EM201 MT HAGEN SHOW TOUR 2008 13 nights Middle Sepik River, Wewak Islands, Mt Hagen Show, Goroka, Madang Fully escorted soft adventure tour, group size minimum 8 maximum 16. COST: USD$5450 per person (twin-share) Single supplement USD$545 (In-Wewak Boutique Hotel, Poroman Hotel, Bird of Paradise Hotel, Jais Aben Resort, Gateway Hotel) To download this itinerary in Adobe Acrobat PDF format with list of tour inclusions and trip notes, click here
Fairfax Harbour, Port Moresby Wewak Town	DAY 1: FRI 8 AUG 2008 PORT MORESBY / WEWAK Arrive Port Moresby and connect through to Wewak. Arriving flights: PX393 from Singapore arrives 0540 CG101 from Cairns arrives 0855 CG201 from Brisbane arrives 1040 PX93/QF381 from Cairns arrives 1325 PX4/QF349 from Brisbane arrives 1355 PX83 from Honiara arrives 1435On arrival in Port Moresby Ecotourism Melanesia staff will greet you with a big smile and a flower lei ? and you will be transferred to check in for our connecting flight to Wewak (via Madang) departing 1540 (boarding 1500).Between meeting flights our driver/guides and vehicles are available to take you on a familiarisation drive around Port Moresby city. If you are arriving on a morning flight, you may also have time to visit the national museum and botanical gardens during the day. When our flight arrives in Wewak at 1745, we transfer to our hotel for check-in. Overnight In-Wewak Boutique Hotel (standard room, includes breakfast only)(Pay-as-you-go for lunch and dinner today. Snacks are available from various outlets for lunch, and dinner is available at the hotel, pay by cash or credit card).
Yamok village Haus Tambaran	DAY 2: SAT 09 AUG 2008 WEWAK / MIDDLE SEPIK RIVER After an early breakfast we complete our check-out by 7.00am and transfer to Wewak airport for our 8.00am charter flight to Yamok village in the Middle Sepik (approx 40 minutes flight). On arrival at Yamok, we will tour the village and learn about the spiritual beliefs of the Yamok people. Tonight a traditional sing-sing will be held in our honour. Overnight village guest house, Yamok (includes lunch, dinner and breakfast). (Heavy luggage and valuables can be stored safely at the hotel in Wewak while we are on the River).
Motorised Sepik River canoes Kanganaman Village Guest House Typical guest house accommodation	DAY 3: SUN 10 AUG 2008 MIDDLE SEPIK RIVER After breakfast this morning, locals will attend church and you are welcome to sit in. There may be two or three denominations having services. Later in the morning, we will hike to the Korogo Fishing Lake with our village guide, and motorised canoes will transport us across the lake and into the Sepik River proper, then downstream to the crocodile cult villages of Palembei, Yentchen and Kanganaman. (Please bring your own slimline life jacket for this tour as there is quite a bit of water travel and life jackets provided by local boat operators may not fit you). These Middle Sepik villages all have haus tambarans crammed full of carved artifacts, specialising in totem type poles. After visiting Palembei and Yentchen and learning about the crocodile scarification rituals which take place once or twice a year, we will continue on to Kanganaman, possibly observing a sago cooking demonstration. 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 . Otherwise we 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. Overnight village guest house, Kanganaman (includes dinner and breakfast). (There is no official lunch today, you can purchase fruit, dried fish and sago from market stalls in the villages. Fresh green coconuts can be purchased for drinking. A supply of dry groceries - flour, sugar, biscuits, coffee/tea etc - will be supplied by the tour company to supplement food provided in the villages, plus an adequate supply of bottled drinking water. Accommodation will be twin-share or dormitory style in village guest houses built in native style. Beds and pillows are supplied, usually thin rubber mattresses on woven mats placed on the floor. Mosquito nets will be supplied by the tour company but bring your own light cotton bed sheet to cover the mattress, and your own pillow-cover. We also strongly suggest you bring your own battery-operated personal fan to cool yourself when sleeping under mosquito nets).
Girls in a canoe on the Sepik	DAY 4: MON 11 AUG 2008 MIDDLE SEPIK RIVER From Kanganaman the motorised canoes transport us further down river to the Chambri Lakes. The Lakes may be semi-dry in August which is the middle of the dry season along the Sepik. The Chambri Lakes feature a lot of bird life, and you would see locals fishing with nets, and have an opportunity to buy unique Aibom pottery. Overnight village guest house, Chambri Lakes (includes dinner and breakfast). (There is no official lunch today, you can purchase fruit, dried fish and sago from market stalls in the villages. Fresh green coconuts can be purchased for drinking).
One of MAF's light aircraft at Timbunke airstrip	DAY 5: TUE 12 AUG 2008 MIDDLE SEPIK / WEWAK From Chambri Lakes we will stop at Mindimbit and Angriman villages en route to Timbunke, a small riverside township where we will be met at 12 noon by our charter aircraft for the 20-minute flight back to Wewak. Overnight In-Wewak Boutique Hotel (standard room, includes breakfast only) – a hot shower never felt so good ? (There is no official lunch today, you can purchase fruit, dried fish and sago from market stalls in the villages. Fresh green coconuts can be purchased for drinking).
Cultural entertainment at Kairiru Island Blowing the conch, Kairiru Island	DAY 6: WED 13 AUG 2008 WEWAK ISLANDS After breakfast, an open speed boat will transfer us from the Wewak foreshore (located just a few minutes walk down the hill from the hotel) to the offshore island of Kairiru and Muschu. From Wewak it is a 45 minute speed boat ride to Shagur Village on the seaward (north) side of Kairiru Island. Here, the village people will await us with an enthusiastic traditional welcome. Shagur village Island is literally a tropical paradise situated amidst luscious green rainforest. The houses are all traditional style, made of bush materials only. This contrasts with the inland areas of the Sepik River where the topography is fairly flat and dry, despite the presence of the watercourse, and cultural entertainment is not as energetic due to the more regular tourist visits. As Ecotourism Melanesia is currently the only tour company arranging visits to Kairiru, the number of visitors going there is relatively small and each visit is special and personal for both the village people and the visitor. The people here have a well-prepared repertoire of cultural dances, songs and drama to perform for visitors – one of the best village cultural experiences anywhere in PNG. This morning we take a familiarisation walk around the village and a short hike to the waterfall for a refreshing splash. This is followed by a tropical lunch and a brief siesta on comfortable mats placed under shady trees picking up the sea breeze. In the afternoon we take a scenic hike around to the west of Shagur to explore tidal caves, ending up at Victoria Bay where there is a nice beach and a small bubbling hot spring emanating from a rocky outcrop on the sand. The hot spring empties into the sea which makes for a great mineral spa. (If you are not a hiker you may hitch a ride on the pickup boat direct to Victoria Bay instead). From Victoria Bay we return by speed boat to Shagur Village. Tonight we are treated to an cultural entertainment extravaganza with all manner of traditional singing, dancing and drama skits portraying the island legends – be prepared to split your sides over some great slapstick comedy even if you can’t understand a word of what’s going on! Dinner tonight will be an island-style feast. Overnight Polen guest house, Shagur village, Kairiru Island (basic twin or multi-share accommodation – all bedding and netting supplied - includes meals).
Muschu Island	DAY 7: THU 14 AUG 2008 WEWAK / MT HAGEN After a tropical breakfast we depart Shagur village for Wewak, stopping en route for snorkelling and beachwalking on neighbouring Muschu Island. A lunch of barbeque fish is provided at the village guest house here before continue our speed boat ride another 30 minutes to the beach opposite Wewak airport. Disembarking at the beach we carry our luggage across the road to the airport terminal and check in for our charter flight to Mt Hagen scheduled to depart at 14:00. We will be met in Mt Hagen by our local guide and transfer to the Poroman Hotel (or alternative). The rest of the afternoon is at leisure. It is a short walk to the shops but ask one of the hotel staff to accompany you if you wish to leave the hotel because the town will be very crowded due to the impending Show. Overnight Poroman Hotel (or alternative) includes breakfast
The chief of Paiya village and his three wives Asaro mudmen from Goroka performing at the Paiya singsing the day before the Mt Hagen show Part of our tour group 2006 at Paiya village	DAY 8: FRI 15 AUG 2008 MT HAGEN After breakfast, we will take a scenic drive out through typical highlands countryside to Paiya Village where a sing-sing is held the day before every Mt Hagen Show. Arriving early before the sing-sing commences you will be able to watch the performers adorning themselves with feathers, shells and ochre paints in preparation for dancing. This is an experience that is in many ways more fascinating than the sing-sing itself because it gives you an opportunity to meet the dancers before they perform. They will be happy to explain their traditional dress (bilas) to you and pose for photographs. About 20 dancing groups will perform, including highlands, Sepik, coastal and Islands cultures. Some of them are groups that will perform at the Mt Hagen Show tomorrow. The Paiya Village sing-sing includes lunch cooked at the village and a tour of the cultural displays in the village including the men’s spirit house and the ancestors skull house. The chief and his three wives will be introduced to you and some traditional customs like courtship behaviour and marriage rituals will be demonstrated. After the conculsion of the Paiya Village sing-sing, our group will take a drive through coffee and tea plantations of the fertile Waghi Valley to view the magnificent orchid gardens at Haus Poroman Lodge, about 20 minutes drive out of Mt Hagen town. Late in the afternoon, as Mt Hagen town fills and overflows with village people in town for the show, we return to the hotel – you might like to enjoy a quiet sundowner and a game of snooker by the crackling fire before dinner –cold nights here, in contrast to the muggy weather of the Sepik. Overnight Poroman Hotel, includes breakfast (Last year our entire tour group commented that they enjoyed the Paiya Village sing-sing even more than the Mt Hagen Show itself, because the village setting made the experience (and the photography) more natural and the smaller crowd from just the one village area was easy to socialise with. This was the first year that the Paiya Village sing-sing had been held the day before the Mt Hagen Show, and it was a real winner with visitors.)
People crowding arround the Mt Hagen show ground Mt Hagen show performers	DAY 9 SAT 16 AUG 2008 MT HAGEN At 8.00am we depart the hotel for the show grounds for an early arrival to take a look at the stalls and displays before settling into the grandstand before the major crowds arrive. Performances commence around 10am and wind down around 3pm. We will be seated in the grandstand with good views of the performance area and blanket permission to enter the performance area if you wish to take close-up photographs. Lunch is available at the show from the many food stalls – it will be standing-room-only in the showgrounds (a pickpocket’s paradise) so our guides will be available to gopher your lunch or escort you through the crowds to find what you want. Dedicated toilets for tourists are situated near the grandstand. Late afternoon, return to the hotel. Overnight Poroman Hotel (breakfast only included today). NB In previous years we found that the second day of the Mt Hagen Show (Sunday) features mainly the same dancing groups as the first day and visitors commented that they would have preferred to just attend one day of the Show and move on. We have decided to follow this advice from 2007 onwards so there will be only one day at the Show, plus the Paiya Village sing-sing the day before.
Daulo Pass near Goroka	DAY 10: SUN 17 AUG 2008 MT HAGEN / GOROKA While the bulk of the crowds are still thronging the second day of the Mt Hagen Show, our group will steal away by bus along the Highlands Highway to Goroka. This is one of the world's remarkable road journeys, 6 hours of varying landscapes featuring patchwork agrioculture, high montane forest and the rugged mountain peaks of the Chimbu province. A lunch stop will be made at the Kundiawa Hotel (pay as you go), with another 3 hours to complete the trip in the afternoon as we descend through the verdant Daulo Pass (a biodiversity hotspot) to the Asaro Valley and Goroka town. We check in at the Bird of Paradise Hotel (or alternative) and enjoy a short stroll around the artifiact stalls in the vicinity of the hotel before taking dinner (pay as you go) and retiring for the night. Overnight Bird of Paradise Hotel (or alternative) including breakfast.
Arch-roofed village house, Goroka Mehenave village, Henganofi District	DAY 11: MON 18 AUG 2008 GOROKA Today’s activity is a full day highlands village experience. A scenic drive along a bumpy track brings you to a rural village. Here, the local people farm the land to support themselves with food, and grow cash crops such as coffee and market vegetables to raise income to buy clothing and other needs, and pay school fees for their children. On arrival at the village you will be treated to a traditional welcome (have your camera ready!) and meet the village people. A small crowd of enthusiastic “guides” will show you around the village, including private homes, the village school, village church, and important village artifacts such as bride price ornaments and traditional money. You will be taken to the village gardens and shown how yams and other staple vegetables are cultivated. The spiritual connection between the village people and their gardens will be explained to you: there are many superstitions regarding the effect of people’s behaviour on the growth of the garden crops. Next you will observe your own lunch being prepared. Vegetables and some form of meat will be wrapped in leaves and cooked under hot stones in an earth oven known locally as a mumu. After cooking for two hours, the food is removed from the mumu and unwrapped. The food is very aromatic and tasty, although rather dry and is often taken with a bowl of boiled vegetable soup. After lunch you may choose between accompanying a group of men on a pig hunt, taking a scenic hike, wildlife-spotting in the nearby forest, or staying in the village and learning some of the local arts and crafts. A combination of these activities may be possible if time allows. Late in the afternoon you will be transferred back to Goroka town, having made a gamut of new friends. Overnight Bird of Paradise Hotel (or alternative). Today’s inclusive meals are breakfast and lunch.
Beach near Jais Aben Resort	DAY 12: TUE 19 AUG 2008 GOROKA / MADANG After an early breakfast, we drive down the scenic Ramu Highway from Goroka to Madang, stopping at the Yonki Hydro Electric Dam for refreshments picnic lunch en route (included). On arrival in Madang we check in at the Jais Aben Beach Resort about 20 minutes drive from the airport, hopefully in time for lunch (PAYG). Jais Aben is not a large, flashy Club Med-style resort, it is a small, cosy place which never fails to delight our visitors. If you have your scuba diving ticket, you can take an afternoon dive today with Aquaventures, a dive operator based at the resort. Reef and wreck diving is available, both shore-based and boat-based – you may have to go along with the scheduled dives for the day or if there are no larger groups in-house on the day you may get free choice of dive sites. If you are a snorkeller you can accompany a boat dive and snorkel over the reef while the divers go deep, or snorkel the fringing reef close to the resort. If you are not a water-baby, you can keep dry while you paddle a kayak along the shoreline and explore the nearby mangrove labyrinths, or engage in some serious beachwalking from the resort up to nearby coastal villages. The resort also has a swimming pool and patio perfect for lazy lunches. If the sea air is not your thing at all, you can opt for a trip to a nearby inland village with one of our guides, for a village tour and traditional style lunch. Your choice of activities is included in your package today. Lunch and dinner are pay-as-you-go. Overnight Jais Aben Resort, Madang (includes breakfast only – single supplement available)
Madang handicraft market	DAY 13: WED 20 AUG 2008 MADANG / PORT MORESBY This morning you may choose between non-diving water activities at Jais Aben Resort, or a Madang sightseeing tour. Our tour of Madang makes an early start and includes a visit to the Balek Wildlife Sanctuary and Sulfur Caves where the Pierce Brosnan movie “Robinson Crusoe” was filmed, the Omili flying fox cave and the historical Alexishafen mission. At 12:00 sharp we have lunch at the resort (pay as you go), pack up and depart for the airport. At 13:00 we check in for our afternoon flight to Port Moresby which departs at 14:30. On arrival in Port Moresby we check in at the Gateway Hotel. Our vehicle and driver is available for city sightseeing or artifact shopping if you are flying out early tomorrow. In the evening we share a final buffet dinner and hook up a multimedia projector for viewing some of our trip photographs over a glass of wine. Overnight Gateway Hotel, Port Moresby (or similar 3.5 star hotel - includes dinner and breakfast only, pay as you go for lunch – single supplement available). www.coralseashotels.com.pg
Old DC-3 on display at Airways Hotel, Jacksons Airport, Port Moresby	DAY 14: THU 21 AUG 2008 PORT MORESBY / FLY OUT Departing flights today: PX003/QF350 to Brisbane departs 0640 PX090/QF384 to Cairns departs 0925 PX392 to Singapore departs 15:25 CG100 to Cairns departs at 1700 If you are departing on an afternoon flight Ecotourism Melanesia vehicles and drivers are available for your last-minute touring, shopping and errands, before we farewell you at the airport. There may be time to visit the national museum. Also recommended is a trip to the PNG Art artifact showroom (okay it’s a tin shed) which has the largest range of artifacts, arts and crafts from all over the country. They will pack and ship overseas so you won’t need to carry stuff with you on the plane. To download this itinerary in Adobe Acrobat PDF format with list of tour inclusions and trip notes, click here