Ecotourism Melanesia’s PAPUA NEW GUINEA

 

PORT MORESBY and CENTRAL PROVINCE

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GETTING THERE

- Direct air services from Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Honiara, Manila, Singapore, Osaka, Tokyo

Bomana War Cemetery

National Museum and Art Gallery

National Parliament House – modern building, traditional design

Botanical Gardens

Motuan villages – built on stilts over the water

PNG Art – huge artifact and handicraft warehouse

National Cultural Commission Gift Shop – artifacts and handicrafts

Hiri Moale Cultural festival, Ela Beach - September

Kokoda Track

Ower’s Corner – Kokoda Track Memorial

Sogeri gorge – 40 minute scenic drive from Port Moresby

Sogeri Station - colourful Sunday market

Crystal Rapids swimming hole, Sogeri

Varirata National Park, Sogeri Rd

Loloata Island – snorkelling, diving, fishing

Goilala District – walking trails, rivers, mountain tribes, short and scary mountaintop airstrips

Historical Yule Island

Daubai Transit Lodge - Henao Drive, Gordons (clean and new, quiet, close to supermarket and bus, safe residential area, no restaurant, all rooms shared bathroom)

Sports Inn - Ward Strip, Gordons (well run place located inside city Stadium complex. Budget rooms with shared bathrooms. Disco can be noisy at night on weekends. Good cafe/snack bar with Chinese restaurants close by, also close to bus, bank, P.O. )
Comfort Inn (formerly Amber's Inn) - Angau Drive, Boroko (well established place in central Boroko, choice of rooms with shared or private bathroom, air con, close to transport, bank, P.O. and shops)
The Shady Rest Hotel - Boroko (old wing budget rooms are a good deal, nice hotel with 2 restaurants, disco can be noisy at night, close to transport and shops, far from bank and P.O.)

Not recommended:
Airport Lodge (small rooming house, not very clean, too far from everything)
Magila Motel, Six Mile (good budget accom but unsuitable location for tourists, too far from everything, unsafe area)
Hideaway Hotel, Six Mile (good budget accom but unsuitable location for tourists, too far from everything, unsafe area)
Granville Motel, Six Mile (good budget accom but unsuitable location for tourists, too far from everything, unsafe area)
Night Owl Guest House, Gordons Industrial Area (unsuitable location for tourists, questionable clientele)
Angau Backpackers (too far from everything)
Ponderosa Family Hotel (too far from everything)
Weigh Inn Hotel, Konedobu (good budget accom but unsuitable location for independent tourists, unsafe area)
Golden Motel, Three Mile, opposite hospital (unsuitable location for tourists, too far from everything, unsafe area)

The Bluff Inn - Sogeri Road 17 mile (budget)

Kokoda Trail Motel - Sogeri Rd, Sogeri (budget)

Hisiu Beach Resort - Hiritano Highway (north)

Loloata Island Resort - Magi Highway (south)

Woitape Mountain Lodge - Goilala District

Tapini Lodge - Goilala District

Port Moresby city sights - half day tour by private car

Bomana and Sogeri - half day tour by private car
Port Moresby, Bomana and Sogeri - full day tour
Bomana, Sogeri and Ower's Corner - full day tour
Loloata Island - day trip for beach/snorkelling/diving
Eco-tour EM09 Woitape Valley Trek 3 days 2 nights

 

Port Moresby

The National Capital District is an enclave of urban and semi-rural land excised from the Central Province to accommodate the national capital, Port Moresby. The city itself is rapidly expanding towards the boundaries of the District and it is only a matter of time before Central Province will be under pressure to hand over more land to allow the city to grow.

Port Moresby is a sprawling modern city with a population approaching half a million. Most of the residents are urban poor. The city is located in a rain shadow and experiences long dry spells. The water supply comes from the Sirinumu Dam high above on the Sogeri Plateau, and much of the city’s electricity supply comes from the same water as it barrels down through hydro-electric power stations in the Sogeri gorge.

Port Moresby city was established in its present location to take advantage of the excellent harbour. However apart from its sea port and international airport, Port Moresby is largely cut off from the rest of the country. There are no overland road links between the capital and other PNG cities. Only recently a highway link with Kerema in the Gulf Province was established and there are supposedly plans to push this road through to the Highlands, but don’t hold your breath.

There are no passenger shipping services between Port Moresby and anywhere else, so basically everybody comes in and out by air. This is one of the reasons why such a large squatter population has built up over the years; people arrive from the provinces seeking their fortunes and then can’t earn enough money to buy a ticket home again. Port Moresby is like a giant lobster pot: once people get in, they can’t get out again.

Daily life in Port Moresby is similar to any other Asian/Pacific city of comparable size. There is a good bus network which carries commuters to work and children to school. The roads around the city are in reasonable condition (mostly tar-sealed), and traffic flows quite well. Driving in Port Moresby is a little frustrating (failure to give way is the most common problem) but still 1000% better than Bangkok or Rome.

Port Moresby has half a dozen large markets where fresh produce is sold, and large supermarkets which sell local and imported goods. Every street corner has a small kiosk or canteen where basic necessities are sold. Betel nuts and cigarettes are sold on the side of the road just about everywhere, although street selling is discouraged by the city administration and police vehicles regularly stop and chase street sellers away.

In general the city is safe for visitors to move around by public transport, hire car or on foot. Unless you stand on a street corner waving money in the air you are unlikely to be attacked and robbed. However certain parts of the city are frequented by pickpockets and con men or scammers and it is often a good idea to take a local person with you as a guide when moving around the city. See our advice on Personal Safety in PNG. Although visitors in Port Moresby must be careful, I don’t want to over-rate the issue as I have lived and worked in Port Moresby for the past 6 years and never once been threatened, held up, or even pick-pocketed. (There, now I’ve said it, it will happen tomorrow!!!)

Shopping and eating.

The best places for visitors to shop for groceries, clothes and general goods in Port Moresby are:
- Foodworld at Gordons (a supermarket with a nice cafeteria with good eats)
- Andersons supermarket at Konedobu (on the harbour) (supermarket, variety, bakery, fast food and liquor)

The best duty free shopping is… well, there isn’t any good duty free shopping in Port Moresby. There’s a small outlet called CHM Duty Free at the airport but it mainly sells souvenirs. It would be a good idea to buy your electrical goods, liquor and perfume at the inbound duty free in whichever country you’re going to next.

The best places to buy handicrafts in Port Moresby are:
- handicraft street stalls outside the main gate of the Holiday Inn (this is the best place to buy basketry and street artist paintings: always ask for the “second price” after thoughtfully considering the first price given
-Tabari Place handicraft market at Boroko – a good selection of wares but go with a local
- PNG Art (the largest artifact warehouse in PNG, located on the freeway on the way to the airport – a large range of carvings and crafts from all over PNG, very good prices , but not much jewellery or modern art
- Beyond Art, a handicraft and local jewellery shop in the building opposite the Crowne Plaze Hotel, downtown. A nice all-round selection at reasonable prices.
- Ela Beach Craft Market. On the last Saturday of every month there is a big arts and crafts market at the Ela Beach International School - don't miss it if you're around at the time - you'll see stuff for sale that you won't see anywhere else. The market starts at 8am and finishes by 11am so be early.

The best places to buy souvenirs and books about Papua New Guinea are:
- Holiday Inn bookshop
- Gateway Hotel bookshop
- Crowne Plaza Hotel bookshop
- CHM duty free shop upstairs at the international terminal. It's only open when there are outgoing flights but it has an excellent selection of books on PNG including many historical titles I haven't seen anywhere else.

The best Chinese and Indian food in Port Moresby is at the 168 Restaurant in the small Plaza shopping centre opposite Big Rooster on Waigani Drive - looks a bit sleazy from the outside but the parking is safe and the restaurant is popular with local expatriates. Also try the Roundhouse Restaurant in Boroko, the Magi Seafood Restaurant in Boroko, and the Fu Gui Village Restaurant in Gordons.

The best full buffets are at the Poolside Restaurant at the Airways Hotel overlooking the airport (my favourite spot) and The Café at the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown.

The best takeway pizza is at the Ela Beach Hotel, downtown and the Rattle N Hum Pizzeria at the Gateway Hotel near the airport.

The best barbeque chicken takeway is at Big Rooster outlets (they have about 10 shops around the city): they also have fish and chips. Pasta is available in m ost restaurants but don’t ask for lasagne unless you like it cold in the middle.

And don’t bother looking for hamburger joints: PNG is a McDonalds-free-zone.

 

Seeing the sights.

You may be just passing through, but a tour of the Port Moresby city sights and local attractions will be very worthwhile. The best way to do this is to hire a car for a day or take a guided tour. We do not recommend hiring taxis because many of them are so unroadworthy they are unsafe, and they are frequently seen abandoned on the side of the road with an empty gas tank or jacked up with a wheel missing because drivers fail to carry spare fuel or spare tyres.

Ecotourism Melanesia offers escorted tours of Port Moresby and surrounds by private car (see above).

Port Moresby best buys: street artist paintings outisde the Holday Inn. 
Our favourite spot: Poolside Restaurant (Airways Hotel)

 

Central Province

Despite being so close to the national capital, Central Province is very underdeveloped. The two main highways running north (Hiritano Highway) and south (Magi Highway) from Port Moresby are in poor condition and really don’t offer much of interest to visitors except a very bumpy scenic drive. The coastal areas of Central Province are dry and not particularly arable. There are some farming areas and a few rubber plantations but on the whole the village people are reliant on income from relatives working or running businesses in Port Moresby.

Inland from the arid coastal areas are the fertile highlands of the Goilala District, which form part of the Owen Stanley Range, the backbone of the island of New Guinea. There is no road access to the Goilala District; the communities are serviced by light aircraft landing on hair-raising mountaintop airstrips. The two "stations" in the Goilala highlands where accommodation is available are Tapini and Woitape. Tapini has a high school and the district headquarters and a guest house run by the catholic church. Woitape has a mountain lodge in a beautiful valley by a river suitable for gentle rafting or "inner-tubing", and a network of mule tracks established by missionaries which are ideal for easy hiking. From Woitape you can also take a 3 day trek up Mt Albert Edward, overnighting in village huts.

A 40-minute scenic drive up the majestic Sogeri Gorge from Port Moresby brings you to the southern end of the famous Kokoda Track, at Ower’s Corner. There is a war memorial there and you can walk the first part of the track for an hour or so just to say you’ve had a go, even if you don’t do the whole gruelling 9-day trek through to Kokoda Village in Oro Province. The Sogeri plateau is a cool and green alternative to sticky Port Moresby, and the local Kokoda Trail Motel is a rustic but relaxing getaway.

Offshore, not far from Port Moresby is Loloata Island, a watersports resort with excellent scuba diving facilities and rave-reviewed reef and wreck dive spots, though not much to offer non-divers.

Our favourite spot: Woitape Lodge

Map of Port Moresby

Map of Central Province

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ECOTOURISM MELANESIA LTD
Unit 1 Lot 3 Section 444, Ranu Place
Four Mile Hill, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea
(Postal address: PO Box 24 Waigani NCD)
Phone & Fax (675) 323 4518
E-mail ecomel(at)online.net.pg · Website: www.em.com.pg

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