Alotau

Hello,
we are going to stay some days in Alotau. Any recommendations for us?
Many thanks

Michael

I highly recommend Napatana Lodge. It is set in a beautiful garden, very clean and friendly with a great bar and restaurant on the veranda and close to town. They offer airport transfers, too. What you should try also for a night or two is head out to the Ulumani Treetops Lodge. You can choose between the budget backpacker house or the more flash ensuite apartments. Both sit on a hill in Wagawaga, from where you can overlook the gorgeous bay and enjoy a cold beer on the veranda. Gretta from Napatana can arrange for the owner Wayne to pick you up from Alotau.

We are going to stay in that lodge. But isn´t there anything else which is attractive apart of the Treetop lodge?

You could also talk to Greta at Napatana who is a wealth of information and will really help you to get organised. We stayed at Napatana for a few days before heading out to Treetops with Warren but we also organised a day tour out to Tawali for a dive on their beautiful resort reef plus a hike out to the skull caves. It is an expensive day but we had a great time. Warren then got one of his relatives to guide us up the river and have a picnic in one of the villages which was cool.

Also Greta organised for us to go out on one of the banana boats to Samurai Island to stay with one of the locals there. I prob wouldn't recommend that partic accommodation (it was in a roasting hot locals house where they relocated themselves to the verandah so that we could use their bedroom but I just didn't feel quite right about that arrangement). Maybe the guesthouse on top of the hill would be better. Samurai is interesting history-wise but there are probably better and more beautiful places to spend a couple of days. That family organised for us to go back out for a day trip to Gonebalabala (sp.) Island but really there are so many islands that you could take your pick. Its more a case of whichever local you've met may know someone or have family somewhere and that's where you tend to end up.

My suggestion would be to work with Greta to personalise what you want to do. When you meet locals be ultra friendly and ask for suggestions for places to visit - things will then start from there. If you're open to chatting to people, things will just fall into place because the locals are so unbelievably hospitable. Just be aware that mostly people are poor but will still put on a feast for you so be generous with offering bags of rice or whatever you choose to offer.
Hope things go well. I'm sure you will love it. Just be aware that not much runs on time in PNG but its the waiting around with people that seems to result in wonderful outcomes.
Perky.

Edited by: perky70