Papua New Guinea? (1 Viewer)

I am thinking about going to Papua New Guinea as a next summer destination.
Has anyone on here been there (or does anyone here live there) who can give me some tips on birding sites?
My little bit of research has brought up the Kumul Lodge, which sounds pretty amazing, and I'm hoping people on here can recommend other places.
I'm wondering if there are birding areas accessable by 4WD car from Port Moresby or Lae. Perhaps you could rent a car in P. M., drive up and down the highway on that southern peninsula, and then fly to Lae and get another car to head into the mountains?

Thanks for any help.

I get alerts from google about PNG and your post about a trip to PNG showed up in a recent alert. I spent 32 years in PNG as a missionary and left after being held-up on the major highway through the Highlands, marched off into the bush with automatic weapons pointed at me. As it was getting dark, I was allowed to walk back to the main road and got a ride back to Mt Hagen. I would not recommend that you plan this trip on your own but to go through a PNG tour agency and make sure they can assure your safety while in PNG.

Go to West-Papua. Half the money, similar birds. Search for Arfak, Baliem, Salawati and Nimbokrang.

temmie said:

Go to West-Papua. Half the money, similar birds. Search for Arfak, Baliem, Salawati and Nimbokrang.

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Is W. Papua possible to get into? I had heard that the government restricts entry.
Also, just looking at google maps, I don't see much in the way of roads. Is it possible to travel there without an ultra-expensive birding tour company?
Thanks

Tari in the Southern Highlands is truly great. I was there a few years ago and seeing a few species of BOP was an unforgettably enjoyable experience.

PM me if you do decide to include Tari in your trip

I suggest you take a look at cloudbirders.com. There are several reports by independent birders who did not use ultra-expensive birding tour companies.

I had a quick look at the reports on Cloud Birders - Most of the few 'independent' groups seem like experienced 3rd world travelers who had really sorted out their logistics out including when they need armed guards. Also, most were hiring guides as well. Unless you go with a tour, IMO PNG is probably difficult and still expensive to do independently for most people. BTW, a chap I have birded with called Phil Gregory often does tours to PNG.

Vins said:

I get alerts from google about PNG and your post about a trip to PNG showed up in a recent alert. I spent 32 years in PNG as a missionary and left after being held-up on the major highway through the Highlands, marched off into the bush with automatic weapons pointed at me. As it was getting dark, I was allowed to walk back to the main road and got a ride back to Mt Hagen. I would not recommend that you plan this trip on your own but to go through a PNG tour agency and make sure they can assure your safety while in PNG.

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I would echo what Vins said. I was born in PNG and parts of my family still lives there so aim very frequently back in PNG for birdwatching, neither I would recommend travelling independently whilst over there. The security situation especially in the south-east and the highlands is getting increasingly unstable.

Hi,

It is among the worst of countries to bird independently. The country has great people, great birds, great climate, but there are good reasons why so few people go there.

You might basically do a tour by renting a guide in Port Moresby to see Varirata NP and booking lodges like Ambua or Kumul in the Highlands together with pickup from/to the airport. But still, a guide who knows New Guinean bird calls is very valuable at every place.

Birds are typically very shy, even by rainforest standards, because even small songbirds are hunted with slingshots. There is generally no concept of public land you may go and birdwatch independently. Every piece of forest is property of some tribe, which generally doesn't welcome trespassers. Even on the road you might meet unfriendly group with machetes. Muggings, rapes and murders of Westerners are regular. Everything (cars, accommodation, planes) is terribly expensive, for almost every smallest thing (down to bolts and screwdrivers) has to be imported from abroad. So it is doubtful if you can save so much on non-organized tour.

When I considered independent trip to PNG, Australian birders gave me two advices: "it is most dangerous country to visit, otherwise Australian birders would go there in droves" and "if you have a vision of wandering on your own, leave a will, no joking". Yes, at the end, I freaked and took a tour.

I would welcome info how logistics and safety is like in West Papua.

I met a guy in Sulawesi who had gone to West Papua on his own. Still, he had made arrangements with the well-known local guides through the Papua Bird Club (who you should contact for Arfak, Wamena and Nimbokrang). For Sorong, you could contact Iwein Mauro.

There is a bit of a trekking culture around Wamena: this might be an area where you could go without set plans. I think Biak is perfectly possible on your own – stay in a good hotel and arrange taxis to the last remaining nearby forest from there (look at Henk Hendriks' report on birdtours.co.uk).

I would strongly advise against going anywhere on the mainland without local guides.

You need a permit when in West Papua, which (when travelling independently) you probably have to get yourself after arrival. This is something to ask beforehand. I don't think we were ever asked for it. Do not mention you want to go to Lake Habbema: this is "off limits". Passing the military checkpoint was painless, curiously, but I don't know what happened inside the office. We had to arrange this part of the trip ourselves because our tour company had been (nearly) kidnapped a few months before and would not risk going back (see my point in bold above). We had no trouble here.

Problems with property are similar to those in PNG, but I assume you are aware of the political situation which can give additional problems (esp. in the highlands). Especially in the Arfaks, we were told very clearly not to cross any invisible boundaries. We were threatened by a (drunk) Papua on a public road near Manokwari (see my point in bold above) and our guides got very nervous when we had some car trouble and we got out and started birding...

There are not many roads in either West Papua or PNG. Flying is by far the best option to get anywhere (in PNG I had four internal flights, in West Papua as well). The roads that are there can be slow and (more importantly) dangerous (as indicated above).

Be very careful in PNG, get lots of advice and look at the various trip reports e.g.on Surfbirds; it is essential to have a good local guide, they are your very own walking insurance policy, but it is not and never has been a cheap country. i would avoid Lae at all costs at the moment; Port Moresby environs not too bad but have a local guide; Tari area still good but lots of logging going on above Ambua, go while it is still possible as it's being badly damaged. Kiunga is one area that is still outstanding too, and Kumul Lodge near Mt Hagen I will recommend as well.
West Papua is logistically challenging and not without problems, again go with one of the experienced agents to set it up. Take a look at my Sicklebill Safaris website for info and tips, we ran some 18 trips in various formats up to PNG in 2013, and have a similar number this year mostly what we call FIT groups who want to do it without a big tour company but need local guides.

Bokmakierie99 said:

Is W. Papua possible to get into? I had heard that the government restricts entry.
Also, just looking at google maps, I don't see much in the way of roads. Is it possible to travel there without an ultra-expensive birding tour company?
Thanks

Click to expand...

When I said to go there, I didn't mean to go there without contacting local guides. You can e.g. fly from anywhere in Indonesia to e.g. Manokwari and get a ride to the Arfaks. If you have contacted Zeth Wengor through e.g. Papuan Bird Club, you will be in good (safe) hands. But to get to Sorong and Jayapura and ... from there you will have to take internal flights. Ofcourse it is best and most economical to go with a bunch of 4-5 people. But to say that it is hard to go there or difficult to arrange is a bit overstated.
Actually, I know some people who arranged everything on the spot quite cheaply. Just to say that, like everywhere in the 3rd world, bookings from home are sometimes very expensive without any good explanation, because most people pay way too much to 'insure' their trip in terms of not having any unpleasant surprises.

I support using a tour organiser and getting local guides

We would certainly support using a tour organiser. In our case we used
Sicklebill which was not as cheap as doing it ourselves but I'm sure a lot more productive and safer, costs were comparable to going with an organised tour which we didn't want and we could travel as just a pair; small numbers are much better in our view for birding certainly easier than trying to get a group on something in the rainforest.
Trip report is http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=234190 which gives an idea of a possible itineray.

Not sure if field guide is published yet