Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# travelling to papua new guinea Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
cellordoor 14:26 UTC 03 Nov 2010 | Hello! Me and my boyfriend, who is really cool, are going to be travelling around China and south east asia in the new year and are hoping to maybe see Papua new Guinea after Indonesia. Does anyone have any info on getting there from Indonesia, things to do and see, birds of paradise, visas, any info would be good really! Cheers. |
grietje 14:46 UTC 03 Nov 2010 | Hi! There are several airlines on the route Surabaya - Port Moresby, if you want to Papua New Guinea. I think Port Moresby is the best entry point, but I don't have any experience with PNG. Only with the other halve of the island West-Papua. A beautiful place if you want to see several species of the birds of paradise. Zeth Wonggor is an expert on birds in Papua. Sir David Attenborough also came to his place (near Manokwari) for the documentary "The Life of Birds". Might you decide to go into that direction I can give you lots of information : ) enjoy planning your trip! | 1
cellordoor 21:37 UTC 03 Nov 2010 | Thanks for the information! Well, what I am really looking for is birds of paradise, tribal life etc, and any info you have on anything to do with that in Papua or wherever would be brilliant! David Attenborough is the main reason for me wanting to see the birds, so any info on that route would be lovely too! how easy is it to see the birds? Is there any chance of witnessing a mating dance? Are the tribal people welcoming to outsiders? Is it safe and are there places to stay? Sorry for all the questions! Hope you can answer a few! :) | 2
zachleigh 00:16 UTC 05 Nov 2010 | Easy to see mating dance: no...not at all Tribal people welcoming: most of them are extremely welcoming Is it safe: the cities are horrible, but the people will take care of you. Be careful though. Dont walk around at night and single women should be extra careful. Places to stay: Eh, yes and no. Hotels are either extremely expensive tourist places or whorehouses Good thing your boyfriend is really cool. It would suck if you thought he was a looser. | 3
grietje 18:46 UTC 05 Nov 2010 | Well in that case you should certainly go visit Zeth Wonggor in Arfak Mountains! I saw the mating dance, you just have to go with an expert in the right season (well I went with Zeth twice, not even in the right season but still, and twice I saw a Bird of Paradise display and the funny Bowerbird). The best months to go birdwatching in Arfak Mountains are June, July and August, then the birds are the most active. You can get there via Manokwari, Charles Roring is a reliable guide there who can help you out (see his blog: manokwaripapua.blogspot.com) or via papuabirdclub.com, Shita Prativi knows all about birdwatching in Indonesia. For the famous Lesser Bird of Paradise (the ones Papuan people use for there cultural activities), you can go to Senopi, that is 5-8 hours drive from Manokwari. If you arrange your trip on forehand, Zeth Wonggor might acompany you to Senopi too. I don't know what you expect with wanting to see tribal people. Sometimes they dress up for cultural events, but otherwise mostly they don't. Unless you go very deep into the jungle or in Wamena region if you just go outside the touristic places you will still see it. Almost everybody I have met was really kind and helpful! I have only been in Manokwari and region and it was really safe. Just the ordinary things to keep in mind when travelling. A beautiful place where I was staying in Manokwari was the YAT Losmen, it is very simple but has a stunning terrace and the girls working there are awesome as you get to know them. I am writing a travelguide about Manokwari region together with some people in Papua, we are hoping to finish the first edition before christmas. If you are interested I can send you a copy when it is finished. Just send me your e-mail adress. Edited by: grietje | 4
thurstonhowell4th 03:50 UTC 07 Nov 2010 | my boyfriend, who is really cool,,,,v funni~! | 5
thurstonhowell4th 05:02 UTC 08 Nov 2010 | be careful in png, known for its dangerousnessness unfortunately, than any fancy bird or way cool boyfriends | 6
Laszlo 21:04 UTC 08 Nov 2010 | #1 must be joking about several flights from Surabaya to Port Moresby - of course there aren't ANY. The best place to see birds of paradise in PNG is around Tari. I saw "mating dance" of Blue BOP, perhaps the most beautiful of all species, there! Several other species, including 2 other real beauties, Raggiana and Ribbon-Tailed, can be seen nearby. You can indeed see several species in the Arfak Mts of West Papua, but they are less beautiful ones. See the PNG link in my signo line for more. | 7