When comparing the cost of Ecotourism Melanesia's trekking packages with those advertised by other operators, please bear in mind that:

- our treks are ex-Port Moresby and do not include international airfares, so be sure to compare our rates with ex-Port Moresby rates offered by other trekking operators

- trek packages sold in Australia may be liable for 10% GST whereas if you purchase your package directly from an operator in PNG like Ecotourism Melanesia no tax applies.

- different packages have different durations - try to compare packages with the same number of nights

- our treks do not include Australian military history guides, so should be compared in price to the "self-guided" or "PNG-guided" treks offered by other operators. Our treks are led by a fit, experienced Papua New Guinean native guide from Kokoda, a descendent of the fuzzy wuzzy angels, who knows the Kokoda Track like the back of his hand and has excellent relationships with the porters under his leadership and the landowners and village people en route. He has a good knowledge of the wartime events on the Track although he probably couldn't tell you Col Ralph Honner's middle name or General Tubby Allen's birth date. He is not a retired army officer with a handlebar moustache, which some other trekking companies might throw into their packages and charge a premium for. We think that if you read up on the history before you arrive, our PNG guide can fill in the gaps for you by showing what-happened-where and you will come out the other end with a pretty good appreciation of how the Kokoda campaign unfolded during 1942.

- our trek packages INCLUDE mandatory shared personal porterage of 8kg. Other companies charge extra for personal porterage (sole porter or shared porter). In the past we had too many problems with trekkers who thought they could carry their own pack but later found they couldn't manage and by that time it was too late to recruit an extra porter after the trek had already commenced, and food porters ended up carrying trekkers gear on top of their food packs which was unfair. So now we provide 8kg of personal porterage as an integral part of the package on a use-it-or-lose-it basis. We are the ONLY company doing this. If you pack sensibly and leave the kitchen sink at home, 8kg of gear to give to one of our porters plus 3-5 kg of personal stuff to carry in your small day pack should be all you need. If you are trying to take more than this, you need to re-evaluate what you are trying to do. Nearly ALL of our trekkers say they wished they had left more stuff at home that they never used on the trek... it was just dead weight. It's a 7 day bushwalk in sub-tropical climate - it's not an expedition up Mt Everest. Pack accordingly.

- some other trekking companies have now EXCISED hotel accommodation in Port Moresby, and some other extras like arrival tour of Port Moresby and Bomana War Cemetery, from their trekking packages. Due to the large number of companies now offering Kokoda treks, operators are looking for ways to keep their prices competitive by whittling down the package inclusions instead of raising package prices to cope with inflation. Read carefully the list of inclusions being offered by each operator. Some operators that previously included hotel accommodation in their packages have now unobtrusively deleted "Port Moresby accommodation" from their package inclusions without specifically announcing this.

- we are one of the few trekking companies that is actually based full time in PNG and we have a different overhead cost structure. We employ 10 local people on a full time basis 365 days a year apart from dozens of part-time guides and porters during the trekking season. We operate tours all over PNG - we are not just here to make a quick buck from the Kokoda Track. Our director Aaron Hayes is heavily involved in helping rural villages all over PNG to benefit from tourism in his role as Secretary of the PNG Community-Based Tourism Foundation. He is also Secretary of the Kokoda Trekking Operators Association which aims to help more descendents of the fuzzy wuzzy angels to own and operate their own trekking companies. During the off-season while Australia-based trekking operators are holed up down south, we are still here in Port Moresby, involved in community affairs and providing input into the the growth of the PNG tourism industry as a member of the PNG Tour Operators Association. Our overhead costs of maintaining a full time operations base in Port Moresby are considerably higher than operators based in Australia who just come up here with their trekking groups during the season and are not seen the rest of the time.

As of 28 October 2008 our research on the internet found the following packages being advertised ex-Port Moresby with local guides:

ECOTOURISM MELANESIA LTD
PGK6400 = AUD3712 (AT ADVERTISED EXCHANGE RATE) + FREE SHARED PERSONAL PORTER = AUD3712

KOKODA TREKKING LIMITED
AUD2550 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD580 = AUD3130
(excludes Port Moresby accommodation)

ADVENTURE KOKODA
AUD4495 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD590 = AUD5085

KOKODA SPIRIT
AUD2395 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD600 = AUD2995

TOOGEE TREKS
AUD2795 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD600 = AUD3395

KOMPLETE KOKODA
AUD2900 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD510 = AUD3410
(excludes Port Moresby accommodation)

KOKODA HISTORICAL TOURS
AUD2599 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD569 = AUD3168
(excludes trek food)

BACKTRACK
AUD3200 + PERSONAL PORTER AUD500 = AUD3700

If you believe we have misunderstood or misrepresented any of the above information collected from operators' websites please advise so we can correct it.
NB Some companies are also offering shared personal porters at half the porter rates shown above.