Do NOT use Caspar Guide Services in Goroka!

When we were in Goroka in late July 2009, we stayed at the Lutheran Guesthouse. Another couple there had gone on a mudmen tour with Caspar, and he was there at the guesthouse with them after their trip. He talked to us, and we decided to try him out and take a village tour. We had seen him in the LP guidebook, and figured that the other couple seemed happy, so why not have a go?

What a mistake! The village experience was much shorter than advertised (an hour? instead of four), felt very contrived and artificial, and (probably because it was so much shorter than planned) he had us walk all the way back to town (a fair ways!).

He asked for our phone number after the tour, saying he likes to call and say hello every now and then. We figured he'd never call internationally (domestic calls are pretty expensive, nevermind international) and we gave him our number (stupid! stupid! stupid!).

We later ran into the same couple from the guesthouse, and heard that he had been calling their (locally purchased) Digicell DAILY, requesting call credits and money. Yikes!

Lo and behold, in the time since we've returned to the U.S., he has called 4 times at ridiculously early hours, requesting money transfers. UNBELIEVABLE! I have asked him to not call back, but he doesn't seem to get the message.

Save yourself from this scam artist and go with another tour guide!

(We highly recommend Kay Nupori, who was a WONDERFUL local guide in Goroka.)

Many thanks for the warning on this scam.

Thanks for posting that.

Out of interest, what did Kay Nupori provide for you?

Kay was a wonderful guide! We met him while walking around Goroka, just as we were feeling totally dejected about the cost of all the local activities. He offered us a day trip to see the mudmen, and an overnight stay at his village for a far better price than all the other tour operators we had talked to. The mudmen trip included a nature hike, where Kay offered a lot of local wisdom about the native plants and community. The mudmen performance and visit with the village felt like an authentic cultural exchange rather than a contrived Disneyland experience.

The overnight stay at Kay's village was one of the highlights of our trip in PNG. We took and PMV together, and then hiked through a coffee plantation to his village, where we stayed in the beautiful guesthouse (on stilts) that he built himself. He cooked the best meal we had all trip--chicken and vegetables steamed in bamboo--and he took such good care of us. Had the weather been nicer (it was raining), we would've taken a hike out to a waterfall nearby, and if we could have stayed longer, he also does birdwatching trips in the area as well.

From the moment we met Kay to the day we parted (he actually escorted us to the PMV we needed to take to leave Goroka, two days after we left his village) we felt so cared for. Kay is such a kind, hardworking man. We felt horribly that we actually went on a trip with Caspar (pre-arranged before we went on our trip with Kay) after such a wonderful time with Kay. We actually considered canceling the tour with Caspar, but for that it was pre-arranged, and that he was recommended by LP (and we didn't realize that 1. He was breaking guide 'code' by taking another guides' clients, and 2. We didn't know that Kay also offered the same type of village visit).

I hope this helps! We can't recommend Kay highly enough--he really made our time in Goroka memorable.