Canoe Down the Sepik in October

Hello Fellow Travelers,
I'm planning on leaving Wewak about 9/24, hiring a canoe for about a week long trip on the Sepik, returning to Wewak 10/2. Looking for 1 to 3 flexible "happy camper" types to share the canoe trip and costs. Any tips from experienced travelers would be appreciated. How buggy is the river in late September? How much rain to expect? Will I see much wildlife (I'll be on the upper, middle and lower Septik)? Are there many leeches or poisonous critters? Can you ship purchases from Wewak (comment on shipping cost)? What is it like staying in the villages along the Sepik? Any idea of the cost or donation to stay with a family, or in the community house?

Do the schedules flights to/from the Highlands, Wewak, usually arrive/depart on time? If they're late, how late? How do you know whether to keep sitting, or to leave the airfield?

Do the PNGians initially offer you their "final" price for hotel, guiding, goods, etc., are should you attempt to bargain with them?

I've read the book, just looking for a reality check from those who have gone before me...

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Brian

Edited by: swanlaw

Edited by: swanlaw

Can only help with a couple of your questions. Didn't spend very long on the Sepik. Have been there twice, three days each time, once in October and once in late August. One mosquito on the August trip. Didn't see much wildlife as our canoe was motorized and noisy. We did it with a group, everything prearranged. As far as bargaining, we found there was a second price, but that was the final price. Walking away didn't do anything to reduce the second price.

Eve

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1723090&tstart=15

do you wanna go on a motorized canoe trip or on a paddling trip?
how buggy the river is depends highly on the location. if you stay in swampy areas (lower, middle sepik) you'll have lots of mozzies. the upper river where there is more forest is ok. that was my impression just recently during wet season.
for wildlife you will have to go to smaller tributeries cause the main river is wide and frequented by motorized (noisy) canoes.
leeches are common in the jungles nearby the river but not very numerous.
staying in villages is no problem. if you go with a guide he will know people in every village. without a guide (on a paddling trip for example) its no problem either, most people speak english and will be happy to help.
flight schedules..
at the moment there is only MAF which flies from wewak to ambunti. this is twice per week (theoretically) and only with good weather conditions. I wasnt able to catch a flight cos of rain and plane repair service. so the only alternative is to take a public truck to pagwi on the middle sepik. from the highlands there is no direct flight or road connection currently.
and of course - always bargain hard when it comes to costs for guides, petrol, boat hiring etc..

see previous post on sepik stuff/i would suggest you employ a "local' to get you up to middle sepik area/as i mentioned on post,chris baras at ambunti is a very reliable guide(also a reserve policeman)/he now has mobile contact at sepik....0011 6756548288.big festival in ambunti in august!!!if you call hi mention don sent you.

Thank you for the great tips. Still lots of questions, so will be watching other notes for additional information.

I did spend some time on the Sepik last summer and aquired a canoe full of artifacts which I shipped back to the US. I don't know were you are planning to ship things to, but I can tell you it was neither cheap nor easy.

For the carrier to accept the artifacts I was tiold that I needed a permit for export of artifacts (ask at the National Museum), needed the latin and common names of all materials that the artifacts were made of and the arifacts had to be fumigated prior to shipping. Luckily I have good contacts in Port Moresby and was able to arrange all this, but the process took weeks, especially the identifying of the different woods and other materials used in the artifacts was quite interesting!

I am sure there is some cheaper shipping option, but I ended up shipping the lot with DHL, one rather large box to my location cost me about $800! I had the packing done by "Ridgeway", they did an excellent job at a very reasonable price. Now in hindsight I am quite happy to have all these artifacts, however, while I was collecting the items on the Sepik I had no idea how expensive these "cheap" arifacts would actually become before ending up in my house.

I am returning to PNG in about a week, and this time I will be much more selective if picking up any artifacts along the way. Unless it is truly some spectacular piece, if it can't fit into my luggage, then it will give it a pass.

The Deep, Thank you for your very helpful information. I've received mixed information about shipping. Some say you need to fumigate, etc., while others say no problem shipping. Do you think you can transport in your luggage, without fumigating and an export permit? Can I get the permit BEFORE I go to the Sepik, then export from Wewak? Perhaps fake it and use the same scientific/common tree name for all of the artifacts? Where did you get the fumigation done...Wewak or Pt. Moresby? Is "Ridgeway" in Wewak at DHL? When you say it took weeks, do you mean that you waited while DHL took care of the details, then after weeks the treasures arrived in the US (same place I"m shipping to)? Thank you very much!

Hi, hope my reply doesn't cme too late - I've just returned from another trip to PNG.

I did all my fumigation etc in Port Moresby. I could be wrong, but I highly doubt that you could have all this done in Wewak. Also, all teh documentation was done in Port Moresby. The bit that tool a lot of time as getting the documentation.

Nope, I dont think you can get a permit before you go as they do want to look at the artifacts and determine that each artifact is ok to take out of the country.

If you are not ging to get a lot of artifacts your best bet is probably to bring an extra suitcase with you and just bring the items with you through customs. (This was not possible for me as I had collected a whole canoe full of stuff). Not wanting to go through the hassle of shipping,this is what I did this time around. I also practised much restraint in collecting artifacts as I knew I would need to limit myself to one suitcase full of stuff. If you are going to use this "method", then what you can do is spray the items with bugspray and put them in a freezer for a night. That way you minimize the chanse of some creepy multilegged bug crawling our from an artifact onto your previously smiling an courteageous customs officials arm at the most inopportune moment. I had no problem enter8ng the US with my items this time, but I also did not bring items made of cassovary bone or other items that might throw up the red flags at customs, just mostly masks and such.

HI Swanlaw:

I sent a private message expressing an interest in sharing the trip that you plan on the Sepik River.

I didn't receive a response.

If you, or anyone else, is interested in arranging a trip on the Sepik for about a week with a departure between about September 24 and October 15, let me know.

I otherwise plan to arrive in Papua New Guinea and try to make arrangements when there.

salteb

I traveled in PNG a year ago and if you leave by way of Australia you have a big problem carrying any artifacts from PNG through customs. They check each item and if it's made of a porous wood or fiber as most artifacts from PNG are, they do not allow them into the country and you will lose them right there. They do not fumigate. They also check the soles of your shoes for soil residue so be sure to clean these very well before leaving PNG. The shipping of artifacts to the U.S. is greatly simplified if you book at least part of your trip through Trans Niugini Tours. You shop as much as you like, they collect everything from each venue, and they take care of all the shipping. It takes months to get the items, but the packers do a good job---reams and reams of newspaper. Last year there was only one shipper and everything was consolidated and packed in Mt. Hagen; another shipper may have entered the market since then. The rough rule of thumb is that the cost of getting your items home will be equal to what you paid for the items. They also emailed me when my items shipped.