- Durata: 6 Days (approx.)
- Cod produs: sepikspirit
Sepik River Cruise: Sepik Spirit Liveaboard Boat
Discover the Sepik River on the famous liveaboard vessel with day trips to Sepik River Villages available.
The Sepik River is your gateway into one of the last frontiers of humanity, the most untouched reach of the earth by modernity, and the cradle of hundreds of different languages. 1146 km long, the Sepik is one of the planet's greatest and most epic river journeys. Vivified in the minds and museums of the world, this prism of fantastic stratified culture up and down an enormous geographic area ranges through hundreds of different and distinct languages and cultures, many still a mystery as to how they got there and why they became so unique. This is where your cultural buffet begins.
Itinerary:
Weekly Departure:
THURSDAY, TUESDAY,
Itinerary:
Day 1 (Tuesday or Thursday):
As you arrive into Mt Hagen today, you will be met and greeted at the airport and transferred to your hotel for check-in. This afternoon you will explore the area of Mt Hagen with your guide. This afternoon you will also have the opportunity to experience the famous Asaro Mudmen and their performance. Activities today can include traditional face painting today and a traditional fire making demonstration.
Transfer back to the hotel for the evening. Highlander hotel or similar. Twin share.
Day 2 (Wednesday or Friday):
This morning you will transfer from your hotel in Mt Hagen to the Karawari Airstrip. As you arrive, you will transfer by a river boat to board the Sepik Spirit for the next three nights.
Day 3 (Thursday or Saturday):
Sepik Spirit Cruise
Day 4 (Friday or Sunday):
Sepik Spirit Cruise
Day 4 (Saturday or Monday):
Today you will transfer back to the Karawari Airstrip for your flight back to Mt Hagen and Port Moresby.
Once you have landed in Port Moresby, you will be transferred to the Gateway Hotel for the night. Twin share.
Day 5( Sunday or Tuesday):
This morning you will be transferred to the international airport in Port Moresby for your flight out.
End of tour.
Included in cost:
- Twin share accommodation
- Tours listed
- Transfers listed
- Cultural Activities listed
- Meals aboard Sepik Spirit only
- Domestic flight from Mt Hagen - Karawari - Mt Hagen
Excluded:
- Travel Insurance (100% necessary)
- Meals outside of the Sepik Spirit Vessel
- Domestic flights to and from Port Moresby
- Personal items (souvenirs, sunscreen, insect repellent, medication etc)
- Visas
- Gratuities
- Day 1: I am warmly greeted by David Kima, who recounts the story and conservation movement of Hogave. We arrive in the middle of the local village mourning of a recently deceased member, a very rare and local experience, totally unplanned. After 3 hours of very rocky road driving, I arrive at the Hogave Conservation Centre welcomed by two villagers who performed a traditional wind instrument that very few locals can play, and incredibly, I become only the second (or third) tourist ever to stay here.
- Day 2: I trek through a truly "virgin" rain forest, one of very few remaining in the world (Congo, Amazon, and PNG), guided by three locals bushwhacking the way with machetes, climb a very wild and steep mountain side equivalent of 200 floors (according to my iPhone) to become the first tourist to reach the top of Mt. Michael. (The way down in the pouring rain was our least favorite moment.) As someone who has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, I can truthfully say this was a much more challenging level of difficulty - There the most I've climbed in one day was 134 floors, 3-4 hours max, with a different day dedicated to a descent, but in Michael, it was 200 floor, up and down in one day, for 10-12 hours, with far steeper and unpaved paths without camps. This hike/trek is only for the fittest of the fit!
- Day 3: I become the first tourist to visit and stay overnight at Hogave Village, an isolated and remote hour-and-a-half walk from HCC, and join the villagers in peeling potatoes and taro, preparing, and eating mumu. I stay overnight with David (another David) and his family.
- Day 4: I join the villagers gathered to enjoy a traditional hunting performance
- Day 5: I get cellular reception for the first time since I arrive in PNG and get to upload and share my first batch of photos with my friends. https://www.facebook.com/grace.forker.7/media_set?set=a.837672754956.1073741876.3501655&type=3
- Day 1: I ride a local bus (!) with my guide Pauline Puipui to Ratavul where I visit to stay with her family. I visit the local beach, listen to the stories of Pauline's parents, and join them for dinner which is mumu with the biggest giant claims I've ever seen in my life! I stay overnight at an authentic hut and bed made of woven coconut leaves.
- Day 2: I try weaving coconut leaves, scraping coconuts, etc. in preparing mumu that we enjoy with the family and neighbors, then string together local currency of shells. https://www.facebook.com/grace.forker.7/media_set?set=a.836154502546.1073741875.3501655&type=3
- Day 3: I am amazed by the first day of Mask Festival with the early morning Kinavai and nighttime Baining Fire Dance. https://www.facebook.com/grace.forker.7/media_set?set=a.837870833006.1073741880.3501655&type=3 In between during the day, I snorkel and sail with dolphins on the way to/from Duke of York Islands where I explore and picnic at the beach. https://www.facebook.com/grace.forker.7/media_set?set=a.836148634306.1073741874.3501655&type=3
- Days 4-5: More amazing moments at the Festival
- Day 6: I climb to the top Mt Tavurvur volcano and explore Rabaul, including the Japanese bunker and barge tunnels, and Rabaul Museum/Rabaul Hotel. What a history! https://www.facebook.com/grace.forker.7/media_set?set=a.837875388876.1073741881.3501655&type=3
-Grace Forker, Comprehensive Multi-Destination PNG Expedition
