Culture tours for independent travellers.
See also our escorted small group tours which feature various cultural festivals
10 days 9 nights ex-Port Moresby
Goroka, Madang, Simbai, Sepik River, Kairiru Island
EM32 is our signature culture tour, a semi-guided package for independent travellers keen to experience the contrasting traditional cultures of Papua New Guinea. The itinerary features a number of semi-remote areas where people still practise traditional lifestyles albeit with a few Western imports like gardening tools and kerosene lamps. Accommodation on this tour is a blend of 3-star hotels and quaint village guest houses that offer basic but comfortable facilities and unbeatable opportunities to observe village life in situ. Local guides will coordinate your excursions and activities at each destination and accompany you as you explore this fascinating country. Our office in Port Moresby will monitor your itinerary, keeping in touch with you as you travel, and we are only a satellite phone call away if you need assistance.
Tattooed woman, Tufi
Huli wigmen, Tari
7 nights Tufi, Tari, Sepik River
Package operates Friday to Friday only.
Paclage available April to November only.
The itinerary avoids the usual tourist towns and brings you face to
face with three contrasting rural peoples of Papua New Guinea and the
environments in which they live:
- the coastal people of TUFI who live amongst stunning tropical fjords
formed by fingers over cooling lava from an erupting volcano thousands
of years ago
- the highlands people of TARI, a proud and colourful people with exotic
customs living in a pristine sub-tropical rainforest habitat, whose trademark
custom is the production of decorative men’s wigs made of human
hair.
- the riverine people of KARAWARI, a tributary of the Sepik River, whose
lives are dominated by the wide brown ribbon of water they inhabit, and
their animistic spiritual beliefs expressed through the exquisite artefacts
they produce to adorn their men’s spirit houses (Haus Tambaran).
The tour features award-winning wilderness lodges such as Ambua Lodge
(below) providing a high standard of remote-area accommodation.
EM2
Trobriand Islands
3 nights, 4 nights
or 7 nights.
The "islands of love" have a unique social system unlike anywhere else
in the world, based on the cultivation cycle of the staple food, the
yam. There are no resorts or hotels here, just a couple of quaint
old motels and
village
huts,
and
no
activities
for
tourists
apart from studying the people themselves. Package includes village tours
on Kiriwina Island and
Vakuta Island. Definitely a destination for cultural tourists only.
Destination info for Trobriand
Islands
EM56
Discover Goroka and Madang
4 nights
ex-Port Moresby.
Contrasts the highlands and coastal cultures.
7 nights ex-Port Moresby
Stay in village guest houses right next door to village neighbours as you discover the culture, lifestyle and spectacular environment enjoyed by the Tufi people.
EM3a
Middle Sepik Safari
7
nights ex-Wewak
The Middle Sepik villages are rich in animistic
cultural beliefs and produce a prolific range of cultural
artefacts such as wall masks, figurines, bilum bags, flutes, drums, implements,
body
decorations and bride-price shell money. Each village has its own unique
artistic style.
EM3d
Taste of the Sepik
4 nights ex-Wewak
This
short package takes you to Chimondo Village in the Lower Sepik
region,
where you will be able to take in a broad selection of Sepik River
experiences
in a short time, including riding the river in a motor canoe, viewing artisans
at work on carvings and other artefacts, inspect a Haus Tambaran (men's
spirit house), mix informally with the village people, observe the making
and cooking of the staple food, sago, and witness a Sepik style sing-sing
performance featuring all-traditional costume.
10 nights ex-Port Moresby
Daru, Balimo, Baimuru, Kikori, Kerema
Follow in the footsteps of Frank Hurley, Australian explorer, photographer and movie maker who visited this area in the 1920s and documented the local culture and art.
2 nights ex-Madang (extendable to Ramu River or Sepik River)
This package enables non-trekkers to visit the remote Kalam tribe and learn something of their culture and hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Based for two nights at the Kalam Guest House at Nugent village, about 30 minutes walk from Simbai airstrip, you will be able to take short walks (1-2 hours round trip) to satellite villages around the Simbai sub-district and enjoy short forays into the dense surrounding forest to see birds of paradise, furry mammals and exotic wild orchids.
The trip can be extended to the Ramu River by flying down to Aiome and taking a motor canoe trip down to Bogia or to the Sepik River by flying direct from Simbai to Timbunke.
Destination info for Simbai