kiriwana (trobriand islands)

my partner and i just got back from a month in PNG - i will make a longer post but for the moment want
to provide some contacts for anyone visiting the trobriands as all published contacts seem to be out of date

the Kiriwana Lodge is now the Loquia Lodge and under new management with the owner taking a more active role

telephone numbers are Toku (manager) 7356 9052 and Rebecca (owner) 7028 1267

we drove by the other lodge Butia which looks very nice but it is in the middle of the island whilst the Loquia
is by the ocean with fantastic sunsets !

anyway both lodges seem to meet every plane when it lands and its a small place where everybody knows everyones business !

at Loquia we paid 340 K per night for their best double with ensuite, electricity and a/c - they have smaller rooms and
you may be able to get better if they are not busy - but they didnt charge for the night we stayed elsewhere whilst leaving
all our stuff in the room. Rate included dinner and breakfast which were good.

Loquia arranged a stay at Manuels guesthouse in Kaibola, 200 K per night including dinner, breakfast and lunch (delicious if you like fresh fish and seafood), their van was 150 K each way but included a tour to visit various sights like yam houses and to see the Paramount Chief. Note that PMVs are not really an option on the island.

Kiriwana was one of our highlights and Toku at the Loquia made it easy for us to see and experience a lot in a short time

Highly reccomended, wish we could have stayed at Kaibola a few more days.

Edited by: majordom

oops should be KIRIWINA !

When you say 340K are we talking about £100 $150US a night for accommodation??

yes - papua is expensive and in many places there is little choice - its not like indo
where you can stay in places for 20usd !

you could certainly find cheaper homestay accomodation but it would take time
which we did not have

most of the visitors are government officials, aid workers, scientists etc - we were the only tourists
on the whole island

Edited by: majordom

you need to remember that doing anything in PNG isnt easy and on the islands can be very hard to run
a business -

examples

at the lodge the first night they charged 9K for a cold beer - which i thought was a lot
but the next night there was none to be had at any price - no supply

the island has digicel phone coverage including 3G but the service went down for 2 days as there
was no diesel for the generator

just been looking through our photos and would really urge any visitor to kiriwina to visit the paramount chief - take some gifts for him and his family and ask to see any kula objects that are currently in his posession - the kula ring is facinating and the objects themselves strange and beautiful

if you found this helpful and visit kiriwina then please say hi to toku
and manuel and say that you were recommended by dominic and shiva from london

thanks and have a great trip