EM11 - DISCOVER ALOTAU AND MILNE BAY

EM11 - DISCOVER ALOTAU AND MILNE BAY PACKAGE FOR INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS 7 nights ex-Port Moresby (Napatana Lodge, Ulumani Treetops Lodge, Samarai Island, Tawali Resort) To see prices, trip notes and detailed list of inclusions, click here to download the itinerary for EM9A in Acrobat (PDF) format.
Seneic view of Alotau town Entrance toNapatana lodge	Day 1: On arrival in Port Moresby. Ecotourism Melanesia staff will meet you and assist you to check in for your late afternoon flight to Alotau. On arrival at Alotau’s Gurney Airport, Napatana Lodge staff will meet you and transfer you to the lodge. Overnight Napatana Lodge (double bungalow with private bathroom, includes dinner and breakfast) Napatana Lodge is a relaxed waterfront accommodation facility known for its friendly ambience and authentic Milne Bay cuisine. There is a choice of breezy tropical-style private bungalows or backpacker dormitory. The spacious grounds are inhabited by a variety of tame birds and animals, some in cages and some ranging free. Upstairs from the office is a huge open-sided bar and dining area where drinks are kept on ice in eskies not in fridges and locals and tourists mix to hear and disbelieve the tallest stories in Milne Bay. Breakfast and dinner are served buffet style and these meals are included in the tariff. A snack menu is available for lunch. The Lodge is walking distance to the fresh food market and local shops. Cooking facilities are available in the backpacker dorm only. www.napatana.com
Napatana Lodge	Day 2: This morning after breakfast our local tour agent will meet you at Napatana Lodge and take you on enjoy a full day tour including highlights of Alotau township and a drive out to the East Cape, the eastern most point on the New Guinea mainland, where the Solomon Sea meets the Coral Sea. En route you will stop at villages, scenic points of interest and ancestral skull caves. A picnic lunch is provided on Biwa beach. Overnight Napatana Lodge (double bungalow with private bathroom, includes dinner and breakfast)
One of the villages Water fall	Day 3: After breakfast you will be transferred by road or by boat around the Bay to Wagawaga village. After depositing your luggage in your room at Ulumani Treetops Lodge spend the rest of the day exploring nearby Wagawaga village, beachwalking, snorkelling, swimming, hiking to the waterfall, feeding tame giant eels in the village stream, or taking a guided bush walk to see birds and other fauna and flora. Overnight Ulumani Treetops Lodge (double rainforest unit with private bathroom, includes meals and includes activities at Wagawaga Village) Ulumani Treetops Lodge is a rainforest lodge set in pristine forest wilderness in the foothills of the Pini Ranges overlooking the azure waters of beautiful Milne Bay. The Lodge is owned and operated by local people from the Wagawaga village area in order to generate income in an ecologically sound and sustainable way. Ulumani Treetops consists of a 1 x two-room unit and a 1 x eight-bedroom lodge both with commanding views over the forest and Milne Bay. Look down onto the forest canopy and study the movement of birds and insects. Although not luxurious the accommodation is comfortably furnished and supplied with clean linen, and has electricity and hot water. Self-catering is available but as our tour clients are usually on a tight schedule we arrange for the lodge proprietors to provide meals. Attractions at nearby Wagawaga Village including snorkelling the wreck on the beach, beachwalking, touring the village, feeding the tame eels in the stream, hiking to the waterfall and rock carvings (“moon stones”) or general bushwalking for viewing flora and fauna. A bird list for this area is available. A day trip by small boat can take you on a safari up the nearby Dawadawa River or fishing in the bay. www.pngbackpacker.com
Dawadawa river safari	Day 4: At Wagawaga Village. Optional Dawadawa River safari at additional cost. Overnight Ulumani Treetops Lodge (double rainforest unit with private bathroom , includes meals and includes activities at Wagawaga Village)
Kwato island with Samarai island background	Day 5: Your hosts at Ulumani Treetops Lodge will arrange an open speedboat to whisk you along the edge of the Bay to China Strait and the “pearl” of Milne Bay, tiny Samarai Island. Samarai was formerly the provincial capital before Alotau and is steeped in colonial history. Your boat driver/guide will show you around the island and explain places of historical significance. If time allows you will be taken across to Kwato Island where the local Kwato Church was born more than a hundred years ago by breaking away from the stalwart London Missionary Society. Buy your own lunch on Samarai today; local-style takeaway from the shops or a basic sit-down meals at the Guest House. Mid-afternoon, depart Samarai by speedboat for Alotau. If the sea is choppy your boat driver will take the long way round along the edge of the Bay the way you came and then cut across calmer waters from Wagawaga to Alotau. You will be dropped off right on the beach front at Napatana Lodge. This time it’s you who will have stories to recount in the bar during the evening … and all your accounts (about huge fish you caught, dolphins you swam with etc) will be true, won’t they? Overnight Napatana Lodge (double bungalow with private bathroom, includes dinner and breakfast).
	Day 6: Next stop is Tawali Resort. A transfer vehicle will call for you at Napatana Lodge after breakfast and take you to the boat pickup point from whence you will travel by speed boat to the resort. (By now you are a seasoned Milne Bay boat traveller and know how to climb in and out of the boat like a pro, the best place to sit to avoid getting seaspray in your face, and how to hang on tight while looking relaxed and giving the impression that you do this every day back home). Arriving mid-morning you will have the rest of the day to enjoy the activities offered at Tawali. Tawali Resort is located on a volcanic bluff overlooking the clear protected waters of Milne Bay. Tawali is a new hideaway resort in a unique location amidst pristine reef and rainforest. Tawali, which in the local language means “reef” is aptly named as it sits atop a beautiful fringing reef teeming with undisturbed marine life. Scuba diving and snorkelling are available. Guided hikes in the surrounding rainforest offer visitors the opportunity to learn about the unique flora and fauna of the New Guinea coast. Other attractions within walking distance include local villages, ossuary caves housing the skulls of ancestors, and forest waterfalls. Comfortable accommodation is provided in well-appointed rooms with spacious common verandah areas for dining and socialising. Access to Tawali is by road from Alotau to a boat pick-up point and thence by 15 minute water transfer along the coast. www.tawali.com Overnight Tawali Resort (private room, includes meals – daily activities extra, pay as you go direct)
	Day 7: At Tawali Resort Overnight Tawali Resort (private double room, includes meals
Gurney airport milnebay	Day 8: Morning at Tawali Resort. Afternoon transfer by boat and road to Alotau and onwards to Gurney Airport to check in for your late afternoon flight to Port Moresby.