Upon arrival in Port Moresby, you’ll connect to your Air Niugini flight from Port Moresby to Mount Hagen. (Air Niugini 186)

Upon arrival in Mt. Hagen, you will enjoy a tour of the Wahgi Valley. Then you’ll be transferred to Rondon Ridge, one of the premier accommodations in the western highlands. Enjoy beautiful views of the valley, which contains some of the oldest evidence of agriculture. After settling in, enjoy the remainder of the afternoon on a guided birding and nature walk in the surrounding nature trails

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your charter flight to Karawari Lodge. Karawari Lodge, poised on the ridge overlooking the river and jungle-clad Sepik Basin, is a world entirely unique. The real fascination here are the people and how they live with the land and how it molds their lives. They still live as they have for generations – rituals, sing-sings, storytelling, food gathering, and preparation. With Karawari’s carefully planned cultural program, daily visits in riverboats are made to selected villages allowing you the opportunity to be able to observe village life and customs, participate in typical daily activities and see re-enactments of traditional ceremonies. You will visit remote jungle waterways where you will find huge lichen and vine – festooned trees, masses of brilliant flame flowers, and a profusion of orchids. The soft dawn glimmers on these waterways and the vast plain erupts with a myriad of birds – the raucous jungle music. Dug-out canoes glide close by the river banks – stilt villages suddenly spring insight along the flowing waters. Here you will see man and the environment as it has been for thousands of years. After you arrive, enjoy lunch, followed by an afternoon visit to a nearby village to learn about the customary process of harvesting and preparing the sago palm; the staple food for the Karawari tribes.

You will be transferred today to the air-conditioned comfort of the MV Sepik Spirit, your home for the next couple of nights. Inspired by the architecture of the “haus tambaran,” or spirit house, the MV Sepik Spirit has a truly unique design.

After lunch enjoy an afternoon tour to one of the local villages. While touring the mighty Sepik you will visit villages where the people are prolific and famous carvers. Here you can purchase many interesting items such as masks, elaborately carved hooks, ancestral figures, hand drums, baskets, bilums and gourds. The Sepik River is one of the largest rivers in the world – in terms of flow. Steeped in mystery, the peoples of the Sepik area have fascinated anthropologists like Margaret Mead since the area was first visited.

Spend two full days exploring the many waterways of the Sepik including the Black Water Lakes. Your journey on this trip will focus on the tributary system of the Sepik River, beginning at the Karawari River and traveling to the Krosmeri River junction and Black Water Lakes. This extremely remote area of the East Sepik Province is home to some of the most untouched villages in the region. Find yourself meandering along the dark water as it weaves through thick jungle, past small riverside villages and men poling silently through the waters in traditional dugout canoes.  More than just a cruise, each day you will travel via an open air jetboat to reach the remote villages, where you will learn the Sepik customs and experience their day-to-day life in modern times which still closely reflects their traditional tribal lifestyle.

This morning you will take a short charter flight across untouched rainforest and mountains to the Tari Valley. The Huli tribe that inhabits this area is the largest as well as one of the most colorful and iconic tribes of PNG. Once you arrive you will be transferred to Ambua Lodge; nestled at the edge of the lush green rainforest and overlooking the serene Tari Valley below. Spend the afternoon enjoying Ambua’s winding forest trails that take you through lush rainforest, past gushing waterfalls, and over traditional vine bridges. While on the nature walk you may chance to observe up to 13 species of the birds of paradise alongside a wide variety of colored flowers, exotic plants, and insects.

Spend this day touring the villages and countryside of the iconic Huli tribe. The Huli’s are famed for their colorful bilas (traditional dressing) and unique traditions. The Huli men pride themselves on their beautiful bilas with their elaborately constructed human hair headdress which they lavishly decorate with flowers, mosses, and ornate bird feathers. Their bilas, combined with their unique sing sing is intended both to enrapture their audience, as well as intimidate enemies. Visit the men’s wig school and tour the local villages to experience how this proud mountain tribe has evolved in the modern age, while still maintaining the stories, beliefs, and traditions of their ancestors.

The Tari area is also home to an incredible 13 species of birds of paradise, as well as numerous orchid species.

This morning fly to Mount Hagen. Today’s full-day tour will include a visit to a local village of Kopeng, located 15km outside Mount Hagen city. Kopeng is a beautiful example of a Melpa village, entrenched in both the traditions of the past and the influences of the present. The villagers will proudly stage a mini show to share some of their central traditions, such as traditional methods of fire-making, log pulling, bamboo cooking, and tapa cloth dressing. The main highlight of your day will be the traditional Melpa singsing group who will proudly perform their celebratory dance for their honored guests.

Via charter flight, make your way to Goroka today. Goroka, home of the famous and intriguing Asaro Mudmen, will be your base for the Goroka Cultural Show. The rest of the afternoon you are free at leisure.

Spend two days enjoying the cultural extravaganza that is the Goroka Show. The shows were first held in the 1950s as a means of gathering different tribes and clans together. At times, there might be more than 40,000 painted warriors dancing to the beat of the Kundu drums.

Among the performers are the legendary mud men of Asaro. Tribal folklore says that centuries ago the warriors of Asaro were defeated in a tribal fight “payback” raid, and, to make themselves look fierce in the process, covered their bodies with grey mud. According to legend, the ruse worked. Their enemies fled at the sight of these ghostly apparitions. The mud men recreate the drama at the Goroka Show.

As your tour draws to a close, fly from Goroka to Port Moresby with Air Niugini. (Air Niugini, 161.) On your arrival in Port Moresby, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

That afternoon, enjoy a half-day city tour. The sightseeing includes visits to the National Parliament (outside view only) and the National Museum. Also, explore the beautiful National Botanic Gardens situated in the spacious grounds of the University of Papua New Guinea, and visit the Hanuabada village (which means “big village”), one of the largest villages in Port Moresby until it’s destruction by fire during World War II. A stop is also made at a PNG artifact shop with a Hugh selection of artifacts from around Papua New Guinea.

You will be transferred from your hotel to the airport for your international flight onward.