PNG advice for solo traveller

Hi all.

I'm a 36 year old solo traveller from the UK currently planning a trip
to PNG - leaving Cairns as soon as possible.

I've read so much conflicting information my head is spinning. If
anyone out there can help me make some sense of it all and plan my
trip a bit better I'd really appreciate it!

In particular I'm struggling with the following:

• Where is a decent, safe budget place to stay in Port Moresby? I
don't particularly want to see the city, but connecting flights might
necessitate an overnight stay.

• I read somewhere I'd need to arrive in the country with a minimum
amount of cash to support my visit. Is this true?

• Where's a good place to go on some rainforest walks and see
wildlife? I'd particularly like to see some birds of paradise. Any
contacts for guides would be greatly appreciated. I've tried to
contact a guy called Steve at Warili lodge in Tari but as yet had no
response.

• Is it best to book all internal flights and book any guides before
entering the country? Essentially I'm loathed to pin myself down to
specifics in case my situation changes or I change my mind once on the
ground there. So flexibility with travel (Inc flights) and guides
would be good but is this advisable?

• I've heard about some kind of missionary planes (MAF) that you can
sometimes book a seat on. Has anyone ever travelled on these? And if
so, how do you go about booking them?

I'm new to all this, so please excuse any errors in protocol!

Thanks in advance.

Chris.

Edited by: bustergrimes

The Lutheran GH usually got good reviews for PM.

I doubt they'd check your cash in this era of credit cards, though on paper many countries have such a requirement.

Don't bother trying to contact Warili in advance, just show up.
His place is probably about the best for seeing birds of paradise, though it's all montane forest up there, you'd need to go elsewhere for lowland rainforests.

I never booked anything in PNG in advance and never had to regret that.
In a country where travel is as unpredictable as in PNG, I'd hate to be locked into any arrangements.

You can simply contact MAF at the airports/airstrips.
I know that they happily took paying passengers in PNG in the past though MAF in West Papua rarely does these days. Their primary purpose is to aid missionary work, so obviously that gets priority and prior bookings may not be accepted.

answers to some of your qs.....1/budget guest houses in moresby.....pom cwa is in peteru place at 3 mile,ph 3253646......mapang missionary home is in lahara ave boroko,ph 3255251.....kangaroo motel is at magilla rd 6 mile ph 323 6188
2/no need to worry about minimum cash,all you do is tick the box on incoming passenger card that says "own funds"
3/visa on arrival is 100 kina
4/air new guinea now do 6 flights per week direct to tari(flight is 90 mins)they fly everyday except saturday.
5/steve answers his e.mail around every 2 months!!!!just turn up......to see birds of paradise you may need a guide from the lodge,just b careful what you end up paying for!
6/maf take passengers,but are restricted due to small planes and the weather.
7/if you want to avoid disapointment i would pre book the flight to and from tari,as these are now usually full due to the mining in the tari area.

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

I was feeling a bit aprehensive after all the bad press I've read, but you've made me feel more at ease.

For 'BoP' I'm going to fly into Hagen and try Kumul lodge first, then if no luck there will try Warili lodge. Air PNG's bonus class flights are only a few dollars more than the wild fare and they allow you to change the dates for $50. Not ideal, but it gives me the security of having a flight but also the chance to change it.

Have also been thinking about Madang for a couple of days. Would anyone recommend this place?

Cheers.

..C..

I though 1 day in Madang was plenty.
Not much there, nice as it might be by PNG town standards.

When I stayed at Kumul lodge in 2006, I emailed them directly and organised my stay that way. Warning: there were a few fleas in the beds. I wore bushman repellant all over me to bed and was fine, however my friend only wore it at the 'enterences' to her thermals (wrists and ankles). Consequently my friend's torso was a mess of bites in the morning.

Having said this, I'd go there again any time. I loved it. The walks were beautiful, and so were the birds.

Another hint.... keep the window open if you use the kero heater in the room. I think I nearly go CO poisoning at one stage.

In POM, I lashed out and stayed at the Airways. Absolutely beautiful and safe.

In Enga, we enjoyed 'The Enga Experience' in 2006. Its worth seeing if its still running. Just staying in the village, bathing in the waterfall, walking around other villages with locals for guides was great.

http://engaexperience.homestead.com/engaexperience.html

It's been a while coming, but I thought I should post up my experiences from PNG.

In the end I flew straight out of Port Moresby to Mt Hagen. My flight was late taking off in Cairns, but the connecting flight seemed to be delayed to, so I made it, just

I was met by Paul, the owner of Kumul Lodge once I landed. I was 1 of only 3 people there for the fist night then had the place almost entirely to myself the the next 5. Probably stayed there too long, but it was being there for so long that I got to see and do more than I expected.

After helping Paul's son Jonathan with a few little things they seemed to warm to me and drove me into Mt Hagen a couple of times as well as visiting Pauls village on 2 occasions. Once with a group of Americans that Paul organised a 'cultural show' for. It was nice enough, but you could tell it was put on especially for the tourists.

They don't check email very often at Kumul, or they didn't use to. I hope I managed to drum into them how important it is to check it once a day at least. That way both they and I could have saved money that I ended up paying an agent in Cairns. So if you plan to go I recommend calling and everyone there seemed to speak good English.

All in all I had a great time. The staff are lovely, the birds amazing, but I'd say 3 nights would be plenty.