Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Manokwari to Tari options Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Papua New Guinea
erinrobertson 19:18 UTC 14 Oct 2019 | Hi, we're an American family of 4 taking a year off to travel. Our boys are 9 and 12, and our older son is an enthusiastic birder. We are hoping to spend November in Papua + Papua New Guinea. In Papua, we are hoping to go to Waigeo and the Arfak Mountains. We'll be in Sulawesi before that, and all those Indonesian air links seem straightforward and not terribly expensive. But the next place to the east that we're interested in after the Arfaks is the Tari Valley, and I'm struggling to figure out our options. None of the options that I have found so far make a lot of sense: Manokwari-Jakarta-Manila-Port Moresby-Tari all by air - expensive and lots of out of the way Manokwari-Jayapura, apply for PNG visa, overland crossing to Vanimo - then fly Wewak - Port Moresby - Tari -is this as direct as things get? Also still quite expensive With four of us going would it be cheaper/possible to charter a flight from Vanimo to Tari direct? Are there really no flights into Port Moresby from anywhere in Indonesia? Our other areas of interest in PNG are the Kakoda area and possibly the Huon Peninsula, in case maybe it would make more sense to save Tari for later somehow. Thanks for any advice. This is one part of a yearlong trip so there are lots of moving parts and we need to do things as inexpensively as possible while still being realistic about what our kids can handle. |
Laszlo 21:52 UTC 14 Oct 2019 | It may be possible to fly from Wewak directly to Mount Hagen, then continue to Tari by road or air. This is as direct as it gets, I think. It may make more sense to stick to Indonesian Papua where most of your destinations are. Biak, Nimbokrang, Lake Habbema and Wasur NP are additional possible birding destinations there. | 1
majordom 06:51 UTC 15 Oct 2019 | PNG is very expensive - a single man can do it on a budget but a family of four that needs a schedule and comfort and security will find PNG crazy expensive you can fly wewak to hagen and perhaps then on to tari with PNG Air, MAF also sometimes fly wewak to hagen it is a spectacular flight over the mountains and valleys of the central range but this still leaves the problem of getting from indonesia - the overland to vanimo has been opened up - see posts here and on tripadvisor - but its still not an easy trip and given the tensions in papua the possibility of the border being temporarily closed (as it frequently was a few years ago) remains a concern - also keep an eye on the security situation in and around tari - things are better since the election related trouble but this is the highlands there used to be a great flight from into POM from bali but no longer - you have to fly to singapore, manila or oz which are all out of the way ! anyway sounds a great trip have fun ! | 2
erinrobertson 16:22 UTC 19 Oct 2019 | Ok, thanks everyone. After further research we're not comfortable attempting Jayapura-Vanimo, so I think we will give up on something geographically direct, and go through Port Moresby. Also, it turns out the Ambua Lodge in the Tari Valley has been closed since an earthquake last September (possibly reopening in 2020). So, we are looking into the Kumul Lodge near Mount Hagen instead. I will make a separate post, but is there some way to find out when the fortnightly paydays are? We may just try to avoid PNG altogether on those weekends, schedule our trip to avoid them. | 3
Laszlo 19:34 UTC 19 Oct 2019 | Try and find out if the Warili Lodge in Tari is still open. If it is, it is a good alternative to Ambua. Tari is an unbeatable location for birding and also unique for culture, so should be visited if at all possible. | 4
majordom 21:58 UTC 19 Oct 2019 | when in moresby do go to the nature park - they have many birds of paradise there - and the museum | 5
Laszlo 22:07 UTC 19 Oct 2019 | Come to think of it, don't you think a Jayapura-POM flight might make sense? Or is the opinion that the land border is enough to serve traffic between the 2 halves of New Guinea? The latter's popularity with PNG locals has grown enormously. When I first crossed around 2000, Jayapura was a big unknown even to most Sandaun locals. Now so many cross the border to shop that a vast market has developed on the Indonesian side, with traders addressing you in Pidgin. | 6
majordom 07:26 UTC 20 Oct 2019 | a jayapura to hagen is more likely and has been much discussed - the hagen airport was upgraded and theoretically could accept international flights - both airniugini and png air have had problems and have cut back on flights rather than expanded so dont hold your breath political differences are also a factor with png having much sympathy for their melanesian brothers in papua and west papua | 7
Laszlo 07:37 UTC 20 Oct 2019 | Jayapura to Hagen is just what our OP needs. :-) Why Hagen rather than POM? Granted, the distance is shorter, but Hagen has far fewer people and money than the capital. PNG having sympathy towards the Papuans in Indonesia should just be one more reason to connect the 2 halves of the island better. | 8