Budget trips to Papua New Guinea (1 Viewer)

[Picoides arcticus]

Hello all! I am currently planning a trip to bird in Papua New Guinea for my 40 birthday in 3 years so would like to start planning and saving now. I would love to see families new to me as well as more diverse kingfishers. Are there any ways to SAFELY go birding in New Guinea while on a tight budget/time frame? Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

[DMW]

Hello all! I am currently planning a trip to bird in Papua New Guinea for my 40 birthday in 3 years so would like to start planning and saving now. I would love to see families new to me as well as more diverse kingfishers. Are there any ways to SAFELY go birding in New Guinea while on a tight budget/time frame? Any help or advice is appreciated.

New Guinea, yes. Papua New Guinea no.
If you want to do a safe and low cost trip to the island of New Guinea, you go to West Papua, which is part of Indonesia. If your time is limited, I suggest doing the Arfak Mountains, Sorong area, Waigeo island, and Nimbokrang.
Go to the Cloud birders website and download independent trip reports.

 

[temmie]

Ofcourse Papua New Guinea is doable

check e.g. :

https://www.cloudbirders.com/be4/download?filename=VANDERSPEK_Papua_New_Guinea_03_2016.pdf

You can also go semi-independent with Sicklebill safaris:

https://www.cloudbirders.com/be4/download?filename=TALBOT_PapuaNewGuinea_0708_2017.pdf

https://www.cloudbirders.com/be4/download?filename=EADE_PNG_0607_2019.pdf

in short: you need very, very careful planning with regards to internale flights and transport on the ground. You can't just randomly bird, but you can, e.g. arrange Varirata and some lodges in the central highlands (after an internal flight) + transport between the capital to Varirata, Mt Hagen to certain lodges (maybe those lodges can do this),... In this way, you can self-arrange a comprehensive tour, but the main issue will be that you remain restricted, and in case of mishaps / bad fortune, you're on your own in Papua which is not something everybody wants to deal with or can even deal with.

 

[jurek]

Check some similar threads early. Generally, PNG is very expensive compared to the quality and unsafe, the Indonesian part is much cheaper and more friendly, although still rather unpredictable and basic.

 

[Picoides arcticus]

What would a guided trip that spent a couple of days in Varirata followed by a couple of days on one of the offshore islands be like cost-wise? What is island melanesia like compared to mainland PNG?

 

[dandsblair]

Not an expert but based on our limited experience Melanesia ( in our case New Caledonia) was much cheaper than PNG mainland or PNG islands. However Waigeo and other Islands of West Papua (Raja Ampat) were much cheaper and had excellent birding.
So could be worth flying Port Moresby to Sorong (not direct) and then a ferry to Waigeo after Variata.

 

[jurek]

Probably closest to your dream is visiting only West Papua where there are the same families, diverse kingfishers and birds of paradise - alhough often related but equally impressive species as in PNG. Note that it is easier, but far from easy and safe destination either.

Definitely check past threads on BF because many people had the same dream of doing New Guinea independently.

 

[njlarsen]

New Guinea, yes. Papua New Guinea no.
If you want to do a safe and low cost trip to the island of New Guinea, you go to West Papua, which is part of Indonesia. If your time is limited, I suggest doing the Arfak Mountains, Sorong area, Waigeo island, and Nimbokrang.
Go to the Cloud birders website and download independent trip reports.

Not everywhere in the west seems that safe either:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/05/world/new-zealand-helicopter-pilot-killed-in-indonesia-papua-region-intl-hnk/index.html

Niels

 

[DMW]

Not everywhere in the west seems that safe either:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/05/world/new-zealand-helicopter-pilot-killed-in-indonesia-papua-region-intl-hnk/index.html

Niels

This is basically like reading a news report of weekend shootings in Chicago and warning that the US is unsafe! All the locations I mentioned are, to my knowledge, safe to visit.

 

[temmie]

Not everywhere in the west seems that safe either:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/05/world/new-zealand-helicopter-pilot-killed-in-indonesia-papua-region-intl-hnk/index.html

Niels

True, and e.g. the Lake Habbema area isn't accessible for some years. I don't know the details but I heard it has to do with tribes fighting over land rights, and tourists (who are paying for access on those lands) inevitably are a point of discussion (tourists visiting the land of tribe A = money for tribe A, but if tribe B doesn't agree the land belongs to tribe A...).
In any case, as DMW writes above, there are 'safe' parts and it isn't hard to figure out where. But also for those parts, it takes a local guide as land rights are an issue / point of concern everywhere in (W-)Papua.

 

[jurek]

BTW, you are interested in kingfishers - note that most of them live hidden in jungle thickets and are difficult to see. I still did not see the Shovel-billed Kookaburra. I did get a good view of the Hook-billed (a common but very shy dweller of dense vine tangles) by putting a phone on a tree, so it would fly up to be higher than the opponent.