Papua New Guinea
Eco-tours

EM206 TUFI CULTURE FESTIVAL AND PAPUAN GULF MASK FESTIVAL TOUR 2007
- 10 nights Tufi, Kerema, Baimuru, Balimo (escorted tour group, maximum 16 pax)
This expeditionary tour is the first of its kind to be offered in Papua New Guinea. We sample three contrasting Papuan cultures (Tufi, Papuan Gulf, Gogodala) and visit remote villages way off the tourist trail… off any trail in fact. Although the disadvantage of small-group expeditionary travel is the inevitable high overhead costs, the reward is the opportunity to observe and experience the rapidly evolving lifestyles of rural Papuan peoples that the rest of the world has forgotten … or perhaps never discovered in the first place.

The cost of this tour will depend on the number of bookings, due to the different sized aircraft and boats required to be chartered for a smaller vs larger group
All-inclusive tour cost 6-8 pax USD$ 5490 pp
All-inclusive tour cost 12-16 pax USD$ 4350 pp


To download this itinerary in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, click here

Jackson's International Airport, Port Moresby


Tufi fjords
Tainabuna village guest house


Dinner


Typical village style accommodation


DAY 1: FRI 08 JUNE 2007 PORT MORESBY / TUFI
Arrive Port Moresby on PX393 from Singapore at 0540 (or arrive the day before on flights from Australia and overnight).
Ecotourism Melanesia staff will meet and greet you and transfer you to the charter terminal for your one-hour charter flight to Tufi.
Tufi is a visually stunning area of PNG with unique fjordland geography. The fjords were created thousands of years ago by fingers of lava running into the seas from an erupting Mt Victory. The people of this area are culturally rich with an exotic traditional dress and energetic customary dances. The coral reefs around Tufi are pristine and easily accessible.
At Tufi airfield we will be met by a delegation from our host village and escorted on a walking tour of the Tufi government station, then down to the waterfront. A speed boat is waiting to transfer us to Tainabuna Village.
Tainabuna is a tiny village with just a few families, one of which has built a guest house large enough to accommodate groups. The guest house sits on a spit of beach apart from the main village and is open to cool seas breezes. Large trees overhang the beach, perfect for relaxing on the shaded sands. Bliss.
A late breakfast of tropical fruit and freshly made scones is served and then we have the rest of the day to enjoy this delightful little slice of paradise.
Available activities:
- walking tour of Tainabuna village and surrounds
- paddle your own outrigger canoe around the sheltered inlet
- walk along the beach, partly shaded by overhanging trees
- snorkel on the fringing reef
- line fishing from a canoe (great fun at night too)
- relax on the shaded beach right outside the guest house door
- sun yourself in a chair
- sit in the breeze-house up on the lookout point and watch canoes and boats pass by on their way to/from Tufi
- go for a hike up on the ridges between the fjords (rainforest, grasslands, birds and butterflies, great views of the coast, pass through hamlets and greet the locals)
- let the experts paddle you on a canoe ride up the fjord to see basalt cliffs and cascading waterfalls
You’ll fall in love with this place. The sheltered fjords are wonderfully safe (no sharks, marine stingers or sea snakes), the water is calm and warm (no dangerous currents or sink-holes) and flora and fauna both above and below the waterline is spectacular.
Lunch and dinner are served when we are ready – lots of seafood and local vegetables washed down with coconut juice.
After dinner our hosts will demonstrate some of their local dances, songs and customs. All by the light of Tilly lamps and the bonfire – no electricity here.
Overnight Tainabuna Village Guest House (twin-share dormitory-style accommodation, sand floor, bedding and mosquito net supplied, bathe in nearby stream, washbasin with jug of water in room, sit-down outhouse toilets, complimentary fruit, coconut juice and tea/coffee available 24 hours, all meals and activities included).


Cultural performance at Tufi Culture Festival
Traditional rope making, Tufi

DAY 2: SAT 09 JUNE 2007 TUFI
06:00 Tropical breakfast and morning beach walk.
07:00 We board our speed boat for a 30-min transfer to Kofure Village, the host village for the Tufi Culture Festival.
There will be a full day program of cultural performances, demonstrations of traditional cultural practices, and preparation and serving of traditional foods.
We return mid-afternoon to Tainabuna in time for some walking, paddling, fishing, snorkelling or napping before nightfall.
Tonight is choir night and the village people will sing some of their traditional and religious songs. The use of Melanesian harmony in their singing is beautiful.
The children are delightful when they sing and do actions.
Overnight Tainabuna Village Guest House


Kofure village, host of the Tufi Culture Festival


Tufi Dive Resort

DAY 3: SUN 10 JUNE 2007 TUFI
06:00 Tropical breakfast and morning beach walk.
07:00 Today we respect the village people’s tradition of religious attendance by laying low until church is out. We are of course welcome to attend the morning service with our hosts: the Anglican Church is the dominant denomination here.
Otherwise, sleep in, laze on the beach, sip tea and nibble on fruit, climb to the ridge top for some morning photography, or write some postcards home.
12:00 Light lunch and then transfer by speed boat to Kofure Village for an afternoon of activities at the Tufi Culture Festival.
17:00 10 minute speed boat transfer to the Tufi Dive Resort.
This evening we will have dinner at the Tufi Dive Resort. A tropical buffet is served and the bar is open. An interesting range of books and souvenirs are available for sale at the reception desk. The swimming pool is available for an evening dip and we will squeeze the Resort for access to a day room that we can use to take a hot shower (yes!) before returning to the village.
20:00 Speed boat transfer in the dark from Tufi back to Tainabuna.
Overnight Tainabuna Village Guest House


Beach walk at Tufi


Tufi Airstrip


Arriving back in Port Moresby

 

AY 4: MON 11 JUNE 2007 TUFI / KEREMA
The Tufi Cultural Festival continues today but we shall sneak away to new horizons.
06:00 Breakfast
06:30 Time for a last beach walk, swim, paddle, hill hike, snorkel etc enjoying the beautiful tropical environment of Tufi (well, if it’s not raining…)
09:00 Clean up, pack up and say farewell to our hosts: a goodbye song from the village people will be obligatory.
09:30 Depart Tainabuna by speed boat for Tufi.
10:30 Check in at Tufi airfield for our charter flight
11:00 Depart Tufi
12:00 Arrive Port Moresby charter terminal and transfer to the domestic terminal.
12:30 Check in for our flight to Kerema. (Packed lunch supplied by Ecotourism Melanesia)
13:30 Airlines PNG flight CG360 departs for Kerema, arrives 14:25 (depending on numbers, we may take a charter flight)
We are greeted by our hosts from Karama village and escorted down to the foreshore where an open speed boat is waiting.
Water transfer from Kerema airfield to Karama Village (1 hour). On arrival we check in at the Karama Village Guest House and our hosts will show us around.
Karama is also a coastal village but located on a black sand beach with mangrove labyrinths nearby. The inland is low and swampy, dominated by stands of sago palm which yield the staple food, sago starch.
We will have time to explore the village environment before sundown, when the mosquitoes come out and we will take refuge in the guest house where the smoke from the cooking fires keeps insects at bay.
Overnight Karama Village Guest House (twin-share dormitory-style accommodation, bark floor, bedding and mosquito nets supplied, bathe in nearby stream or outdoor rainwater tank shower, washbasin with jug of water in room, sit-down outhouse toilets, complimentary fruit, coconut juice and tea/coffee available 24 hours, all meals and activities included)


Papuan Gulf Mask Festival 2006

DAY 5: TUE 12 JUNE 2007 PAPUAN GULF MASK FESTIVAL, KARAMA VILLAGE
06:00 Breakfast and morning walk on the beach
08:00 Day 1 of the Papuan Gulf Mask Festival. This will be only the 3rd time this festival has been held in recent times. Some government officials will attend and there will be some speeches to welcome visitors and open the event, then performances will get under way.
Most of the mask dances and tumbuan dances will take place on the black sand beach. A variety of rarely-displayed Papuan masks will be displayed and used in dances. There will be ample opportunities to mingle with dancers, mask artisans, old people who know the traditional legends and young people who are also enjoying them for the first time. It is unlikely that any other tourists will be in attendance: only our group.
At lunchtime we return to the guest house for lunch and rest.
The festival continues in the afternoon. Apart from the mask displays there will also be sports events, choirs and string bands, children’s activities and displays of traditional activities like making sago. You can circulate around these activities, talk with individuals artisans and performers about their dances, masks and village traditions, or take a bush walk or beach walk (followed by a parade of village kids longer than the tail of Halley’s Comet, no doubt…)
Overnight Karama Village Guest House

 


Eveifiru villagers performing the jou ori mask dance

 

DAY 6: WED 13 JUNE 2007 PAPUAN GULF MASK FESTIVAL, KARAMA VILLAGE / BAIMURU
06:00 Breakfast and morning walk on the beach
08:00 Day 2 of the Papuan Gulf Mask Festival.
12:00 Return to guest house for lunch, pack up and check out.
13:30 Depart Karama Village by speed boat for Kerema.
14:00 Check in at Kerema Hotel
15:00 Visit to Kerema Cultural Centre to view displays of Papuan Gulf cultural artefacts
17:00 Walk around Kerema town, stop at the general store and return to hotel.
18:00 Dinner at the hotel and retire for the evening
Overnight Hotel Kerema (2-star twin accommodation including dinner and breakfast)


1920s


Inside the long house


Frank Hurley purchasing artifacts from the people


One of Hurley's classic photograph taken inside the long house

 

DAY 7: THU 14 JUNE 2007 KEREMA / BAIMURU
06:00 Check out of Hotel Kerema and walk down to the airstrip (baggage follows in the back of a truck).
07:15 Airlines PNG flight from Kerema to Baimuru
07:45 Arrive Baimuru and walk to Baimuru Lodge for check-in and breakfast.
08:30 Today and tomorrow we go in search of Papuan Gulf culture and art in the villages of the Pie River and Purari River delta. This is the area visited by Australian explorer and photographer Frank Hurley in the early 1920s. Hurley collected (and apparently stole) cultural artefacts many of which ended up in museums, and took classic photographs and film footage for his documentary “Pearls and Savages” which was hailed as a sensation at the time. Hurley spent most time in the Kaimare village area which we shall attempt to visit, depending on the weather and the situation on the ground on the day.
Other villages in this area also feature a culture of men’s spirit houses (long houses), dancing masks and painted ancestor boards. We will travel in motorised longboats with local guides. At villages we visit we will be welcomed and shown around the village, and the elders will talk to us about their customs. There will be opportunities to purchase cultural artefacts - these will mainly be modern creations not aged pieces (although we may get lucky).
Our aim will be to see how the culture and lifestyle of the village people in this area have changed since Hurley’s photographic documentation in the early 1920s.
[Digitised copies of his works are available on the website of the National Library of Australia's negative collection at <http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an11546686>. To view the images from "Pearls and Savages", go to <http://www.nla.gov.au/catalogue/pictures/> and search for the string as title/creator.]
We have three planned destinations for our two-days of expeditions:
- up the Pie River to Ipigo village
- up the Wame River ( a tributary of the Pie) to Kapuna Village
- down the Pie River to its estuary where Kaimare Island and Kaimare village are located.
Overnight Baimuru Lodge (all meals included).

 

 

 


 

 


Baimuru rvier transport

DAY 8: FRIDAY 15 JUNE 2007 BAIMURU
Our second day of expeditions by motorised longboat in the Pie River area, as outlined above.
Overnight Baimuru Lodge (all meals included).

 


Gogodala canoe race Balimo


Balimo kundu dancers displaying their skills


Balimo ladie dancers with split cane sticks

 

DAY 9: SATURDAY 16 JUNE 07 BAIMURU / BALIMO
08:00 Breakfast and check out of Baimuru Lodge. Walk to airstrip.
10:30 Board Airlines PNG flight to Balimo via Kikori.
12:00 Arrive Balimo and walk from airstrip to Balimo Guest House for check-in and lunch.
Balimo is the district centre for the Gogodala people. It comprises a government office, a small hospital run by the Baptist mission, and a few trade stores. The Gogodala people live in surrounding villages.
The Gogodala tribe live in an aquatic environment; for much of the year their lands and villages are flooded and they move about by canoe. The Gogodala have a rich cultural tradition centred on animistic religious beliefs. Each clan has an animal totem and produces artifacts which depict the totem: masks, figurines, weapons and even cooking implements. The Gogodala artistic style is unique in Papua New Guinea and Gogodala artifacts are sought-after in the handicraft shops of Port Moresby.
13:00 Tour Gogodala Cultural Centre and Long House, see war canoe under construction and witness Gogodala cultural performance. Water transfer to local village to visit village homes and see totems in situ.
18:00 Dinner and retire.
Overnight Balimo Guest House


Very old king size hand drum, Balimo
Nobody knows who made it, long ago.


Touching down at Port Moresby Jacksons Airport

 

DAY 10: SUNDAY 17 JUNE 07 BALIMO / PORT MORESBY
06:00 Breakfast
06:30 Water transport to another local village for brief tour.
11:00 Wait at the Balimo airstrip for diverted Airlines PNG flight to Port Moresby via Kikori and Kerema, arriving 15:00 approx. If time allows, a visit to the PNG Art artifacts warehouse to purchase any additional items of interest. (Closes at 16:30)
Transfer to Gateway Hotel and check in.
Tonight we enjoy a farewell dinner together and a slide show of photos taken on the trip.
Overnight Gateway Hotel (twin-share premier room, includes buffet dinner and drinks, full breakfast)


Bomana War Cemetery

DAY 11: MONDAY 18 JUNE 07 PORT MORESBY / FLY OUT
 Today we farewell you as you depart on your international flight:
PX90/QF384 departs for Cairns at 09:30
CG200 departs for Brisbane at 14:00
PX392 departs for Singapore at 15:30
CG100 departs for Cairns at 17:00
If you are booked on an afternoon flight we will provide a half-day tour of Port Moresby including city sights, the national museum and art gallery, the Bomana War Cemetery and/or a visit to a peri-urban village.

 




 





 

 

 

 
EM206 ITINERARY-TOUR COST                                                                                                               Page up

PARTICULARS

COST

Price per person 11 days 10 nights
including internal flights

The cost of this tour will depend on the number of bookings, due to the different sized aircraft and boats required to be chartered for a smaller vs larger group
All-inclusive tour cost 6-8 pax USD$ 5490 pp
All-inclusive tour cost 12-16 pax USD$ 4350 pp