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REMOTE PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Birdquest's Remote Papua New Guinea tour will allow you to experience a very different and rarely seen side of this island nation. Our Remote Papua New Guinea tour features the islands of New Ireland, New Hanover, Tench, Manus and D’Entrecasteaux, as well as the remote Adalbert Range and Huon Peninsula on the mainland, as we go in search of numerous endemic specialities including gorgeous birds-of-paradise, bowerbirds and pittas.

Tuesday 3rd July - Thursday 26th July 2012
(24 days)

Leader: Mark Van Beirs

Group Size Limit: 7

Tour Category: Easy to Moderate for the most part, occasionally fairly Demanding

The stunning Fire-maned Bowerbird is endemic to the Adelbert Mountains and is one of the main targets of this tour (Ian Reid)

During this exciting tour we will visit some of the least-birded parts of Papua New Guinea, including the little-known Adelbert Range and Huon Peninsula on the north coast of the mainland, and set foot on a whole range of islands with alluring names like New Ireland, New Hanover, Tench, Manus and D’Entrecasteaux. For the adventurous birder, a splendid array of exciting endemics is waiting in this little visited region.

Probably the main reason for the birder to travel to Papua New Guinea is the occurrence of what is, without a doubt, the most amazing bird family in existence, the birds of paradise. No other bird family shows such an incredible variety of nuptial plumages and such elaborate courtship displays. On this unusual tour we aim to find five of the least known members of this family.

On the D’Entrecasteaux islands, off the eastern tip of New Guinea, the gorgeous Goldie’s Bird of Paradise with its golden back and red plumes and the bizarre Curl-crested Manucode with its crinkled feathers and unusual twisted tail will be our targets.

On the Huon peninsula on the north coast we will search for three very restricted range species: the glorious Huon Astrapia with its superb glossy-purple tail, the magnificent Emperor Bird of Paradise with its white plumes and green bib, and the striking Wahnes’s Parotia with its brassy-coloured ‘pompom’.

The bowerbird family is also well represented in New Guinea and one of its most exquisite members is the fabled Fire-maned Bowerbird that we hope to find in the remote Adelbert Range.

Our standard tour to Papua New Guinea offers a splendid itinerary through the richest habitats of this huge island and neighbouring New Britain, but there are a lot of exciting birds apart from birds of paradise to be seen off the beaten track, especially on some of the outlying island groups.

Much of Papua New Guinea is still primitive and undeveloped and for some of this adventurous trip we shall have to stay in rather basic accommodations. Roads are rather poor and few and far between. There are some steep mountain trails to cope with in places, so you need to be both fairly fit and determined to get the best from this adventure, as well as psychologically prepared for the inevitable logistical problems involved in trying to reach remote areas, and in particular unpredictable delays to flights and boats.

The first part of our adventure will see us travelling to the rarely visited Manus Island, in the Admiralty Group, which holds seven endemics, of which the legendary Superb Pitta will be our most-wanted quarry.

New Ireland holds eight endemics and shares another fourteen with New Britain, and in the densely forested mountains we will search for White-naped Lory, New Ireland Boobook, the marvellous New Ireland Drongo and many others. Off the northwest tip of New Ireland we will take boat trips to the islands of New Hanover, with its endemic mannikin, and to Djaul which holds an endemic monarch. A long boat trip will take us to the splendid island of Tench with its enormous seabird colonies and the rare Atoll Starling.

Next we will explore the remote D’Entrecasteaux archipelago where, on Fergusson Island, we shall encounter Goldie’s Bird of Paradise and Curl-crested Manucode.

We will then return to the mainland of Papua New Guinea to visit the Huon peninsula with its three endemic birds of paradise and many other interesting birds.

Our last port of call will be the Adelbert range near Madang, where the magnificent Fire-maned Bowerbird will be waiting for us.

Birdquest has operated tours to Papua New Guinea since 1986.

(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)

Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels are mostly of normal Birdquest standard. The small hotels or guesthouses in the Silom district on New Ireland and in the Adelbert Range are fairly simple. In the Huon Peninsula (4 nights) we will have to stay in very basic village accommodation, perhaps with primitive washing/toilet facilities. While visiting the D’Entrecasteaux Islands we will travel on a comfortable boat (that usually caters for scuba divers) with cabins available for single or double occupancy. Road transport is by minibus or 4x4 vehicle. Roads are rather poor and few and far between, but then we do not have to travel long distances on them.

Walking: The walking effort is mostly easy to moderate, but there are some steep and fairly strenuous trails in some areas.

Climate: Generally warm or hot, dry and sunny at lower altitudes, but cooler in upland areas. Overcast weather is quite regular and there is very likely to be some rain, perhaps heavy at times. It will be humid.

Bird Photography: Opportunities are worthwhile.

Tour Price: $9570 Port Moresby/Port Moresby. Price includes all transportation (including all flights inside Papua New Guinea), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.

Single Room Supplement: $1016 (excluding the Huon Peninsula).

Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.

The stunning Superb Pitta is one of the potential highlights of the tour (painting by tour participant Steve Young)

The fabulous Goldie's Bird of Paradise is endemic to the D'Entrecasteaux Islands and seeing it display will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the tour (Mark Van Beirs)

The cute Yellow-billed Kingfisher is a widespread and vocal species all over the New Guinea lowlands which prefers to hide in the subcanopy (Pete Morris)

The Melanesian Megapode (or Scrubfowl) is easiest to see on tiny islands: it flies great distances to reach its nesting colonies in geologically active areas (Ian Reid)

View Map Download Detailed Itinerary 339kb

Report From June 2008/July 2008 Report From June 2010/July 2010 65 photos View Gallery Photos From REMOTE PAPUA NEW GUINEA

The cracking Fire-maned Bowerbird is easiest to find in fruiting trees (Steve Young)

We will encounter the small island specialist Atoll Starling on the remote islet of Tench (Steve Young)

The much-wanted, peculiar and almost legendary Nicobar Pigeon is still common on remote Tench island (Steve Young)

The Manus Cuckoo-Shrike is a recent split from the widespread White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike and we should locate it in forest edge habitat on the island of Manus (Steve Young)

The Bismarck Woodswallow is a beautiful, but rather uncommon Bismarck endemic that we will find on New Ireland (Mark Van Beirs)

We will reach the remote submontane forests of the Huon peninsula after an exciting charter flight in a small airplane (Mark Van Beirs)

We hope to be entertained by the marvellous Marbled Frogmouth during our stay at wonderful Keki Lodge (Ian Reid)

With a bit of luck we should be able to locate the somewhat nocturnal Hook-billed Kingfisher (Pete Morris)

The Mountain Peltops is one of a fascinating pair of species whose taxonomic affinities are still to be decided (Pete Morris)

The shy Fawn-breasted Bowerbird leads an unobtrusive life in fairly open habitat, but attracts attention by its rather harsh voice (Steve Young)

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