Flying into Goroka airport you will be required to connect via Port Moresby International Airport. Make your way to Goroka where you will be met by your guide and transferred to the Bird of Paradise Hotel.

Your Guide will host a tour briefing at the hotel at 630 pm.

ACCOMMODATION

Bird of Paradise Hotel (1 night)

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Complimentary Airport Arrival Transfer

MEALS INCLUDED

Dinner

Today, discover the culture and heritage of Jonteve tribes in a nearby village. You’ll be invited to take part in a unique range of traditional activities, including having your face painted by local villagers, witnessing a courting ceremony, playing bamboo flutes with village elders and trying your hand at some target practice using a bow and arrow. You’ll also learn the art of weaving baskets and bilums (colourful handmade string bags), and take part in a private sing sing (ceremonial gathering of local tribes). Enjoy lunch in the village.

In the late afternoon, after a full day of new experiences and cultural immersion, return to the hotel for some RnR.

Flying into Goroka airport you will be required to connect via Port Moresby International Airport. Make your way to Goroka where you will be met by your guide and transferred to the Bird of Paradise Hotel.

Your Guide will host a tour briefing at the hotel at 630 pm.

ACCOMMODATION

Bird of Paradise Hotel (1 night)

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Henganoffi Village Day

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

We will be departing this morning to the nearby village of Kemase where we will be welcomed with sing sings.

We will then walk to the skull caves where there are some remains of the village’s ancestors. Afterwards, take a trip around Goroka with your leader. Get a dose of history at the JK McCarthy Museum, discover how beans are processed at a coffee factory, and browse the colourful produce stalls at a local village market

ACCOMMODATION

Bird of Paradise Hotel (1 night)

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Kemase Village Day

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

After breakfast this morning, depart the hotel at 8 am and make your way to a nearby village, passing through the Daulo Passage (around 2,480 meters above sea level) on the way. Experience a cultural show put on by the Asaro mud men, who are famous for their eerie ceremonial masks and clay-like body paint. According to legend, the tribesmen were once defeated by an enemy clan and forced to hide in the nearby Asaro River. When they emerged covered in the clay, the enemies were scared off by their ghost-like appearance. The mud men adopted the intimidating costuming for subsequent battles. While in the village, witness a fire-making ceremony, learn the art of fire-making and enjoy a traditional Mumu lunch cooked in an earthen pit.

We then take a 4 WD drive to Chimbu Province where we will stay at a Betty’s Lodge.This car ride will take approximately 4 hours.

ACCOMMODATION

Betty’s Lodge (1 night)

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Asaro Valley

Traditional Mumu Lunch

Mudmen Village visit

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Here Betty’s lodge will be showcasing the cultures within the Chimbu Province. Betty’s Lodge is a family run business, dedicated to the development of the Mt Wilhelm area namely tourism, agriculture and trout farming. Betty is a passionate conservationist who has been in the area since 1987 working closely with the surrounding community, employing local people to work on the farm and as guides and porters on trekking adventures.

ACCOMMODATION

Betty’s Lodge (1 night)

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Chimbu Province Cultural Day

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Today we travel to the Kumul Lodge, which is one of the best-known landowner eco-tourism lodges in Papua New Guinea. Made out of local materials, entirely owned and managed by local people and employing local guides you can be sure that your money is helping to support the people of the immediate area. The presence of the Kumul Lodge helps to preserve the surrounding forest as a home for some of the most beautiful and unusual birds in the world.

Have your cameras charged as this tour we are in for a treat. We will be looking travelling to an area renowned for great bird sightings. After checking in we will be commencing one of our bird watching tours

We will be back in time to sit at our lodge and view some of the birds visiting the lodge for an afternoon frolic in the bird area.

ACCOMMODATION

Kumul Lodge (1 night)

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Birds of Paradise Trek

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

We say farewell to our wonderful South Sea Horizons Highlands team and travel to Rabaul today.

We make our way to Kokopo, East New Britain Province.

Note: this is a different airport to the one you arrived in so please make sure you book flights our of Mt Hagen to Port Moresby and not our of Goroka.

ACCOMMODATION

Gazelle International (1 night)

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

The Duke of York Islands is the place to really explore and experience the real PNG. We will cruise around the islands and hear some of the histories whilst taking in the wonderful array of colours and vibrancy of this small archipelago. On our voyage watch out for dolphins, the fanciful dugong and local fishing canoes. The waters around here are crystal clear, azure blue lagoons with white sandy beaches and lush green vegetation, paradise in its truest form!

There’s also the option today to stop on Mioko Island and learn more about traditional weaving, cooking and fishing, Your leader will arrange for an island tour. After our tours relax and unwind and forget about the world for the evening and enjoy the hospitality of the Local Duke of York Islanders.

ACCOMMODATION

Village House (1 night)

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Wake up early to take in sites of the island life. After an early breakfast, your guide will give you a brief on what to expect today before we depart the Duke of York Islands and will be dropped back at Vunagum by mid-morning. We will commence our tour of Old Rabaul. You will need good walking shoes or waterproof sandals today, as there will be some walking on uneven surfaces. Our tour of the area today will include:

Rabaul Markets ­ A stops off at Rabaul Markets. Here we take a stroll around the markets to explore. Make sure that you have some small denominations of PNG Kina (5­- 10 Kina notes) so you can pick up some trinkets here as well as try some local fruits or snacks.

Yamamoto’s Bunker ­ Yamamoto’s bunker. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was the genius behind Japan’s early naval successes during World War II.

Japanese Submarine Base ­where the Japanese stored their Submarines during the war before a stop off at the Volcano Observatory – a lookout over Old Rabaul and a fantastic photo spot.

Japanese Tunnels and Barge Tunnels at Karavia Bay ­ We take a walk in the maze of tunnels, which goes down around 20 m deep. The tunnels consist of 3 stories, including a kitchen and a myriad of escape routes.

ACCOMMODATION

Gazelle International (1 night)

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Today we will take a relaxed look around Kokopo Town. Starting off with a visit to the Bitapaka War Cemetery. Here your guide will give you an insight into the unique history that East New Britain has to offer.

We move onto the Kokopo Market and where you will see a vegans delight. Fresh organic produce from village plots are brought to the Kokopo market daily. Your guide will walk you through the various fruits that are in season.

We will then head back to our hotel to rest before this evenings farewell event the Bainings Firedance. You will be required to have an early dinner tonight as we will take a drive out to the firedance performance areas.

After an early optional dinner, head up to Kainagunan or Gaulim Village in the Baining area (approximately 50 minutes from the hotel). Here you’ll watch as the men from the Baining clans immerse themselves in flames and escape unscathed. It’s an exhilarating ritual performed nowhere else in the world. Interestingly, the Baining people are one of the few cultures in PNG that doesn’t use the Kundu drum; they use bamboo instead.

We will return to the Hotel around 10 pm this evening.

ACCOMMODATION

Gazelle International (1 night)

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Today we say goodbye to our Rabaul South Sea Horizons team as you board your plane and leave East New Britain and onward to your next destination.

INCLUDED ACTIVITIES

Complimentary Airport Transfer

MEALS INCLUDED

Breakfast