EM15 - TUFI FJORDS HIKE AND PADDLE PACKAGE FOR INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS OR PRIVATE GROUPS 7 nights ex-Port Moresby (1 night Tufi Dive Resort, 6 nights village guest houses) The Tufi district of Oro Province is famous for its Nordic-type fjords. The breathtaking topography is dominated by some 25 fjords which penetrate deep into the coastal landscape. Many of the fjords feature sheer basalt cliffs. There are numerous white sandy beaches perfect for swimming, and pristine fringing reefs offer excellent snorkelling. The water clarity is stunning and scuba diving is a major attraction for visitors to the area. The people of the Tufi area have a rich cultural heritage that is nurtured and treasured. Village people in the Tufi district are experienced at hosting visitors in village guest houses for hiking, fishing and skindiving experiences. EM15 is a village to village trek in a safe rural area of PNG with spectacular scenery and fantastic snorkelling. The tour can commence any Monday or Friday, and the itinerary varies slightly according to the day of arrival due to variable flight times – see below. Private groups of 6-9 people will find it economical to charter a small aircraft and fly in on any convenient day. The package price includes accommodation, meals, canoe transfers, guides and activities (except where stated). BYO snorkelling gear. The trip features daily hikes of varying duration, some canoe paddling, and plenty of time for swimming and snorkelling, beachwalking, fishing, birdwatching, playing volleyball with the villagers etc. Each night you will overnight in a village guest house and next day your host will walk or paddle with you to the next village on the itinerary. All accommodation, meals, guides and village-based activities are included in the cost of the package (except additional hire of motorised dinghy for outer reef fishing, sightseeing etc – pay as you go). To see prices, trip notes and detailed list of inclusions, click here to download the itinerary for EM15 in Acrobat (PDF) format.
Arriving at Tufi Airfield Tufi Resort (top of hill) with wharf facilities (bottom) Tufi Resort water transfer	DAY 1: Monday PORT MORESBY / TUFI / SIU VILLAGE 0430 Check in at Port Moresby airport. 0600 Depart Port Moresby on Airlines PNG scheduled flight to Tufi 0700 Arrive Tufi airfield, Tufi Dive Resort staff will meet you on arrival. Short walk from the airfield to the resort. 0730 Have breakfast at Tufi Dive Resort. 0830 Full day scuba diving or snorkelling with Tufi Dive Resort. If you are a diver, you should be able to fit in two boat dives today. Tufi Dive Resort is a small, boutique dive resort that offers a range of activities including scuba diving (if you have your scuba ticket), snorkelling, fishing and kayaking. Scheduled morning and afternoon boat dive trips operate every day, snorkellers can also tag along to some of the dive sites which also have suitable snorkelling. There is also a very good house reef just near the wharf, suitable for both diving and snorkelling. If you are not an aquatic person, you may prefer to take a stroll around the Tufi government “station”, meeting the locals and soaking up the laid back rural town atmosphere. There are about 50 houses, a couple of little shops and a few provincial government offices. Only the resort has electricity. You can also spend the day hiking around the spur (rim) of the main Tufi Fjord, passing through local villages, or just relaxing at the resort which has a fully stocked bar and plenty of comfortable chairs with panoramic views and wickedly refreshing sea breezes. There is also a small freshwater swimming pool and a great library of books and videos. 1630 Tufi Dive Resort staff will transfer you by motor boat to Siu village, approximately 30 minutes ride south of the resort. (NB if you are not a diver and you wish to skip the option of spending the day at Tufi Dive Resort, we can arrange for you to be transferred straight to Siu village after breakfast instead.) 1700 Arrive Siu village. Your host Gladstone Aguba will have a warm welcome ready for you. Your bungalow is perched on a small point overlooking the coastline –perfect. Overnight Siu Village Guest House
Siu village guest house	DAY 2: Tuesday SIU VILLAGE Spend the day at Siu village. Village tour, great canoe paddling, snorkelling and beachwalking around the pretty inlet. The snorkelling here is fantastic. You can paddle yourself around in an outrigger canoe exploring the coastline of the Utukwaf fjord or your hosts can take charge of the canoe while you plunge into the crystal clear water and explore the coral and tropical fish. There are a couple of scenic waterfalls in the fjord that you can paddle right up to.
Hospitality at Orotoaba village Rodney Mokuta standing infront of his guest house Ready for a sing-sing !	DAY 3: Wednesday SIU VILLAGE / OROTOABA VILLAGE After breakfast and maybe a quick snorkel, you’ll commence your transfer from Siu to Orotoaba. There are two ways of doing this. If you want a challenging hike, you can go the “back way” walking inland from Siu via Jikuatala and follow a track that climbs up and down several steep spurs. This hike will take 2-3 hours including rest stops at the top of each spur. Or, you can paddle 30 minutes to Jebo beach and you can walk up the “front way” which is the track that the village people normally use to get to Orotoaba. This is a well worn, moderately steep foot track that wends through tall grasses up the northern spur of Uramanoa Fjord, and only takes about 45 minutes of steady climbing from Jebo beach. Your host from Orotoaba, Rodney Mokuta, may meet you at Siu and hike with you if you are taking the back way, or may wait for you at Jebo beach if you opt to come up the front way. Although a young man, Rodney is passionate about village-based tourism. He lives at home in the village with his father Stanley who is a retired medical doctor. Orotoaba is a large hilltop village with green lawns, flowers, cool breezes and stunning fjord views. It is a short but steep climb down to a small beach in the adjacent Ibura Fjord for swimming (or swim to your heart’s content off beautiful Jebo beach before hiking up to Orotoaba). If you are interested in wildlife you can take a quiet afternoon foray into the forest to view a variety of insects, mammals and birds you may not have noticed during your hikes. The world’s largest butterfly, the Queen Alexandra Birdwing, is native to this area and can be found in the village gardens if you are lucky. Alternatively, get up early and Rodney will take you to see a stand of trees hosting a small flock of Bird of Paradise. In the evening a village cultural group will perform a sing-sing in your honour featuring bare chested dancers with intricate facial tattoos, adorned with traditional tapa (bark) cloth and spectacular coloured feather headdresses. You haven't seen anything like this before. Overnight village guest house, Orotoaba village (includes local style dinner and breakfast).
Village path from Orotoaba to Tainabuna village Tainabuna village guest house	DAY 4: Thursday OROTOABA VILLAGE / TAINABUNA VILLAGE A short downhill hike today, descending and ascending the spurs at the end of Ibura Fjord and then a steady downhill walk to the hamlet of Tainabuna. You can start walking straight after breakfast if you choose, or spend the morning at Orotoaba first before heading off. The guest house at Tainabuna is across the inlet from the village proper and has its own private beach and lookout point. Spend the day beachwalking, lazing in the shadows of huge trees overhanging the beach, paddling an outrigger canoe around the calm inlet, or doing more snorkelling. You can even swim right around the inlet; there aren’t any sharks due to the fringing reef. Your hosts are available to assist with showing you around or paddling your canoe if you wish, or you can explore by yourself. Overnight village guest house, Tainabuna village (includes local style dinner and breakfast).
Bauwame village guest house Desert island just paddling distance from Bauwame	DAY 5: Friday TAINABUNA VILLAGE / BAUWAME VILLAGE Another short hop today. Bauwame is only half an hour’s paddling or one hour’s walk away. If walking, you have to take the back way due to mangroves further along the beach which are difficult to traverse. Your hosts will be just as keen to paddle you. Again, you can head off early or spend the morning at Tainabuna first. Bauwame is a clifftop village at the southern entrance to Amuian Fjord, the largest of the Tufi fjords. The guest house here has panoramic views of the fjords and towering Goodenough Island which sits on the eastern horizon. There is a tiny uninhabited island about ten minutes paddling from shore which you can explore at leisure; your hosts can even maroon you there for a few hours with some water and fruit to give you some time to yourself (walk around the island, paddle in the shallows and snorkel to your heart's content - don't forget the 15+ sunscreen). Outrigger canoes are available for exploring the Amuian Fjord, or you can pay extra to hire a motorised dinghy to give you the grand tour, including snorkelling stops at some of the bommies (reef outcrops) in the fjord. Amuian Fjord really is majestic. From Bauwame guest house you will also have clear views of the volcanic mountain range to the west which was responsible for the formation of the fjords from lava flows. Bauwame and all other villages in the Tufi area are littered with igneous boulders which rained from heaven thousands of years ago during what must have been one of the most spectacular volcanic eruptions in the history of the earth. Overnight village guest house, Bauwame village (includes local style dinner and breakfast).
Paddling over the reef to Kofure village Kofure village guest house in the coconut palms behind the white sandy beach - it doesn't get any better than this, people!	Day 6: Saturday BAUWAME VILLAGE / KOFURE VILLAGE After lunch you will be paddled to Tufi proper, about 30 minutes by outrigger (too far to walk in a day due to the meandering terrain). If there is a decent breeze your canoe captain may unfurl a patchwork sail made of rice bags and cuts of black plastic which will whisk you over the reefs. Your outrigger will tie up at the Tufi wharf and then there is a steep climb up a cliffside driveway to the Tufi Dive Resort. If you are a diver you may wish to arrive at Tufi Dive Resort in time for the afternoon boat dive trip, and proceed on to Kofure village afterwards (this must be arranged in advance of course). Otherwise, after a cool drink and a rest at the Resort bar, meet up with your host from Kofure at the resort, take a walk across the airstrip to where another canoe will be waiting for you to paddle around the point to Kofure. Great reef viewing en route, and you can even jump out of the canoe and snorkel as you go (ask the paddlers to tow you behind the canoe with a piece of rope for the ultimate in lazy snorkelling!). At Kofure, tour the little village and relax on the little beach with a fresh coconut drink before sunset. Perfect. Overnight Kofure Village Guest House (includes meals)
Fresh seafood served at village guest houses around Tufi View of the fjords while hiking from Kofure to Tufi Resort	Day 7: Sunday KOFURE VILLAGE / TUFI DIVE RESORT This morning, snorkel and relax at Kofure, or go for a canoe expedition through the mangrove labyrinths. After lunch, a scenic 3-hour hike along the spur of Maclaren Fjord brings you to Tufi Dive Resort by late afternoon. Alternatively, you can paddle and/or snorkel back the way you came. If you prefer to hike, your bags can still be transferred by canoe to Tufi while you are walking. You will spend the last night of your trip at Tufi Dive Resort, unless you choose to extend for a few days to do some scuba diving (occasionally there are charter flights out on Wednesdays - check at time of booking). It won’t be possible to do any diving today if you are flying out in the morning, due to the no-diving- 24-hours-before-flying rule. The resort has 24-hour electricity, telephone and internet. Overnight Tufi Dive Resort
Tufi Dive Resort - world's best harbour view	Day 8: Monday TUFI / PORT MORESBY After an early breakfast, walk to the airstrip to wait for your flight to Port Moresby which will depart at approximately 0730.