com/
(Based in Manokwari, West Papua)

Papua Expeditions
http://www.bird-watching-papua-adventure-travel.com/
(Based in Sorong, West Papua)

Birdquest
http://www.birdquest.co.uk/


If I have missed anything in particular, or if you have further questions do not hesitate to ask me.

Hi Papuan Birder,
Many thanks for the extensive info! We have already booked tickets for Manado (visiting Tangkoko and maybe some other spots on our own there for a week) but want to fly onwards to West-Papua and or(?) the Banda-islands after that. We hoped to be able to arrange a guide in Manokwari beforehand for a short trip of about 3 or 4 days. We know we need surat jalangs etc. I already emailed the Papuan Birdclub last week but I didn't get a response yet.
It sounds like it's not going to be easy to find a good guide for just a few days (or maybe a week if we include another region). Like I said: we are bird and animal lovers but do not know every ''little brown job'' by name!
On other trips (South America) we just used to take our tent and cooking gear, arrange a permit and walk on our own for a week. But since we do not speak Bahasa (we are practising though..) a guide seems like a good idea.. Also, because our trip is relatively short with just one month we would like to NOT take a tent for once.. But from what I've read that's not a good idea..
I will try and contact Papua Expeditions as well. I'll give an update as soon as I've heard anything! If I have any more questions I might bother you some more ;-)

Hi Grapevine,

I posted a reply to your request posted on the wrong forum before I noticed Papuan Birders comprehensive reply. His advice is sound, you are certainly better to use guides arranged in advance if you want to make the most of your time and don't speak good bahasa Indonesia.
Merpati have flights directly to Sorong which will be your best bet from Manado.
Snow Mountain Robin - a very arduous 4 day trek and permits are very hard to obtain hence the lack of visitors!

You could also try contacting my old friend, Phil Gregory, of Cassowary House (Cairns) who has extensive experience of birding in Papua and may be able to suggest useful contacts. His email is [email protected] ,

Rob Hutchinson said:

Hi Grapevine,

I posted a reply to your request posted on the wrong forum before I noticed Papuan Birders comprehensive reply. His advice is sound, you are certainly better to use guides arranged in advance if you want to make the most of your time and don't speak good bahasa Indonesia.
Merpati have flights directly to Sorong which will be your best bet from Manado.
Snow Mountain Robin - a very arduous 4 day trek and permits are very hard to obtain hence the lack of visitors!

Click to expand...

John Cantelo said:

You could also try contacting my old friend, Phil Gregory, of Cassowary House (Cairns) who has extensive experience of birding in Papua and may be able to suggest useful contacts. His email is [email protected] ,

Click to expand...

Thanks both! I might contact your old friend but for now I am waiting for some more answers and replies to emails I've sent to various tourcompanies. I am in doubt about what to do but will keep you updated.

I just wrote this message in the 'right' forum (sorry about that, a bit confusing, I know):

Thanks Rob, I got some info regarding W-Papua from various sources now but as far as I can see I do not have enough time to arrange what I would like to do. So I am hesitating between doing West Papua and Sulawesi or just Sulawesi (and maybe Banda Islands) and wait with a trip to West Papua until I have a longer (6 months) trip due in a few years. But a few years seems soooo far away... :-(

You are right that it is difficult to contact the Papuan Bird club (I didn't get a reply yet - emailed over a week ago). Also, since it's so expensive it would be relatively cheaper to spread a visit over at least a month instead of a week. We just can't afford the waiting for days this time.
We did something similar (independently) in the Amazon and it took days to get a lift at times and sometimes even weeks to get on a (cargo) boat. I suspect it is about similar here.. I will let you know if I make up my mind.
Anyhow, thanks for the reply. I'd love to hire Zeth Wongor but guess I should've made arrangements a few months earlier for that!!

The following recently published on-line article on ecotourism in West Papua provides some useful insights and background information that may enable responsible birders and travelers alike to select a travel outfitter that really makes a difference:

"Ecotourism in Papua: opportunities, challenges, and the way forward"
http://ecoclub.com/articles/329-ecotourism-in-papua