First of all, I want to say that the people in PNG were incredible. Amazingly friendly, almost everyone we met on the way would say hello and often share some stories. I haven’t shaken so many hands in 4 years.
Everything started by arriving in the infamous Port Moresby (POM).
Rabaul
I began by visiting Rabaul for 5 days, staying at the Ropopo Plantation hotel. It’s not cheap (400 kina a night), but it’s really great and comfortable. Good to relax after a long trip, with the beach, pool, and crazy sunsets.
I did a WWII history tour exploring Japanese tunnels one day, then went wreck and coral diving the next, and finally did a Tavurvur volcano hike. All these activities were arranged with Niugini Dives and Tours, which is on site at Rapopo. It’s more expensive (250-350 kina for land tours, 600 kina for 2 boat dives) than finding a private person to take you there, but it’s much easier and smoother. I highly recommend all the tours. Just don’t take the boat to the volcano; on the way back, the sea got choppy and I felt like a screaming brick in a washing machine.
Then I tried to fly to POM, but the flight was overbooked. There was a bit of a brawl to get a boarding pass, and one guy was constantly screaming “dis issa fakaduppa!” Eventually, I managed to get to POM in time to transfer to Goroka.
Goroka
In Goroka, I stayed at the Pacific Gardens Hotel, which can be booked via pacificghotel.reservations@gmail.com for 280 kina a night. Probably the second fanciest hotel in town after the Bird of Paradise, but much cheaper. Beautiful garden, huge rooms, and okay food. But they forgot to pick me up from the airport even though we agreed. No wifi, no free drinking water. They have a small animal jail in the garden which is not cool.
I booked a Goroka tour with Johnson (John) Mandome, WhatsApp +675 7360 9517, mandomejohnson586@gmail.com. He can look intimidating at first, but he’s a kind guy. But be thorough and firm when arranging the pricing of the tour with him.
We did a four-day tour of Goroka – visited several tribes and saw 10 performances (mudmen, Mokomoko, skeleton, and many others), went on light hikes, learned about local agriculture, and went to see the bird of paradise. The performances were fantastic, albeit short. We had a rundown Mad Max Land Cruiser – the steering wheel had to be at a 45-degree angle to drive straight.
We stayed one night in John’s village, and that was the highlight of the tour. Everybody was super friendly, and it was great to see regular village life. Most of them speak decent English and can share many details about their daily life if you’re interested. Just that this incurred extra cost of 1000 kina for wine for the village and stone oven cooking. All of these were shared by the village, and they greatly appreciated it.
The day after, we went to see the Regiana bird of paradise in Unggai. You have to be there at 5:30 to see the birds, so we decided to stay in the hut of the local guy who runs the bird watching. It’s possible to do this from Goroka, but it’s a 30-minute drive and a 40-minute hike to get there. In the afternoon, we did a nice small hike in the jungle to see waterfalls and a cave with some skeletons. In the evening, we had courtship songs performed by Unggai people, which was great. It felt like they really enjoyed themselves as they didn’t stop until 2 AM.
At sunrise, we saw the bird of paradise, which comes to one particular tree during the dry season. The bird stayed there for 2 hours! It sang its song to attract females, but there was limited interest from them, so we managed to see only about 5 seconds of the dance. In the morning, Unggai ladies did a small performance, but that was a bit awkward as they were obviously hungover.
Afterwards, we got ditched by our driver, so we walked to the village and got a PMV. On the way, we randomly visited Arikayufa Primary school, which was a fascinating experience. The teachers were very friendly and shared their teaching routine and concerns. I highly recommend visiting this or another school if you have time.
I wanted to visit the Fore tribe due to the history of Kuru disease, but the road conditions to Okapa were bad and there were many robbers active on the road, so we didn’t go there. However, I managed to randomly meet a guy from the Fore tribe, one of the teachers in the school.
After this, the initial plan was to drive to Hagen and then to Wabag to see the Enga Show. However, I was quoted 12,000 kina for this, so it would have been way cheaper to fly there and find a local guide.
Additionally, the security situation in Enga (province where Wabag is) turned bad due to tribal fights. A curfew was put in place, and the local airport stopped flights. Interestingly, the Enga Show was not canceled, and their staff claimed it was safe. Everyone else I talked to warned me against going to the Enga region. I also heard from a tourist who visited Hagen that 5 villagers were killed near there during tribal fights. So I decided not to go.
Then, via POM, I was supposed to fly to Wewak to do a Sepik river tour. But, of course, the flight got canceled, and I got stuck in POM overnight. In a diarrhea-fueled desperation for comfort, I booked the Hilton in POM. And it was fabulous.
Sepik River
Eventually, I arrived in Wewak, Wewak Boutique Hotel was nice. My guide was Joseph Kone, joseph.kone6@gmail.com; WhatsApp +675 7121 4829.
The tour was three days and two nights, shorter than planned due to the flight cancellation. The cost for everything – boat, village fees, accommodation, guide, food – was 2500 kina. The private car from Wabag to Pagwi and back was 1400 kina.
Due to previous hold-ups on the Maprik-Pagwi road, we agreed to get a security guard. But instead, the guide brought his wife. We could have used her to scare the robbers away, but what if they were blind and couldn’t smell?
The ride from Wewak to Pagwi took 3.5 hours (would have been 6 with PMV). When the driver reached for his third beer, I intervened. The last stretch of the Maprik-Pagwi road was the worst I’ve seen in PNG. It’s not even potholes; it’s intermittent lack of road.
Apparently, the robbers weren’t a problem at the time as the police were getting aggressive and had recently shot two of them dead. Very reassuring. Though we did see police a few times on the way, some stretches of the road were plain spooky with huge groups of dudes walking in the dark. Pee stops were quite stressful.
We were supposed to visit a festival at Kanganaman, but when we got there, it wasn’t happening. Ol’ Joe hadn’t bothered to check if it was actually taking place. But the village is very cool, with two nice spirit houses, and I got to meet the locals with crocodile-inspired scarring (Yatma tribe).
The boat ride was very pleasant – good breeze, great views, many birds, and a rather comfortable ride (a good chair matters a lot). Watch out for sunburn! I had to tell my boat crew NOT to shoot at birds with a slingshot, as they were doing that all the time.
The spirit houses were very nice. Villages were interesting, and most of them didn’t put on shows like in Goroka (for better or worse). The woodcarvings were fantastic, and the nature was amazing. I see a lot of potential for birding with a qualified local ornithologist (if there are any).
But, in general, there’s a lot of hassle getting to the river, and the living conditions are extremely basic. Pagwi was straight out nasty. The main problem was noise during the night, making it very hard to sleep. I had to shake a tree to get the shrieking rooster to stop. Ambunti was a bit better. We stayed with Joseph’s family and relatives. Not sure what accommodation the package tours offer, but I’m sure it’s better. Maybe someone can share their experiences. The places I stayed at wore me down a bit.
Eventually, I flew back to POM and then out of PNG. So a total of 14 days, including arrival and departure days.
Visiting Tribes
Most tribe visits are based on the concept that guides pay the tribe money, and they put up a show for tourists. That’s fine in principle; I wouldn’t say it’s not authentic, as maybe 50% of these rituals are practiced by the tribes without tourists as well. They enjoy showing their culture and earning extra money. But the vibe is a bit weird sometimes. Some kids in some shows looked somewhat forced to do it. So I would say pick a few that you’re really interested in. The most authentic and enjoyable for locals were the courtship songs in Goroka and Unggai. It’s very simple but feels like they’re having fun.
In addition to this, I would advise you to talk to random people, local vendors, ask your guide to introduce you to tribes not doing tourist performances. Read up on PNG; there’s wild stuff for everyone here. Just by talking to people, you can learn many fascinating things.
Safety in PNG
East New Britain, like Kokopo and Rabaul, felt completely safe. Goroka was average, looking dodgy in some areas, but I did walk around a bit. In POM, I didn’t walk around; supposedly, the CBD area is rather safe. It didn’t look as bad as I had imagined. But regarding many areas, the locals said “you will lose everything.” Wewak looked rather unsafe. Not the worst, but locals didn’t advise walking around alone. The Maprik-Pagwi road was supposed to be dangerous. It did look very risky at night with bad road quality and loads of people lurking in the dark. But it seems safe enough in a private car with a decent driver. A car accident is way more likely to hurt you than robbers. Not sure about the need for security; locals said it’s not required. But that changes all the time.
Follow local news, UK, US, and AU travel advice websites, travel forums, talk with locals and tourists. Don’t be afraid to cancel some parts of travel if there’s violence. Anything can happen anywhere, but local and recent knowledge helps to stay safe.
Health
Malaria is prevalent in all of PNG, but way less so in the Highlands due to the altitude. There are very few mosquitos in the Highlands and Rabaul. Many in Sepik. I took Malarone the whole time and there and 7 days after. Zero side effects. Used DEET repellent and wore long sleeves, especially after dark.
The food wasn’t great, but mostly safe. The good hotels have rather nice food. I had mild food poisoning once. Have some Loperamide and antibiotics with you. Tried to sanitize often, drank only bottled water. I kindly refused when offered coffee made with Sepik river water.
Take It Easy
When a driver says “I’ll be there at 10:00,” it can totally mean “I will never show up, and my phone will be off.” This goes for everything in PNG. So always have a plan B, even plan C. Enjoy the ride and embrace the unexpected!