some planning and sustainable travel questions

Hi all,

After long time reading, dreaming and planning, I am going to PNG in August with a friend (both of us are females).
The itinerary is New Ireland (biking the Boluminski highway), Mt. Hagen Show and a short Sepik River tour with Johannes Teven.
The internal flights (and most external) are booked as well as the itinerary with Johannes and accommodation in MT. Hagen, but I still have some doubts for the remaining planning:

1. do you have any accommodation reccommendations for Wewak and Kavieng? Being clean and having electricity (for charging camera batteries) are the basic requirements, as we're trying to keep the budget to medium.

2. I've read and heard that on the Boluminski highway, accommodation in villagers' houses in exchange of goods (sugar, coffee, etc) is a regular ocurrence. Is this advisable? My concerns are safety and sustainability (I don't want my touristic activities to impact negatively the villagers' lives). If this is advisable - will there be electricity and what should I carry for exchange?

3. Is there a way to witness the shark calling ritual? Again, from a sustainability perspective - what is the advice?

4. For the Sepik River I also read that tourists are expected to carry gifts for locals (especially kids). Any advice on this?

5. In Mt. Hagen I booked AirBnB in the village and will not go for any other activity apart from the show. Is a guide required/ advisable for going between the show grounds and the village?

Thanks a lot!
Pia

1 in wewak boutique is very nice but it us not budget - search thus and the tripadvisor forum and pages fir other suggestions

2 when i was there the tourust authority set the prices for the inspected 'official' guest houses and they were high - around 100-120 kina - for what was offerred and what you fund elsewhere in png - no doubt there are other family stay guest houses with cheaper prices but i am certain that cash is payment

3 not sure / ask around but you will probably get a performance reenactment rather than the real thing unless you go to the small islands

4 pleae dont give gifts to children anywhere - it
just encourages an expectation and begging - take books pens pencils notebooks and distribute via a school

5 you will be fine just be discreet and get back early long before it is dark

re cycling boluminski

ate you with an organised tour with a van support vehicle ?

the highway is in poor condition especially down to namatanai - if you just head out from kavieng and return then it is possible

Thanks a lot, Majordom!

On the Boluminski we won't have a support vehicle, the plan is to just bike around, stop where we find a spot that we like and repeat for whatever time we have left.
Any idea regarding the availability of electricity here?

Pia

most guesthiuses will have a small generator but yiou may have to pay extra or buy fuel

many places are finally going solar for lighting in png - usually includes a usb charger for mobiles as well

get a small solar panel and battery pack - i have one from anker and a few hours sun charges a phone a whol day charges a camera as well

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Interesting, cause the last few days your profile said you were from PNG...

As my post was already hijacked by guide recommendations I never requested, I'll take the opportunity to urge anybody using this info for planning their trip to make sure they use reliable sources for their planning.
If such sources include forum posts, make sure you have a look at the profile of the user you take advice from.
A forum user with posts on different destinations is more reliable than a user that only posts to repeat the same review of the same place/ tour operator/ guide.

Happy travels
Pia

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