THE KOKODA TRACK - experience the legend

See our 13-nights NORTH-SOUTH "Full Kokoda" package from $3414
See our 11-nights SOUTH-NORTH "Basic Kokoda" package from $3158
See our 7-nights SOUTH-NORTH "Fast Kokoda" package from $2843

See our Kokoda Track 2010 trek dates
See booking information
See feedback from past trekkers
Been there done that? Kokoda is a walk in the park compared to the BULLDOG TRACK.

SMALL GROUP TREKKING
Our environmentally friendly, historically inspiring and culturally stimulating small-group Kokoda walks are a low-key alternative to the large military-style groups of up to 100 trekkers and porters (carriers) that some commercial trekking companies take crashing along the Track.
Our small group treks appeal to discerning walkers who are seeking a more personal interaction with the local people and a greater understanding of the significance of the Kokoda Track that can only come with a slower paced, smell-the-roses type of trekking experience. We are particularly experienced in catering for the 40+ age group and we host a high proportion of female trekkers.
Our packages include everything at the PNG end. Just add on the best available airfare to Port Moresby or use up your frequent flyer points.
See 10 good reasons for walking the Kokoda Track with Ecotourism Melanesia.
 

WHAT IS THE KOKODA TRACK?
The 96km Kokoda Track is a rough, unmade pathway between Kokoda and Sogeri, two little townships on either side of the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges, a mountain chain running down the spine of New Guinea. The Track was first used in the late 1800s by mail runners, miners and planters - connecting Kokoda with the fledgling colonial town of Port Moresby.

The Track - and the prized airstrip at Kokoda - was the scene of bitter fighting in 1942 as the Japanese advanced towards Port Moresby. They were later pushed back to the beach heads at Buna, Gona and Sanananda. Over 600 Australian soldiers and thousands of Japanese died along the Kokoda Track (both in battle and from malaria and infection). Many more were lost at the beach heads. Most of the Australian casualties of the Kokoda Campaign now lie buried in Bomana War Cemetery outside Port Moresby (see left) where almost 4000 Commonwealth war heroes are laid to rest.

In 2002 Australian Prime Minister John Howard opened a new memorial at Isurava (see below left) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the most fierce of the battles along the Kokoda Track, the Battle of Isurava 26-29 August 1942. Private Bruce Kingsbury was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for heroic action during this battle. (Isurava Day is commemorated on 29 August and is included on one of our treks.)

In 2009 around 6000 Australians followed in the footsteps of our courageous diggers and walked the Kokoda Track. Some did the walk for the physical challenge but an increasing number are taking time out to do the walk as a rite of passage in the quest for cultural identity. Kokoda stands firmly alongside Gallipoli as an icon of Australian history.

 

TRACK OR TRAIL ?
You may have noticed both names Kokoda Track and Kokoda Trail in common use. We prefer to use the term Kokoda Track because campaign veterans that we have spoken to are adamant that in 1942 they always called it "the Track".

In 2006 we hosted two veterans who have been mates for 60 years: Ron Phillips and George Gwilliam (see left, being welcomed at Kokoda). They were gunners at Owers Corner in 1942. "We pumped 700 rounds into the Japanese position at Ioribaiwa Ridge until they retreated", they say. Historians put it that the Japanese had run out of supplies which made them "advance to the rear" but Ron and George reckon their shelling had a bit to do with it. They say they never heard it called it anything else but the Kokoda Track during their tour of duty in 1942. However over the years the term Kokoda Trail has also come into common use. The memorial gate at Owers Corner uses both.

A field gun identical to the one used by George and Ron is now on display at Owers Corner (see left). Another of these was in the process of being dragged up Imita Ridge by a hardy gun crew in September 1942 to get a better shot at Ioribaiwa Ridge when it was discovered that the Japanese had retreated from that position. The gun is believed to have been dismantled and buried somewhere at the base of Imita Ridge near the old Uberi village site.

THE WALK
The Kokoda Track can be traversed commencing from Kokoda at the northern end, or from Owers Corner at the southern end. Kokoda is a 30 minute flight from Port moresby while Owers Corner is about 2 hours drive.

Walking the Kokoda Track takes between 5 and 10 days depending on walking speed, although marathon runners have done it in less than 24 hours non-stop. The trek is physically demanding but aesthetically rewarding. Magnificent mountain landscapes are visible from vantage points along the Track. There is great plant diversity although not much obvious animal life within 200 metres of the main Track due to frequent human presence.

The walking distance is almost 100 km including a side trip to the Myola grasslands and much of this is steep climbs and descents which are punishing on the ankles and calf muscles going up, and tough on the knees coming down. The south-north walk beginning at Owers Corner is more challenging as the climb gradients are significantly steeper in this direction.

During wet weather the Track is muddy and slippery. Flash flooding can make river crossings tricky. Guides use axes and machetes to cut logs from the undergrowth and tie these together with ropes to make a crude bridge. Then of course after crossing the torrent you have to dismantle your log bridge so that the next group of walkers is not denied the experience :)

Most of the heavy rainfall is in the wet season from December to March, but here in the tropics there is regular rain throughout the year so there is no month when it can be guaranteed to be dry. In June 2004 which was supposed to be the middle of the dry season, there was a week of heaviest rain on the Kokoda Track in 50 years. One of our trekking groups was out there in the middle of it and they said it was very exciting (hmmm...)

Those who have walked the Track during wet weather often say they found it more meaningful as they were able to empathise with the young Aussie diggers who trudged through the same mud in very trying circumstances in 1942.

\

TREKKING WITH ECOTOURISM MELANESIA
Unlike some gung-ho trekking groups that you will meet on the Track who seem to think it is some kind of race, Ecotourism Melanesia operates moderately-paced treks suitable for physically fit mums, dads and grannies. This means our treks are a day or two longer than trips offered by some other trek operators but, we think, much more enjoyable. Our oldest trekkers so far were Rosalyn Hadley who turned 71 at Alola village in June 2008 and Malcolm and Rosemary Hay, both a sprite 74, who walked the Track in August 2008 leaving their porters eating dust. (All three were from Perth, I might add - must be something in the water...)

Our standard treks are based on only 6 hours walking a day, plus stops, and at this pace it takes 8 days to walk from north to south and 9 days to walk south to north (plus overnights in Port Moresby before and after). The south to north trek starting at Owers Corner has steeper climb gradients and takes an extra day.

Our trek leader sets a steady, sustainable pace that walkers with good physical fitness who have done their training can maintain without getting into difficulties. His "deputy" (the head porter) always walks at the back with the "rear guard" - the slow-pokes - and everybody always makes it to that day's destination by late afternoon at the latest. Nobody walks in the dark on our treks so leave your miner's head-lamp at home.

We find that our slower, "smell-the-roses" approach appeals to trekkers with a deeper interest in the Kokoda campaign and therefore our north-south package also features pre-trek battlefields tours around Buna, Gona, Popondetta and Kokoda. See our Kokoda Track 2010 open trek dates

OUR COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM FOCUS
Ecotourism Melanesia is a privately owned company founded by Aaron Hayes, an Australian teacher and psychologist who came to PNG in 1997 to work with the Education department. Aaron developed an interest in community-based tourism and saw its potential for putting cash into the pockets of poor village people and diverting them from environmentally damaging forms of income such as opening their land to logging and mining. In 2003 Aaron left the education sector to establish his own ecotourism company that aims to channel more visitors into rural areas of Papua New Guinea. Since then Ecotourism Melanesia has developed a wide range of soft adventure tours all over PNG that have a strong community tourism focus.

It is our company policy to support sustainable community-based ecotourism by not only "treading softly" on the environment and local culture, but also by creating employment and supporting local enterprise. We began operating small-group Kokoda treks in 2004 in response to requests from under-employed porters in Kokoda and under-patronised village guest houses along the Track. Previously most trekking companies launched their treks from Owers Corner, hired most of their porters from Sogeri, and tended to carry tents instead of sleeping in village guest houses. Over the last 6 years we have given preference to engaging porters from the remote Kokoda area and each year we design our trekking itineraries to maximise our patronage of the village guest houses, trekkers huts and private war relics collections ("museums") operated by locals along the Track.

Recently the commercial trekking industry along the Kokoda Track has become almost cynical with some companies operating huge treks comprising 50 trekkers and over 100 porters, crashing through the jungle like a herd of elephants and flattening large areas of vegetation where they camp. Participants on these military-style operations are given imported 24-hour ration packs to eat every day, trekkers and porters walk and camp separately and hardly talk to each other, and the whole experience is quite mechanical and anonymous. So many times our small-group trekkers have overheard the same complaint from people walking with these larger trekking groups:
"they told me I would be walking with a small group of 10 people but when I arrived I found that my "platoon" was actually part of a much larger "battalion" that camped together every night. I felt like I was just a serial number at a boot camp."

In contrast, Ecotourism Melanesia takes a low-key approach, leading smaller groups that have less physical impact on the environment and place less pressure on the resources of the local villages. Our limit of 12 trekkers per open trek (although we will take up to 20 walkers for private / corporate groups) facilitates a more intimate and personal experience of the Kokoda Track and our trek groups are always warmly welcomed in the villages that we pass through. We are small and innocuous, we pay cash to the village people for the accommodation and food they provide to our groups ... and we clean up after ourselves. All our hard rubbish is carried out, unlike some other trekking groups who apparently see no harm in filling up the village garbage pits with tonnes of empty cans...

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD ON OUR TREKS
Instead of camping in tents, wherever possible our trek parties sleep in the trekkers huts and village guest houses operated by local people along the Track. This makes a big contribution to the village micro-economy because the guest house operators in turn spend money within the village on labour, bush materials for building, and fresh garden food to feed their guests.

Instead of taking the easy way out and doling out 24-hour ration packs, we engage village guest house operators to supply and cook local food for dinner, which we supplement with our own customised menu of camp food. Many of our trekkers say the village food most evenings is the high point of each walking day - a variety of tropical fruit and vegetables cooked in local style, with some savoury pasta or spicy noodles on the side for a little zest.

When overnighting at bush campsites our porters prepare camp food such as tinned curry with coconut rice, spaghetti bolognese, fried tinned ham with dried peas and carrots and Deb powdered potato, and so on depending on what is available in Port Moresby supermarkets. The porters also cook porridge, damper or pancakes for breakfast which is washed down with real campfire billy tea. Trekkers often join in the meal preparation which makes for great social interaction with the porters.

For lunch we provide packaged food including crackers, tinned tuna or salmon or ham, cheese, dried fruit and a bit of beef jerky to keep the carnivores happy. The porters prefer to eat their local-style food so don't be surprised if you see them tucking in to coconut rive instead of porridge at breakfast time, but everyone in the trek party is well fed and you won't need to bring your own food except for your favourite munchies for between meals. Fresh fruit is often available from little village markets as you walk along as well.

Trekkers with special dietary requirements can be catered for. We'll either supply special food items for you or modify the whole trek menu to avoid your vices. Previously we have modified trek menus to accommodate vegetarians, diabetics and people with food allergies.


EQUIPMENT AND PORTERAGE
We provide an experienced local guide to lead each trek group, and a team of porters to carry the food and equipment that we supply - which includes tarpaulins, ropes, machetes, lanterns, cooking gear, camp cutlery, crockery, two-way radio, satellite phone and tropical first aid kit. (Apart from your personal stuff, you only need to bring your own sleeping bag and hikers mat or light-weight inflatable mattress). We also supply the backpacks that our porters carry so you do not need to bring a huge backpack with you.

On the trek, each of our porters carries a backpack with a 20 kg load, comprising 10kg of food and equipment that we supply, plus 10 kg of a trekker's personal gear. This 10 kg of porterage is provided free to our trekkers as part of our trek packages. If you pack frugally and plan to carry a small day pack for your water bottle and Minties, you won't need to hire a personal porter to carry your gear at additional cost. However the 10 kg limit is strictly enforced and there will be a weigh-in when loading the porters backpacks.

If you do plan to carry a day pack, keep it as light as possible (no more than 5 kg). It's a long hard walk and you'll enjoy it more if you're not teetering over backwards as you scramble up steep inclines with a heavy pack on your back.


OUR GUIDES AND PORTERS
Many visitors from Australia come to Papua New Guinea specifically to walk the Kokoda Track, and often the guides and porters they walk with are the only Papua New Guineans they have the opportunity to get to know during their visit. While walking along the Track and talking around the fire at night, trekkers are able to learn a lot about the culture and lifestyle of PNG through interaction with their guides and porters. Time and again our clients feed back to us that the highlight of their trek was the camaraderie and bonding with the porters. There are often tears at the end. Our guides and porters characterise the Kokoda Track. Without them, it's just another bushwalk.

Our senior guide who leads most of our treks is PHILIP ARARI. Philip is a high school graduate, speaks fluent English and is trained in first aid and radio procedures. He has a good knowledge of the history of the Track and is able to explain what-happened-where as you walk along. Philip makes daily radio contact with Ecotourism Melanesia's office in Port Moresby while on-trek. Philip's wife and children stay home at Kokoda while he is away trekking, but they also keep in touch via radio messages.

We have a pool of 30 porters that we use for our treks in various combinations. Most of our porters are from the Kokoda area and many of them are descendents of the WW2 carriers dubbed "fuzzy wuzzy angels". They are a mixture of personalities, some quiet and some outgoing, but all exhibit the typical humility of the Kokoda people. Notwithstanding, their humorous streak brings plenty of laughs along the way and their talent for singing with the ukulele provides for great entertainment around the campfire - the porters will teach you some local songs which you'll find yourself humming away long after you return home.

Our porters all speak and understand basic English. The main communication problem (apart from Ocker humour which even Americans don't understand) occurs when Australians ask questions using the double negative format or statement-question format. Papua New Guineans invariably respond with what seems to be the wrong answer.
Trekker asks porter, after a meal: "You aren't still hungry, are you?"
Porter: "Yes".
But he means no. He is agreeing with the statement "You aren't still hungry" whereas the trekker is expecting a response to the question "Are you?"
It's best to ask questions directly ie "Are you still hungry?".

Sadly, the rapid growth in employment for village men living along the Kokoda Track has also had some detrimental effects. Alcohol abuse in PNG is similar to that seen in aboriginal communities in Australia (ie binge drinking by those who can least afford it) and we have observed many Kokoda porters (not ours, cross fingers...) spending their entire wages in Port Moresby nightclubs and Popondetta bottle shops. We at Ecotourism Melanesia don't like to see our porters' hard-earned money go down the drain. We are keen to see them take their wages home to their villages to support their families. Feedback from our trekkers indicates that you also like to feel that your contibution as a tourist to the local economy is benefitting the local community and not exacerbating social problems.

Ecotourism Melanesia is dealing with this situation by (a) giving recruitment preference to porters who make a commitment not to spend their wages on alcohol (b) providing supervised accommodation at our company compound in Port Moresby during between-trek layovers, with an endless supply of Bruce Willis and Schwarzenegger videos to keep the guys occupied while they are resting up (c) applying a zero-alcohol policy for our porters before, during and immediately after our treks - to avoid generating the spark that starts the fire, so to speak.

This may sound paternalistic but when we bring rural village men into the big city we believe we have a responsibility to both them and their families to look after them and send them home with a full pay packet and without HIV. We will appreciate your support of our policies on the ground, eg please don't invite porters back to your hotel for drinks after the trek. Only a small amount of alcohol is supplied for trekkers-only at the meals we host before and after the trek.

We operate back-to-back North-South and South-North treks in order to reduce operating costs by not having to fly porters back to Kokoda after their trek. This system helps us keep our prices down and also satisfies our porters' preference to walk two treks at a time to maximise their earnings.


Maclaren Hiari MBE


Maj. Bruce Copeland

Military history advisors
Maclaren Hiari MBE is the founder of the Kokoda-Buna Historical Foundation and lives in Popondetta. He always accompanies all our trekking groups to Buna, Gona, Awala and Kokoda to provide on-site briefings on the Kokoda campaign. Maclaren is a retired history academic who hails from the Popondetta area. His research has focused on the role played by the Papuan people in the Pacific War, including the Papuan carriers (fuzzy wuzzy angels), Papuan infantrymen and Papuans forced into the service of both the Australians and Japanese as labourers, interpreters and informants.
Due to age and infirmity Maclaren is not able to accompany trekking groups along the Track.

 

Major Bruce Copeland (Australian Army, retired) lives in Port Moresby and is a local expert on the Kokoda Campaign. Although now in his sixties he is still an active trekker and available to accompany trekking groups along the Track as military history advisor for an additional fee of AUD$200 per trekker.

 


Did you know? This famous photo was not taken on the Kokoda Track but just outside Siremi village near Buna. The fuzzy wuzzy angel was Raphael Oimbari, from Buna, and he was taking Private "Dick" Whittington to a field hospital. Did you also know the soldier was not Australian but American?
Historical information
As you walk (or climb, struggle, wince, mince or drag yourself) along the Track your group will become spread out. It's single file most of the way and the slightly faster walkers get ahead and the slow pokes form the "rear guard". Your group may only "congeal" a few times a day at defined rest stops or lunch break and again in the afternoon when you reach your overnight destination. This makes it quite difficult for your trek leader or a military history advisor to brief all the trekkers with historical information while walking along. Inevitably the people walking closest to the guide get all the information while the others walking in front or behind don't get the same benefit. Ecotourism Melanesia's answer to this problem has been to produce a a small booklet called the "TREKKER'S GUIDE TO THE KOKODA CAMPAIGN" written by Major Bruce Copeland our military history advisor. So even if he is not there in person on the Track with you, you can still benefit from his extensive knowledge of the Campaign. The booklet tells the story of Kokoda location by location as you walk along. We have printed two versions of the booklet, one for north-south and one for south-north. As you walk each section of the Track and stop at each village or vantage point, the booklet provides a few paragraphs to fill you in on what happened here, and points out things to look for such as relics, foxholes, memorial plaques or views of other battle sites.

2010 TREK PACKAGES
In 2010 Ecotourism Melanesia is offering 24 open treks which anybody can sign up for. When you sign up for an open trek you will join other like-minded walkers (who see it as a journey not a race) to tackle the Track in a group of up to 12 trekkers plus up to 20 porters. If you have your own group of 10 people you can close off an open trek and make it a private trek with up to 20 walkers. Private treks can also operate on dates of your choosing as long as there is no clash with other bookings. For safety and logistical reasons we only handle up to two groups on the Track at a time.

In 2010 we will be operating our North-South and South-North treks as slightly different packages:

 

Our 13-NIGHTS NORTH-SOUTH "FULL KOKODA" PACKAGE EM10A FROM $3414 includes first and last nights in Port Moresby, a pre-trek visit to the beach-head villages of Buna and Gona, and 8 nights trekking. This gives the complete picture of the Kokoda Campaign from the Japanese landings in July 1942 through to the point where they were turned back a few months later at Ioribaiwa Ridge near Owers Corner. Trekkers consistently say that visiting Buna and Gona is not to be missed. These beach-head villages get less visitors than the main Kokoda Track and are able to provide better food, accommodation and traditional sing-sing (dance) performances that you won't see along the Track itself. The trek itself during The Full Kokoda package is a moderately-paced 8-night walk aimed at fit mums and dads. There is only a short 3-hour climb from Kokoda to Deniki on the first day which enables you to get your legs in gently before tackling 6 hour walking days after that.
BRIEF ITINERARY:
Day 1: arrive Port Moresby, short city tour and overnight hotel

Day 2: visit Bomana War Cemetery, fly to Popondetta, overnight Buna
Day 3: tour Buna, Sanananda and Gona, overnight Popondetta (hotel)

Day 4: road trip to Kokoda via Awala, overnight Kokoda
Day 5: Morning: look around Kokoda, Afternoon: hike to Deniki
Day 6: hike to isurava Memorial
Day 7: hike to Templetons Crossing
Day 8: hike to Myola Junction
Day 9: hike to Efogi
Day 10: hike to Manari
Day 11: hike to Naoro
Day 12: hike to ua-Ule Creek
Day 13: hike to Owers Corner, road transfer to Port Moresby, overnight hotel
Day 14: fly out
See full itinerary and prices for EM10A. See trek dates

Our 11-NIGHTS SOUTH-NORTH "BASIC KOKODA" PACKAGE EM10B FROM $3158 comprises 9 nights on the Track and 2 nights in Port Moresby. The South-North trek is a bit more challenging and requires an extra day in order to keep the walking at 6 hours a day. This trek does not include Buna and Gona because walkers usually find that by the time they reach Kokoda they are too tired to take in any sightseeing.
BRIEF ITINERARY:
Day 1: arrive Port Moresby, short city tour and overnight hotel
Day 2: visit Bomana War Cemetery, road transfer to Owers Corner, hike to Goodwater
Day 3: hike to Ioribaiwa
Day 4: hike to Naoro
Day 5: hike to Manari
Day 6: hike to Efogi
Day 7: hike to Myola Junction
Day 8: hike to Templetons Crossing
Day 9: hike to Alola
Day 10: hike to Deniki
Day 11: hike to Kokoda, fly to Port Moresby and overnight hotel
Day 12: fly out
See full itinerary and prices for EM10B. See trek dates

To meet the requirements of fitter walking groups we are also offering a
7-NIGHTS "FAST KOKODA" PACKAGE EM10C FROM $2483

This itinerary can only be booked by private groups and more stringent fitness criteria apply. The Fast Kokoda package involves 6 nights trekking in either north-south or south-north direction (your choice) plus one night in Port Moresby.
Due to flight schedules this package can only operate Sunday to Sunday, choose your own date.


PACKAGE PRICES
Each of our standard trekking packages EM10A EM10B and EM10C offers pricing options for different types of hotel accommodation in Port Moresby, and quotes for extra hotel nights for those who will arrive early or depart late due to flight bookings. It's OK for members of the same open or private trek group to book different accommodation options. The hotels we offer are all located close to each other.
Note that our trek packages include almost everything at the PNG end but do not include airfares from Australia. See itineraries for full list of package inclusions.

Discounts and surcharges
Our private group discount for 10-20 pax is 10% off the published package prices (OR group organiser goes free of charge).
Anzac Day treks attract a 20% surcharge on package prices. Any applicable group discount applies AFTER the surcharge has been added.

Small private groups less than 10 pax can still close off one of our published trek dates as a private trek but a surcharge will apply to all trekkers in the group:
For a group of 9 trekkers the standard package prices apply - no 10% discount.
For a group of 8 trekkers there is a 10% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 7 trekkers there is a 20% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 6 trekkers there is a 30% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 5 trekkers there is a 40% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 4 trekkers there is a 50% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 3 trekkers there is a 60% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 2 trekkers there is a 70% surcharge on published prices.
For a group of 1 trekker there is a 80% surcharge on published prices.
NB For less than 5 trekkers charter flights are uneconomical and trek dates must coincide with scheduled flights to/from Kokoda.
NB The above surcharges also apply to small private treks booked on other preferred dates.

TAILORED PRIVATE TREK PACKAGES
If you have a private group that requires customised dates or special arrangements, we can handle just about anything as long as your group members have the required fitness for what you are trying to do.

However please note that our treks always include guide, porters and supplies: we do not offer "guide-only" services for walkers who want to bring and carry their own supplies etc as we believe this not only defeats our aim of providing employment for porters but puts us in an awkward position as the trek "operator" if things go wrong due to D.I.Y. hikers bringing insufficent supplies, inappropriate equipment etc or when somebody has an accident and there are no porters to carry him out.

FITNESS REQUIREMENTS
It isn't Mount Everest and you don't have to be an Olympic athlete to walk the Kokoda Track. We've been surprised by the number of over- and underweight people who have sailed through. It's more about your cardiovascular fitness than your size or weight. One very large gentleman of about 150kg who we thought would never make it came through with flying colours. His secret? "Slow and steady wins the race", plus eating rice with the porters at breakfast time for extra carbohydrate.

However it certainly is a tough walk, and most trekkers say it is the hardest (but most rewarding) thing they have done in their lives. You must undertake some serious uphill/downhill hiking training for a couple of months before you attempt this walk (see trip notes at bottom of itineraries for details). Due to the increasing number of trekkers getting into difficulties on the Kokoda Track in recent times (not ours, touch wood...), we now require that trekkers pass a cardiovascular stress test and get full medical clearance from their doctor before doing the walk. We will also ask you to sign a declaration that you have done the minimum recommended number of hours of pre-trek training .

GETTING HERE
PNG now has two international airlines operating services to Port Moresby from Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns. You can find flight schedules and make online bookings for Air Niugini at www.airniugini.com.pg and for Airlines PNG at www.apng.com.
Some Air Niugini services are code-shared by Qantas
Airlines PNG international services are operated by Pacific Blue

 

BOOKING PROCEDURE
To secure a place on an open trek, or to book a private trek, select your preferred trek date from our Kokoda trek dates 2010 page (or choose your own preferred date in the case of private treks) and send us an e-mail with the names of proposed trekkers. We will then send you an invoice for the trek and you will need to remit 20% of the invoiced amount as your deposit. After payment of your deposit, your trek booking is secured. The balance of your payment is due 8 weeks (2 calendar months) before the trek begins. Booking conditions are detailed on our Kokoda Track booking information page and in our Kokoda trekking contract which you must download, print out, sign and return to us by fax or mail.

To discuss your plans for walking the Kokoda Track, or to request an invoice for your trek, e-mail us: ecomel@online.net.pg

MORE INFORMATION ON THE KOKODA TRACK
Articles
*Published in "Paradise", the in-flight magazine of Air Niugini
Mainland Invasion (the Japanese advance in Papua)
Victory in Papua New Guinea - the story of Kokoda
Along the Kokoda Track

Recommended books
"Kokoda Trek" by Clive Baker

This book is all about modern day trekking of the Kokoda Track rather than the military history. A useful day to day guide to what you'll see and do during the walk. First published about 15 years ago and recently updated. Available by mail order from Australian Military History Publications
13 Veronica Place, Loftus NSW 2232
e-mail warbookshop @ bigpond.com www.warbooks.com.au

Recommended videos
"The Kokoda Challenge: A Walker's Guide to the Kokoda Trail"
A recently produced video with footage of most sections of the trail, track notes and map, advice on gear and getting fit. Includes a promo for various trekking companies including Ecotourism Melanesia at the end.
POM Productions 2007
www.kokodaguide.com.au

WANT TO SEE MORE OF PNG?
Talk to us about a few days before or after your Kokoda trek at fabulous TUFI - a complete PNG holiday experience in one little parcel. Stay in a native style hut on the beach or spend a few nights at the boutique Tufi Resort which offers world class scuba diving and snorkelling. Tufi has it all - breathtaking fjord scenery, land and sea activities, beautiful villages, spectacular sing-sing performances featuring locals wearing their unique tapa cloth costumes and brightly coloured bird of paradise plumes.
See also our complete range of tour packages all over Papua New Guinea.

CONTACT US
Ecotourism Melanesia Ltd
Lot 25 Lokua Avenue, Boroko
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
(Postal address: PO Box 531 Gordons NCD)
Phone & Fax (+675) 340 5066 Mobile (+675) 686 8917 (all hours)
E-mail ecomel@online.net.pg