Trip
Information
Date: August
24 - Sept 9, 2007
Leader: Héctor
Gómez de Silva & local guides
Duration:
17 days
Limit: 12
people
Cost: $8450
USD, $9975 CDN, Single supplement $750 USD, $885 CDN
From: Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Highlights:
• Birding for the wonderful Birds-of-paradise plus many other endemics
at several sites across the island
•
Ambua lodge, one of the world’s finest
• Travel in a culturally diverse and exotic corner of the world
Featured Birds:
• Southern Crowned-Pigeon
• Superb Fruit-Dove
• Papuan Lorikeet
• Wattled Ploughbill
• Blue-capped Ifrita
• Emperor Bird-of-paradise
• Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
• King-of-Saxony Bird-of-paradise
• Superb Bird-of-paradise
• Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise
Trip Summary
• Accommodation is basic in Wasu, superb at Ambua and comfortable elsewhere
• Warm and hot days in the lowlands, cooler in the highlands
• Short flights between birding locations
• All meals and internal flights included
• Easy but extended walking, short drives, one all-day river boat trip
•
6 to 12 participants with one guide plus a local
guide throughout.
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An
incredible tour! Astonishing diversity from the highlands to the lowlands
of both the northern and southern slopes of the island. The list of
possibilities seems endless: among birds, there are large flightless
cassowaries, pigeons up to the size of a vulture, parrots ranging from
the size of vireos to one the size of an Osprey, and kingfishers ranging
from the size of a warbler to the size of a Barn Owl. Indeed, New Guinea
is the center of diversity of the world’s kingfishers, pigeons
and parrots, as well as the highly acclaimed birds-of-paradise and bowerbirds.
We hope to see 15 or more species of Birds-of-paradise, and the impressive
New Guinea Harpy Eagle, as well as bizarre mammals, butterflies, flowering
plants and a host of other wildlife. And New Guinea is the region with
the largest number of endemic bird species in the world (269, which
is more than a third of all of its species). New Guinea seems like the
most exotic place on Earth; a huge diversity of native cultures and
an astonishing number of languages. Papua New Guinea has facilities
and services that are up to international standards and Héctor
has spent much time on the island. Our tour certainly provides an opportunity
to see some of the world’s most exotic birds.
Our visit to the highlands includes Ambua, among the world’s finest
lodges. We venture to the practically unexplored Huon Peninsula in the
north for several birds endemic to this peninsula. We also visit Kiunga,
Varirata National Park, and the highlands around Mt. Hagen. This promises
to be a very exciting tour with superb birding for many very unique
birds!
Masked Lapwing by Tony Menart
See detailed itinerary
below.
Click
here to download a list of birds on the 2007 Papua New Guinea tour (195
KB PDF).
Click here to download a list of birds on the 2004 Papua New Guinea
tour.
Click here to download
a registration form.
This tour can be
combined with our Borneo or New Caledonia
Tours. |
Itinerary
Day
1 - Port Moresby
Arrival in Port Moresby’s International Airport, where you will
be met by the tour leader and transferred to our hotel. Birds to look
for around the airport and the hotel are Masked Lapwing (grassy strips
around the runway), Intermediate Egret, Peaceful Dove, Pacific Swallow,
White-breasted Wood-swallow, Yellow-tinted and Rufous-breasted Honeyeaters
(around ornamental flowers), Torresian Crow, Willie Wagtail and Singing
Starling. Night in Port Moresby.
Day 2 - Varirata National Park
An early morning departure will take us to Varirata National Park, where
we spend most of the day birding forest trails. Here, we may encounter
a Dwarf Cassowary, Black-billed Brush-turkey (and their nest mounds)
or a Brown-headed Paradise-Kingfisher. On the way back to Port Moresby,
we stop at several points in open eucalyptus woodland. Night in Port
Moresby.
Day 3 - Around Port Moresby
We bird two localities within a short driving distance of Port Moresby,
Brown River and Moitaka Ponds. The lowland forest at Brown River supports
several interesting species including Orange-breasted Fig-Parrot, Rufous-bellied
Kookaburra and Raggiana’s Bird-of-Paradise. The ponds at Moitaka
hold Spotted Whistling-Duck amongst other waterbirds, and are a good
spot for Orange-fronted Fruit-Dove. Time permitting, we may visit the
Hisiu mangroves for a different community of birds, including the endemic
Dusky Myzomela. Night in Port Moresby.
Day 4 - to Wasu, Huon Peninsula
We take a morning flight north to Lae and then on to Wasu. Wasu will
give us an introduction to birds of the Huon Peninsula, which supports
a distinct avifauna and we will attempt to find many specialties of
the region. Overnight in Wasu.
Days 5 & 6 - Wasu
We have two full days to explore the Wasu area, a superb area rich in
bird species, and our tally will be impressive. The Huon Peninsula features
3 endemic birds-of-paradise, including the Emperor Bird-of-Paradise
and the Huon Astrapia, plus other endemics, and one or two species of
berrypeckers (a family endemic to New Guinea) - our main target birds
over these two days. Nights in Wasu.
Day 7 - Around Lae
After flying to Lae in the morning we explore the very birdy rainforest
and open country near Lae. Some species we may see are Blue-tailed Bee-eater,
Pheasant Coucal, Australasian Bushlark , and Lesser Bird-of-Paradise.
Overnight in Lae.
Day 8 – Lae to the Highlands
We take a flight to Tari in the Central Highlands where we will be picked
up by a vehicle from Ambua Lodge and taken to the lodge where we will
meet our local guide. The climate of the highlands is very pleasant,
with cool nights and early mornings. We settle in to the delightful
Ambua Lodge with its superb location, rooms, food and birds! Night at
Ambua Lodge.
Days 9 & 10 – Ambua
Lodge
There is a large number of bird species right around the lodge, and
these will keep us busy. Just over 200 species of birds, including 12
species of birds-of-paradise, have been recorded at or within a short
distance from the lodge. A road leads up about 9 km from the lodge through
cloud and elfin forest to the alpine grasslands at Tari Gap (2500 m/7800
ft elevation, quite chilly in the early morning). We will do most of
our birding around this road and side trails leading from it, accompanied
by one of the lodge’s resident guides. Nights at Ambua Lodge.
Day 11 - to Kumul Lodge
Reluctantly leaving this magnificent locality, we take a flight to the
town of Mount Hagen, still in the Central Highlands of New Guinea. From
Mount Hagen we will be driven up to the upper reaches of cloud forest
where the new Kumul Lodge is located. Kumul Lodge is owned and run by
local landowners and is a model of the type of sustainable ecotourism
that will enable the world to conserve significant wilderness areas.
Our time around Kumul Lodge will allow us to see a large number of highland
birds. Some species that are rare at Ambua are easier to see at and
near the lodge, such as Blue Bird-of-paradise, Crested Bird-of-paradise,
Painted Tiger-Parrot and Yellow-breasted Bowerbird. Night at Kumul Lodge.
Days 12 - Central Highlands
Today we bird the Baiyer River area, which will enable us to see mid-elevation
birds of the north slope of the Central Ranges. Baiyer River is just
over 2 hours drive from Kumul Lodge. A pre-dawn departure allows us
to reach the lek of Lesser Bird-of-paradise in time before they finish
displaying. Baiyer River is also a good place to look for Dwarf Cassowary,
Hooded and Red-bellied (Blue-breasted) Pittas, ground-doves and much
more. Night at Kumul Lodge.
Day 13 - to Kiunga
We catch a morning flight to Kiunga, where we meet Samuel Kepuknai,
our knowledgeable local guide for the next three days. The Kiunga area
is hot and humid and it usually rains almost every day of the year (mostly
in the afternoons). On the other hand, it is extremely rich in bird
species and we should see many of these thanks to Samuel’s intimate
knowledge of the area. Night at Kiunga Guest House.
Day 14 & 15 - Kiunga
On one day, we have an all-day trip with Samuel starting with a 3-hour
boatride along the Fly and Elevara Rivers that will enable us to see
a large number of lowland rainforest species, with Southern Crowned-Pigeon,
and King and Twelve-wired Birds-of-paradise as our main “targets”.
New Guinea Harpy Eagle is also possible. Further birding around Kiunga
with Samuel takes us into rainforest areas looking for Kiunga specialties
we have not seen already, perhaps Flame Bowerbird, White-crowned Koel
and Streak-headed Honeyeater. Nights at Kiunga Guest House.
Day 16 - to Port Moresby
We take a morning flight from Kiunga to Port Moresby. In the afternoon we
bird in the grounds of the Pacific Adventists’ University near Port
Moresby, which holds many waterbirds and birds of open woodland, perhaps
including Fawn-breasted Bowerbird. Night in Port Moresby.
Day 17 - Departure
Alas, all good things come to an end, and this morning we will be taking our
international flight to Australia and perhaps beyond.
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