Advice on Vanimo and the Sepik in March

Hi, my fiance and I are planning a trip centered around Vanimo (surfing) and Wewak (the sepik and outlying islands) in March. We are trying to travel relatively cheaply since it is so bloody expensive to get to PNG from the states. I think we have some connections through surfing in vanimo to cheap lodging (although any and all suggestions would be very welcome), but do not have the same in wewak. Questions:

1) Finding and organizing a reasonably priced tour on the sepik. There are a few great trip reports on here recommending the likes of Amos and Cyril. Any others people would recommend contacting?

2) On the Sepik, how is it traveling as a couple? Should we expect to be doing things separately in the villages? Also, this is near the height of the rainy season - is the river level/high flow a problem?

3) We would like to get out to some of the islands off of Wewak. Anyone been and have advice on travel and lodging? I found the name of a place, Tipreyen Guest House, but can't get any info.

4) Lastly, I can't get a good handle on Air Niugini flights - it seems cheaper for us to buy two roundtrips (POM-Vanimo and Vanimo-Wewak) than to do 3 oneway flights (POM-Vanimo, Vanimo-Wewak, Wewak-POM). Any advice here?

Thanks in advance, Jon

1) I found Kaua Gita in Korogo village very nice and helpful.
That village is reachable by cheap public boats from Pagwi on Maprik's market days.

2) Travelling as a couple should be OK. Sepik people are used to tourists' ways.
This is not to say she should stroll around in bikinis, or you should live your love life out in the open, of course! ;-)
I don't think the water level will be a problem, but the mosquitos may well be.
I caught my first malaria on my first, rainy season Sepik trip.

3) The travellers' comments book in Ralph's guesthouse had some old info on these. They seem rarely visited, but relatively accessible. I'd expect guesthouses out there to be of the typically basic, PNG village style.

4) I guess an Air Niugini agent is the one to ask about this...

1) I had a great trip on the Sepik this time last year with Kris Karis from PNG Frontier Adventures. I highly recommend Kris as a guide.

2) I travelled with my son and we did everything together. The people are very friendly and will be happy to show you together around their villages.

3) Can't help

4) Flights from from POM to Vanimo nearly always stop at Wewak. You can check timetables on Air Niugini's web site

My husband and I are planning on going to PNG in August 2008. We will be flying from Denpasar, Bali to Jayapura, Irian Jaya and need to find out;
1. What sort of safe land travel is available to take to Vanimo,PNG?
2. How long or how many miles is this trip? From Jayapura airport to Vanimo airport.
3. What visas are needed to land in Jayapura and to get into PNG at the border?
4. Can we get needed paper work/visas in US before leaving home?
5. From Wewak we will need to get to Ambunti for travel on Sepik River. Since I haven't found any flights, are PMI vans the best/safest transportation to take from Wewak?
6. Is it true that it's about a 5 hour drive to Pagwi and then a 2 hour canoe to Ambunti? Any other suggestions?
Thank you for any and all help with these concerns. T

My best advice to you is to stay at Ralf's guesthouse in Wewak or to at least pay him a visit and mine him for information. He can give you excellent advice on doing any of these trips. If you're willing to pay the charges you can even give him an international telephone call in advance. I travelled to New Guinea in 2003 and his place was my base of operations. And Laszlo is absolutely right, read through the journals that Ralf has at his guesthouse - they provide firsthand information on places you want to visit.

For the Sepik I took an overland PMV to Angoram and then hired a boat and guide to travel up the Keram River to Bobton and Kambot. If you arrange things yourself you'll find prices are quite low. Ralf recommended the guide. I gave a detailed description of this trip in one of Ralf's journals. If you read through them look for the a July 2003 entry made using purple ink.

As far as the islands off of Wewak go, I stayed on Muschu Island. Ralf helped me arrange this trip by telling me to 'go to the post office by the wharf and find George who runs a guesthouse on the island.' This initially sounded like very intimidating advice, but I went to the post office as Ralf said. Rather than find George it turns out that George found me. Apparently he makes daily trips with his boat from the island to Wewak, transporting locals in both directions. HJe's always looking for tourists to take to his place.

I stayed at his guesthouse and he helped arrange jungle trekking to WWII sites on the island as well as fishing trips. I also visited Kairiru Island which is adjacent to Muschu. The islands are a relaxed and peaceful place. Enjoy yourself - it sounds like you have a nice trip planned.

Happy Trails.

Thanks for all the advice. We are now feeling pretty good about having a great trip with minimal advanced booking. One last question and I'll let you all know how the trip went when we return:

We haven't booked our intra-PNG flights yet and I just called a US-based travel company and the woman I spoke with actually recommended buying these flights once we get to Port Morseby since it will be much much cheaper. Is this good advice or are we likely to get stuck in Port Morseby for a few days until we can get on a flight to Vanimo or Wewak?

Thanks again!

your taking a risk if you do...

friends who live in PNG have told me that the cheapest way to get airniugini tickets is on their PNG website - www.airniugini.com.pg

Also just backing up advice given by other people here- my fiancee and I were on the Sepik in December and had a blast. No issues with doing things separately in villages. She was allowed into the haus tambarans along with me, we both slept in the same room with our guides.

Definitely go out to visit George on Muschu Island. We did it after our trip to the Sepik and it was the perfect way to finish our holiday. Cheap too. I've just posted stuff on my blog about Muschu and the Sepik - http://gavcleland.blogspot.com/

It's so worthwhile to get out there, and you'll feel good about supporting George and his family too.

Good luck and have fun!