Trip report 4 weeks PNG (Aug-Sep 18), Part 1/4: Sepik & Hunstein Range

Hi there,
this is a report of my 4 weeks trip to Papua New Guinea in 2018 from mid August until mid September to Sepik area, Wewak & Yuo island, Rabaul & Kokopo area, and New Ireland.

The conclusion first: It´s a great and super diverse country with warm hearted, helpful and friendly people! The nature and culture is stunning and everybody who has a sense for outdoors and adventure will love a trip down there! Just go! Have a look on my pictures on Facebook or on Flickr(more pictures are following as I still have to sort them out).

I split my report into 4 parts to specifically address the 4 regions mentioned above. My general trip itinerary was as follows:
20.08. - 31.08. Sepik area (Part 1/4)
01.09. – 04.09. Wewak & Yuo island (Part 2/4)
05.09. – 09.09. Rabaul & Kokopo area (Part 3/4)
10.09. – 14.09. New Ireland (Kavieng + Boluminski Hwy + boat to Rabaul) (Part 4/4)

Ok, here comes Part 1/4: Sepik area for 11 days.

The guide:
Before coming to PNG I researched this forum and contacted the Sepik guide <snip> with whom my fellow traveler and me ended up doing the Sepik trip. He is an absolutely trustable, friendly and professional guide with many Wantoks (relatives or basically contacts), which immensely help for traveling the Sepik. He comes from a village close to Ambunti, is in business since 1995 and knows all the places and plenty of people along the river. We were very happy to have him and his crew with us as they did a great job.
Via E-Mail we discussed the tour plan and negotiated the costs (if you contact him, give him up to 3-4 weeks to reply as the network in the Sepik area is bad and breaks down often).

The costs:
The costs of the tour included no food (we bought basic food ourselves in Wewak and stocked up along the river) and we brought our own tents, but the following was included: all accommodation, carriers & local trekking guide, 4 drums of petrol, boat+motor hire, boat crew and boat transport, village site / spirit house fees, his guide fee, driver + car for Wewak to Pagwi, cooking utensils.

The cost split as follows:
3 days trekking to cross the Hunstein Range: 5900 Kina (for two people)
8 days river trip from Bukabuki at April river down to Angoram: 12700 Kina (for two people)
We then agreed on 14500 Kina in total (for two people to share).

The price sounds high (and for sure is), but it is reasonable as fuel prices are high on the river (we saw signs with 28-30K/gallon in several villages), hence with 4 drums á 53 gallons we end up with about 6000K only for the fuel. We needed 4 drums as we traveled in dry season and many shortcuts were dried out, hence we always had to take the long way and used more fuel. I also did a calculation based on the different prices for boat, guide, etc. stated in the LP guidebook for the same itinerary in case to organize everything independently on spot and ended up with 15600 Kina including food, thus a similar price.

With regards to money:
It can be difficult to get cash in Wewak. I did not see an ATM at the airport in Wewak. In town, there are 3 banks, but for one my Visa card did not work and for one other the ATMs were emptied. Especially the BSP bank is often run out of cash as most people have an account there. I got cash at ANZ bank. At all banks the queues were long and you can easily wait for 30 min or more. However, if you need a lot of money e.g. to pay your guide, I suggest to get cash at Jackson international airport in Moresby by ATMs and change some money, as well. However, the disadvantage of changing money is the bad rate. We lost 20% compared to the international rate. The rates at the airport in Moresby and in Wewak were more or less the same.
Changing Kina back to Dollar or Euro is even worse you can lose up to 50%! Thus, I suggest not to change Kina back but rather make some local people, where you stayed, happy or invest the remaining Kina e.g. at Moresby airport into coffee (250 g, 20Kina) or an overpriced souvenir (Mask from 150 – 350 Kina) which is still better than just losing your money.

Food:
It is best, while you are still in Wewak, to stock up yourself on basic food such as canned meat, rice, bread, coffee, jam, peanut butter or even Nutella, and most important big water bottles (or better to avoid plastic as there is absolutely no garbage system, purify your water by yourself). I don´t smoke, but I was told that cigarettes are very expensive on the river, so bring them from Wewak or smoke the local newspapers with local tobacco as people on the river do.

We found the following prices in small local shops e.g. near Ambunti (it is less expensive in bigger stores in Wewak):
0.5 L bottle of water: 4 Kina near Ambunti (1.5 L bottle of water: 4.5 Kina in Wewak)
1 kg rice: 5-7 Kina
425 g canned mackerel (with oil or tomato sauce): 7-9 Kina
200 g canned tuna: 4-7 Kina
200-250 g canned corned beef (with or without sauce): 7 – 17 Kina
1 liter oil: 5-7 Kina
1 bottle Maggi ketchup: 6 Kina
200 g instant coffee: 6-9 Kina
1 Pack of 20 tea bags: 4-7 Kina
1 glass peanut butter: 14 Kina
1 glass Nutella: 20 Kina
1 can of coke: 4 Kina
1 can of beer: 7-12 Kina

Vegetables, fruits, eggs, etc. can be freshly bought from villagers on the river.

What to bring from home:
The LP guidebook in the Sepik section gives a good list of things to bring.
Especially think of your medical requirements as help can be far and long away.
Depending on your itinerary, bring a self-standing mosquito net tent.
Bring high-factor sun protection, as there is nothing to buy.
Bring something to wrap your Sepik souvenir into, as there will be nothing to buy in the villages.
Bring a waterproofed bag for your electronics to protect them from heavy rain!
Bring a rechargeable head light.
For rainforest trekking, I prefer stable trekking sandals, because it always gets wet and muddy. Shoes will be quickly destroyed, filled with mud and will never dry again (thus are terrible to step in the next morning), but sandals are washed easily in the river and you can quickly get rid of the dirt every time you cross a stream. Forget high rubber boots! You will always need to stop to empty them!

For my camera batteries, I brought a solar charger, which was very helpful. Also bring plenty of memory cards. I took a drone with me. As there is no stable electricity net (and simple generators can be dangerous for sensitive electronics due to voltage fluctuation and subsequent burning), I could not charge the 12V batteries and thus I took 5 of them with me. Attention: Emirates does not allow drones in carry-on-luggage, but the batteries have to be placed there. All other airlines require drones as well as batteries to be taken in carry-on-luggage.

Accommodation:
There are several guesthouses mentioned in the LP, in which we also slept during our tour. They are Sepik-style wooden stilt-huts with bamboo floor, one big room inside and palm leafs for the roof. The cooking area is located inside. Sometimes, the room is divided by blankets or small walls into smaller chambers e.g. for guests to sleep inside. Sometimes, there are beds and mosquito nets, but do not rely on this! Most of the time we slept in our own tents which were equipped with an inner mosquito net and outer rain cover. We also used them in most of the guesthouses as especially on upper Sepik and Black Water lakes there were no mosquito nets or beds in the rooms. From Ambunti down to middle Sepik, the guesthouses most often have beds and mosquito nets.
In many guesthouses you can ask for food or (as I advise) bring your own and cook it there.
The only shower I encountered was in Wagu village guesthouse. All other times I bathed in the Sepik or nearby river in the morning and evening. Ask the local people where to bath and when.
You will find pit toilets in all places most of the time. Sometimes the people became creative and installed a western toilet chair or a carved one above the pit to sit down. Bring your own toilet paper.

The detailed itinerary for the Sepik river trip is shown below:

20.08. Arrival in Wewak at noon, overnight CBC Guesthouse (110 K per person)
21.08. Pickup by Johannes Teven in CBC GH, car to Pagwi, overnight in Wagu village
22.08. Trekking to cross the Hunstein range for April river, overnight in forest camp
23.08. Trekking to cross the Hunstein range for April river, overnight in forest camp
24.08. Trekking to cross the Hunsteinrange, arrival and overnight in Bukabuki village at April river
25.08. Canoe from Bukabuki via Paru on Wogamush river to Swagup on Sepik river for overnight
26.08. Canoe from Swagup to Yessan, Maliwai and Apan village for overnight.
27.08. Canoe from Apan to Ambunti, further to Palembei village for overnight.
28.08. Canoe from Palembei to Kanganaman, Chambri, Aibom to Kaminabit for overnight
29.08. Canoe from Kaminabit to Gabimas/Govermas on Korosameri river and black water lakes
30.08. Canoe from Gabimas via Tambanum to Angoram. In late night at 11 pm PMV to Wewak
31.08. Overnight PMV and arrival in Wewak at 6:30 am (20 Kina).

The trip was super nice! The upper Sepik is great for nature and you will see more birds and animal live than in middle or lower Sepik (without the lagoons).
Especially the trekking through the remote and stunning Hunstein Range rainforest, which belongs to the April Salome Forest reserve, was a highlight. However, I only recommend this trek to mentally and physically fit people with trekking experience, as it can get very hard if you are unlucky. The first day behind Wago lagoon directly starts with some steep ascents, which are though during hot and humid mid-day. The first night is spend in a hunters camp, 100m away from a river nice for a swim. The second day starts with flat land until noon and then one steep mountain again until coming down to a river near the second hunter’s camp. The third day leads you through flat forest the whole day, but there are many streams to cross and it can be very muddy. You will come along three other hunter camps during the last day.

The forest is dense and untouched. Most often, there is no visible trek, but a few bush trails, which are only marked by some small machete cuts on the trees. You definitely need some local knowledgeable people to come with you for the trek or you get lost after a few 100 meters. Even with our two local guides from Wagu lagoon who went this way several times, we got lost three times. Then we split and tried to find the track again for about 1-2 hours. Fortunately, we always found it again.
The flora is stunning! I just love rainforests and cannot get enough of all the different shades of green! Regarding fauna, you will see plenty of Hornbills, lesser birds-of-paradise in the morning, other birds, and insects such as huge colorful butterflies. In the rivers you find a lot of fish which are not always small but can have a decent size of up to 50 cm. We saw two iguanas, plenty of lizards, one small crocodile, some snakes, and even for a few seconds a big Kasuar running away into the bush. Sometimes, we came across huge nests (up to 2 m high and 6 m diameter) of megapodes.
We crossed so many rivers that I did not count them; some crossings were on huge trees fallen down across the river, some other times we had to walk through the stream up to our chest while carrying the luggage on our heads.
The track in the mountains directly behind can be quite steep and slippery. Thus you need some good profile under your feet. Trekking during mid-day with high temperature and humidity can be extremely exhausting!
The only thing was the end of the trek close to Bukabuki village where we had to cross swamps with Sago palms for about 3 hours. This was also the only place where I encountered many mosquitos. On the river and in the forest, there were only a few. To cross the swamp, you have to walk on the Sago palm leaves not to get stuck in the deep mud. And you have to be careful not to pierce yourself with the up to 10 cm long thorns of the Sago palms. We were quite lucky to leave the swamps that day, as the next morning there was a flood due to some rain in the mountains and the swamps we crossed the day before were now filled with 2m high water. If we would have started a day later, we would not have been able to cross the swamps and would have been forced to return. But you know, sometimes you just need some luck: it`s an adventure ;-)

Bukabuki village was superb beautiful due to its setting on two hills with great views across the surrounding deep jungle.
Maliwai village on upper Sepik has a very beautiful Haus Tambaran.
Swagup village on upper Sepik was quite interesting due to the beautiful carvings and distinct culture.
In Wagu lagoon there is many birdlife, a beautiful guesthouse and great option to spot the “Lesser bird-of-paradise” in early morning in nearby forest or crocodiles at night. Here it was a little bit difficult for us to reach Wagu village due to the low water in August/September. We were lucky with some rain the days before, which made the journey possible. During that time of the year you can also have bad luck with not being able to visit many places further away from the main river (and due to protection from attacks in the old times, many villages were founded in some distance away from the river, accessed only by small channels).

The middle Sepik does not come along with striking nature as the upper part does, but it has the most interesting culture. You will find fantastic Haus Tambaran in Palembei, Kanganaman, Chambri, and others. In many of these villages, you can also buy beautiful carvings and other art work. Also in Kaminabit, where you find nice souvenirs.
The prices for artwork range from 15 Kina for a small piece to 150 Kina for a decent mask and up to 2000 Kina for a real 2 m high carvers masterpiece. However, be aware not of the weight. Air Niugini up to date only allows 16 kg check-in luggage for domestic flights not connected to international flights. Sending items home is also expensive. To send my pieces home to Germany, I paid 1070 Kina for 6.5 kg parcel (but it arrived safely at home). Then be prepared to also pay at the German customs office, where you will have to pick it up. Also think of prohibited items such as crocodile teeth which you can buy (but due to crocodile protection against intensive hunting I do not advise this!) on the river.

The area around Gabimas in the Blackwater lakes is definitely worth a trip, too! We saw two crocodiles with sizes up to 4 meters and many birds. Gabimas itself has a guesthouse (bring your own tent) for 50 K per night and food is provided. It is run by Dominik (smaristoursblackwater@gmail.com, +675 7398 4895, +675 7239 9041. With public boat from Kaminabit it takes 3 hrs to get there. The beautiful village has a nice Haus Tambaran, a crystal clear mountain river to swim in, a water fall to visit on the nearby mountain, fishing and trekking opportunities and some WWII relicts.

From Gabimas I do not advise to go down to Angoram unless you want to catch a betel nut boat to Bogia. In that case, make sure there is betel nut season on Sepik (it is not in August/September) so there are boats to go that way. Otherwise, you will have to take a rough and uncomfortable overnight PMV to Wewak. They collect passengers from 9pm and start the ride at 11 pm reaching Wewak at 6:30 am, 20K. It is not far but takes so long due to the bad road from Wewak to Angoram as well as several stops each for up to 1 hour. There is also not much to see in Angoram and the river down from Kaminabit to Angoram is not very interesting.
The better option is to take a PMV from Timbunke to Wewak as the road is in good condition (maintained by a logging company) enabling to reach Wewak during the day within 2 hours.

Safety:
I never had issues during my trip to PNG!
However, Wewak is not a nice place and you should be especially careful in the 3 streets of the city center and the big bus stop area. It is not dangerous during the day, but pick-pockets are still around. Think rational and take care of your belongings, which you for sure should not show in big public. Beeing in a group always helps. Avoid that area during night. Night walk from CBC to e.g. tasty and not too expensive Vanilla Room restaurant (35 Kina, 10 min walk) is no problem.

Everywhere else on Sepik, I encountered extremely warm-hearted, friendly and welcoming people! Most of them speak good English, thus nice and interesting conversations are no problem. I have great memories taken home from my trip in that region!

To continue on Part 2/4: Wewak + Yuo Island, see the respective forum entry.

Best,
Alex

Hi Alex - sounds a great trip - a real adventure !

thanks for the report

Majordom

Excellent and useful report!

Cheers,very interesting report!

Hi Echti,
Your trip sounds really great ! I have a look at the forum since I am very interested in going there for the next summer holidays (July and August). Therefore I need to ask you a few general questions. First of all I'll be travelling alone as a female traveller and I wonder if it's easy to find other travellers there to organise a trek with a guide. Is it safe to travel around as a woman alone ? What areas do you recommend to explore ? Thanks for any other advice. Cheers, Nad

once in PNG you are very unlikely to find another foreigner to share time with - there are very few tourists

read all the trip reports here and on the tripadvisor forum - even ones a few years old are relevant

i would be very cautious to go as a single woman unless you have been before or are very used to travelling in poor
and remote areas - sadly many areas are dangerous and even the safer areas suffer from tribal violence or disputes

safest areas would be the islands - new britain, new ireland, trobriands and milne bay and the sepik

the cities especially moresby, hagen and lae are dangerous but the hotels provide a refuge

the highlands especially beyond mount hagen to tari etc. are very sketchy

these are general outlines - there are friendly helpful people all over PNG !

https://smartraveller.gov.au/Countries/pacific/Pages/papua_new_guinea.aspx

Thanks for the information. I guess I'd better find someone to travel with though I'm used to travelling alone but it seems that violence is quite prevalent there. Cheers, nad

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