EM3b – LOWER SEPIK SAFARI PACKAGE FOR INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS 7 nights ex-Wewak To see prices, trip notes and detailed list of inclusions, click here to download the itinerary for EM15 in Acrobat (PDF) format.
View of Wewak town	DAY 1: WEWAK On arrival at Wewak airport you will be met by the hotel transfer vehicle and driven to the hotel for check-in. If arriving on a morning or early afternoon flight, a guide from the hotel will be made available to show you around Wewak town (walking). The hotel is situated close to the main commercial area, market and foreshore. The market has a wide variety of fresh produce and a selection of artefacts for sale. Overnight Seaview Hotel, Wewak (standard single or twin room, includes breakfast)
Timbunke Village house Sepik River Transport	DAY 2: WEWAK / LOWER SEPIK (TAMBANUM) Morning road trip from Wewak to the Timbunke district station on the border of the Middle and Lower Sepik River. Upstream from Timbunke is referred to as the Middle Sepik and downstream from Timbunke is the Lower Sepik. Our vehicle and driver will pick you up at the hotel at 7.00am for the 4 hour drive. The road is rough and bumpy in places, so bring a travel pillow or bath towel to sit on. Initially the vehicle climbs through the Prince Alexander Range featuring high montane forest, and then down on to the Sepik plains, passing through grasslands interspersed with light tropical rainforest, gradually descending in altitude down to the river basin. A packed lunch is provided by the hotel, which you may eat en route or on arrival at Timbunke while waiting for your canoe to be fuelled. Timbunke is just a small scattering of houses and there are no rest facilities so a roadside comfort stop may be appropriate a few kilometres before arrival. At Timbunke your guide will assist you to transfer to your motorised Sepik canoe and by early afternoon you will commence your downriver journey to Tambanum village. At Tambanum, you will tour the village and see artisans at work, and visit the haus tambaran. Tonight a village youth group will perform Sepik traditional dancing, singing and drama for you. Tambanum is a big village that receives regular visits from tourists because of its artefacts, so you can expect the people here to be a little more “tourist-savvy” than the other villages on this trip. Different tour operators use different villages on their Sepik itineraries, but they nearly all visit Tambanum so there is a bit of a confluence of visitors there. A few persistent carvers may pester you to buy their artifacts: your guide will shoo them away if you’re not interested. Overnight village guest house, Tambanum (includes dinner and breakfast). *NB There is an airstrip at Timbunke and flying in by chartered Cessna light aircraft is a viable alternative to travelling overland. It costs extra but is economical for groups of 3-4 people.
Sepik fish traps Nature Walking	DAY 3: LOWER SEPIK (KANDUANAM, KUNDIMA) After breakfast this morning, your canoe will take you further down river to Kanduanam Number 2 village, where many of the houses are built on stilts. After stopping at Kanduanam for a look around your canoe will turn continue further down the Sepik before turning south up the Yuat River (a tributary of the Sepik), to the village of Kundima. If the weather is dry enough it is possible to hike overland from the Kanduanam stilt village to Kundima. The walk takes two to three hours depending on whether the marshy ground is firm or waterlogged, and depending on your walking pace. If you would like to hike, a couple of villagers from Kanduanam will walk with you while your guide brings the canoe around via the waterways. Kundima is way off the tourist trail so here you will meet village people who rarely make contact with outsiders. You will be the centre of studied attention (children’s mouths agape etc) and have plenty of opportunities to interact spontaneously with village people going about their daily business. Here you will observe a sago cooking demonstration and perhaps learn to paddle a small dugout canoe in the calm lagoon. In the evening you may have the opportunity to join some villagers going out for night fishing (or crocodile hunting). This activity is for the bold and courageous only. The bold and beautiful can spend the evening sitting around the men’s spirit house and hear the chiefs and initiated men recount tribal legends and play their bamboo flutes and garamut drums (no TV for evening entertainment here!). Overnight village home stay, Kundima (includes dinner and breakfast) ng under mosquito nets).
Moim village	DAY 4: LOWER SEPIK (MOIM LAGOON, KAMBARAMBA) Retrace your steps down the Yuat River to the Sepik proper, then turn north into the Moim Lagoon to visit Pinang, another stilt village. Bodies of still water like the Moim Lagoon have a greater variety of bird life than the fast-flowing rivers. After touring Pinang village (your canoe can even navigate between the houses) you will continue downstream to the large village of Kambaramba, located in its own lagoon off the main river. Village tour and activities of your choice (especially bird watching). Overnight village guest house, Kambaramba (includes dinner and breakfast)
Chimondo culture house	DAY 5: LOWER SEPIK (CHIMONDO) An hour further down the Sepik from Kambaramba is the turn-off up the Keram River, another tributary. The first village up the Keram is Chimondo, which has a well-organised village cultural centre. Here there are interesting statics displays as well as demonstrations of the traditional lifestyle. Chimondo also has a meeting with a beautifully decorated ceiling. A unique artefact called the storyboard is produced in this village, and further upstream at Kambot. Overnight village guest house, Chimondo (includes dinner and breakfast).
Road to Angoram	DAY 6: LOWER SEPIK / WEWAK After breakfast, an hour’s ride from Chimondo downstream to the confluence of the Keram and Sepik, then another hour to the small river town of Angoram. Here our vehicle will be waiting for you at 12 noon to drive you back to Wewak. The road is sealed most of the way and the trip takes about 3 hours. Overnight Seaview Hotel, Wewak (standard single or twin room, includes breakfast)
Kairiru village guest house Farewell from Kairiru island	DAY 7: WEWAK ISLANDS After breakfast, an open speed boat will transfer you from the Wewak foreshore (located just a few minutes walk down the hill from your hotel) to the offshore islands of Kairiru and Muschu. Kairiru is a mountainous, forest-covered island with waterfalls and hot springs – the Japanese had an operations base here during World War 2. Muschu is a low-set island surrounded by pretty beaches with great snorkelling reefs. You will spend the morning on Kairiru including a village tour, rainforest walk, cultural entertainment and tropical island lunch. In the afternoon, transfer over to Muschu and spend some hours beachwalking, swimming and snorkelling (BYO mask and snorkel or some gear is available for hire). Late afternoon, transfer by speed boat back to Wewak. Overnight Seaview Hotel, Wewak (standard single or twin room, includes breakfast) (Overnight on Kairiru or Muschu Island instead of Seaview Hotel is available, but not if you are booked on the early morning flight out of Wewak).
Muschu Island beach	DAY 8: Fly out of Wewak.