EM209B 2016 GOROKA SHOW & KALAM CULTURE FESTIVAL TOUR FRI16-MON26 SEPTEMBER 10 nights Goroka, Mt Hagen, Simbai, Sepik River (escorted small group tour maximum 12 people + guide) This small group tour EM209B (formerly EM207) begins in Goroka for the Show, travels overland to Mt Hagen then hops by charter flight to Simbai for the Kalam Festival then onwards to Wewak and the Sepik River including one night in a village on the mystic middle Sepik, home of the crocodile cult. The Goroka Show is partly an agricultural show and partly a highlands sing-sing. Since colonial days the people of the eastern highlands have come together once a year to display samples of their best crops and livestock to compete for prizes, and to show off their most colourful and energetic dance traditions. The pride of each tribe is vested in its dancing groups which vie for attention and prominence on the dance ground often there are several groups performing at once in different parts of the arena. Sparks fly occasionally on the field as jealousy and competition fuel conflict between tribal groups. At the end of the Show, judges award prizes to the best dancing groups. Cash awards have now taken the place of pigs and brides. The Kalam Culture Festival is a local festival attended by only a few privileged outsiders. Once a year the people of the Kalam tribe around Simbai in the highlands come together to resolve disputes, pay bride price and other compensation payments (usually in the form of pigs), pierce the nose septums of pubescent boys to initiate them into manhood, and feast and celebrate together the traditions of their tribe. Due to no roads from Wewak to Goroka and the high cost of air travel, Sepik River cultural groups rarely make it to the Goroka Show so this itinerary includes the Sepik as a final stop to explore the culture of the riverine tribes. NOTE: EM209B is a wet foot tour that involves up to 1 hour walking in some places to get to villages, clambering in and out of canoes, and several nights sleeping rough in very basic accommodation at Simbai and the Sepik River - village guest houses with clean bedding and hygienic food but rather primitive outhouse bathrooms and only limited electricity for charging batteries. Some physical agility and mental resilience is required for this tour on the other hand if getting into the thick of it is your idea of a tour then this experience will be perfect for you. Also note this is a unique small group tour program originally designed by Ecotourism Melanesia and not offered by any other tour company. The tour price includes a tour development levy to recoup our outlays on designing, reconnoitring and organising this remote area program, plus a share of the group leader s travel costs, various hidden costs like local permits and insurances, retainers for local guides, air-freighting of gear and supplies from Port Moresby etc.
TOUR COST USD 7700 per person based on twin-share or willing-to-share, includes internal air and most meals. Single supplement is USD 900 (guaranteed single room at Goroka, Mt Hagen and Wewak only, possible single room at Simbai and Sepik River). The tour price is subject to change at any time prior to final payment if there are unexpected increases in costs of package components or any major deterioration in exchange rates. TOUR INCLUSIONS (10 nights) Port Moresby airport meet and greet Port Moresby - scheduled domestic flight to Goroka Goroka airport meet and greet, transfer to accom Goroka - 3 nights twin-share 2-star budget motel accommodation, includes continental breakfast and dine-out buffet dinner Goroka arrival day day tour of Goroka town (lunch not included) Goroka - 2 x full day escorted excursions to the Goroka Show with entry pass, fruit, bottled water, pizza lunch Goroka - road transfer to Mt Hagen with enroute stops as per itinerary (lunch not included) Mt Hagen - 1 night 4 star twin share accommodation at Highlander Hotel, includes buffet dinner, hot breakfast Mt Hagen return charter flights from Mt Hagen to Simbai Simbai - 3 days village culture tours and attendance at the Kalam Culture Festival, Simbai including all entry fees and gratuities Simbai - 3 nights 1.5-star twin-share accommodation at Kalam Guest House, Simbai including local style meals and bottled or boiled drinking water Mt Hagen scheduled domestic flight to Wewak Wewak 2 nights 3.75 star twin share accommodation at In-Wewak Boutique Hotel, includes 2 x 3 course choice dinner and 1 x hot breakfast Wewak overnight excursion to Middle Sepik including road and motor canoe transfers, village tours, basic village hut accommodation, local style food and bottled water, private sing-sing performance as per itinerary or similar Wewak - scheduled domestic flight to Port Moresby Port Moresby arrival breakfast buffet at Gateway Hotel Port Moresby departure day ad hoc shopping or sightseeing Port Moresby - departure check-in assistance and farewell at airport Throughout the tour we provide: - services of a full time tour leader - all fees and gratuities for local villages, guides, demonstrators and helpers - all airport/hotel transfers - all road travel by late model mini bus or four wheel drive vehicle with bottled water on board - all water travel by open speed boat, skiff or motor canoe with life vests supplied and bottled water on board - various additional gear that may be required for your safety and comfort in remote areas such as mobile satellite phone, tropical first aid kit, mosquito net, clean bedding, supplementary supplies - daily reconfirmation of flights and arrangements coordinated by our Port Moresby office - 24 hour assistance from our Port Moresby office (phone 7700 5066, 7204 6950 or 7686 8917) EXCLUSIONS International airfares meals, bar drinks and bottled water at hotels except where stated as included tips (not expected, and only appropriate for exceptional service) souvenirs and items of a personal nature airline excess baggage charges (the free allowance on Air Niugini is 16kg + 5 kg). Excess baggage over this allowance cannot be carried on the charter flights at all. Personal items. Bring your own personal medications and first aid kit, personal hygiene requirements, brimmed hat or cap, amphibious footwear (sandals or quick-dry canvas shoes), insect repellent, sunscreen, battery-operated personal fan. Please note that pressurised aerosol spray cans are not permitted on domestic flights in PNG bring pump-action sprays or roll-ons.
PROPOSED ITINERARY DAY 1: FRI 16 SEP 2016 PORT MORESBY / GOROKA (half day tour of Goroka) On arrival at Port Moresby airport you will be met by staff from Ecotourism Melanesia who will assist you to check in for your connecting flight to Goroka. 08:15 Air Niugini flight PX160 departs Port Moresby for Goroka (aircraft: Dash 8-400 turboprop with 70 seats) 09:40 Air Niugini flight PX4160 departs Port Moresby for Goroka (aircraft: Dash 8-400 turboprop with 70 seats) On arrival in Goroka you will be met by Ecotourism Melanesia staff and transfer to your accommodation for check-in then later continue to a lunch venue. Lunch today is not included in the package because some group members may arrive later on the afternoon flight. 13:00 Join other group members for a half day tour of Goroka town, travelling by mini bus. First stop is a drive up to the Mt Kiss lookout from where you will be able to see most of Goroka town and the adjacent Asaro Valley, to get your bearings. Next stop is a 30-minute visit to the JK McCarthy Museum of Highlands Culture which has informative displays of highlands artifacts, traditional dress and customs, then on to the Goroka handicrafts market (30 min) where a variety of cultural artifacts and made-for-sale arts and crafts are displayed for sale including the colourful woven string bags called billums. Another stop will be made at the Goroka fresh produce market where you will see a wide range of sub-tropical fruit and vegetables for sale by villagers squatting on the ground or at tables. If time allows your guide will take you on a scenic drive through the picturesque Bena Bena district. The unsealed back road twists and turns through hills and valleys, passing over creeks with little bridges. There will be impromptu stops at little villages to shake hands with local people and pose for photographs, buy bananas from roadside stalls, see ladies weaving bilum bags etc. Overnight Goroka (2 star budget motel includes continental breakfast and dine-out dinner) TOUR NOTE The two tourist hotels in Goroka (Pacific Gardens Hotel and Bird of Paradise Hotel) are always fully booked out one year in advance for the Goroka Show weekend. Ecotourism Melanesia instead books clean budget motel accommodation and we bus our tour group to the larger hotels for dinner each night.
DAY 2: SAT 17 SEP 2016 GOROKA (Goroka Show) 08:00 We will transfer by mini bus from our accommodation to the show venue (usually the National Sports Institute playing field) in time to settle into our seats before the commencement of the sing-sing performances around 09:00. The tourist seating area has good views of the performance arena and your tourist pass (provided as part of your tour package) gives you blanket permission to enter the performance area if you wish to take close-up photographs. Special toilets for tourists are situated nearby. A number of our local guides and helpers will accompany the group today to interpret the performances for you. We will also be joined by some other Ecotourism Melanesia clients taking a short weekender package for the Show these tourists will be following a slightly different itinerary and will move around in a different vehicle. Fruit and bottled water will supplied for Ecotourism Melanesia clients at the venue today, and pizza will be delivered for lunch. You are also free to poke around the handicraft and food stalls during the day to sample the local fare. Our tour vehicle will make three or four comfort runs to the motel during the day to enable you to freshen up if you wish, but due to the crowds and traffic it may not be able to make individual trips on demand. Overnight Goroka (2 star budget motel includes continental breakfast and dine-out dinner) DAY 3: SUN 18 SEP 2016 GOROKA (Goroka Show) Second day at the Goroka Show as per yesterday. Different cultural groups will perform today and the judging will be in the afternoon. After the conclusion of the dances and judging there will be opportunities to arrange posed photo shoots with your selected individuals and groups our guides will assist in organising this for you is required. Usually the groups or individuals expect a tip if being photographed in portrait after the Show, but there is no photography fee for capturing them while performing in the arena during the main program. If you have grown bored of the show today, after lunch an optional scenic drive south of Goroka to Gasaroka village will be available. No activities are arranged at the village, simply an opportunity to walk around and meet the people, and cross the rickety suspension bridge over the river if you dare. Other guides will remain at the Show ground to assist those group members who prefer to stay and continue photographing the Show performers. Overnight Goroka (2 star budget motel includes continental breakfast and dine-out dinner) DAY 4: MON 19 SEP 2016 GOROKA / MT HAGEN Today we travel by road to Mt Hagen by mini-bus with a couple of interesting stops along the way. 30 minutes out of town we come to Asaro village, home of the Asaro mudmen and stop for a photo opportunity to photograph some mudmen in the village environment without crowds and fences in the background. Another 30 minutes climb up steep highway bends we come to the Daulo Pass, a high altitude biodiversity hotspot where the road winds through swirling mists past giant tree ferns and trickling waterfalls. Local children sell flowers on the side of the road here.
Near the peak of the pass, we will leave our vehicle at the road side and some local villagers will lead us on a walk through the moss forest. The forest is populated by flowering and non-flowering trees and ferns which form a substrate for the growth of a wide variety of saprophytic native orchids, green mosses and colourful fungi, lichens, liverworts and leafy epiphytes: real Lord of the Rings stuff. Birds of paradise also frequent this area. Continuing along the Highlands Highway across the border into the Chimbu Province we come to the snake village where the people keep a variety of native pythons and other non-venomous snakes in semi-captivity for visitors to see and handle. There are also some poisonous species like the Papuan black and the taipan kept in cages. The taipan is the most venomous snake in PNG. If you are not a snake person you can huddle in the mini-bus From the snake village we continue along the winding highway through the Chimbu Province with its precipitous ravines and steep mountainsides amazingly covered in furrowed gardens with people working away in them one foot uphill and one foot downhill to steady themselves. PNG s highest peak, Mt Wilhelm, passes us slowly on our right as we wind our way to Kundiawa town, capital of Chimbu. Here we will stop at the local hotel (pub) for lunch - pay as you go. Basic bistro style food is available such as roast chicken, steak, fish and chips and toasted sandwiches. From Kundiawa the road continues in a westerly direction passing through the small towns of Minj and Kudjip before descending through the Wahgi Valley tea and coffee plantations to Mt Hagen. Mt Hagen is PNG s third largest town after Port Moresby and Lae. On arrival we check in at the Highlander Hotel with just a few hours before nightfall. Overnight 4 star Highlander Hotel, Mt Hagen (premier room, includes buffet dinner and hot breakfast). A little luxury before the basic facilities at Simbai. DAY 5: TUE 20 SEP 2016 MT HAGEN / SIMBAI (walking round the area) 08:00 We check out from the hotel and transfer to the Mt Hagen airport. 09:00 Our charter flight departs for Simbai, a 45-minute flight north of Mt Hagen. On arrival at Simbai airstrip we will be met by local guides with plenty of helpful hands to carry our bags for the 30 minute walk to the Kalam Guest House, a basic but comfortable facility built in local style. On arrival we will be met by a traditional dance group with a welcome singsing then have time to settle into our accommodation until lunch. Lunch at the Kalam guest will likely consist of a tray of salad vegetables and tinned meat or fish with locally baked bread buns make your own sandwiches. This afternoon will be an opportunity to hike around the satellite hamlets around Simbai, visit the community orchid gardens and inspect the Kalam tribal culture museum. Overnight 1.5 star Kalam Guest House (twin share - includes all meals). See TOUR NOTE: About Kalam Guest House
DAY 6: WED 21 SEP 2016 SIMBAI (Kalam Culture Festival day 1) Today is the first day of the Kalam Culture Festival, an important opportunity for you to observe the village people going about preparatory tasks such as collecting firewood and leaves for wrapping food in the earth oven, harvesting food from their gardens (sweet potato, yam, bananas), preparing the food for cooking, and sorting out their traditional dress which involves cutting fresh flowers, collecting fresh bird feathers for decoration, and repairing broken head-dresses. The traditional head-dresses and helmets worn by the young men at initiation are very elaborate and require a lot of care. Some festival activities like pig killing and nose piercing will commence today, in preparation for the feasting and dancing tomorrow. Your group leader as some local guides will accompany you to explore the activities which may be in different locations around the station area. See TOUR NOTE: About the Kalam Culture Festival Overnight 1.5 star Kalam Guest House (twin share - includes all meals). DAY 7: THU 22 SEP 2016 SIMBAI (Kalam Culture Festival day 2) Today we attend various activities of the Kalam Culture Festival. During the course of the day you may float back and forth between the guest house and the festival ground. Simbai is perfectly safe for you to wander around without an escort although locals will be horrified to see you walking around alone (they will think they have failed in their hospitality if no one is with you) so don t be surprised if somebody sidles up and tags along with you to guide you if you strike out on your own. They will not expect any payment for showing you around - Simbai is a non-commercial place where culture and hospitality reign and money is of secondary importance. A special lunch is provided for visitors at the festival venue. In the evening we join the locals for a traditional feast. This will include a range of local vegetables stewed in coconut milk or roasted in banana leaves under hot stones in a shallow pit in the ground (this is called a "mumu"). You may also be offered a meat dish which may be locally raised chicken or game meat hunted from the forest (kangaroo, cassowary or possum). Your hosts will not be offended if you sample only those foods that appeal to you. There will also be plenty of fruit such as bananas, pineapples and oranges. At night there will be a bonfire with traditional story telling where the elders will remind the younger generation of their heritage. Overnight 1.5 star Kalam Guest House (twin share - includes all meals). DAY 8: FRI 23 SEP 2016 SIMBAI / WEWAK Today is a travel day involving a morning charter flight back to Mt Hagen followed by an afternoon scheduled flight to Wewak. 07:00 Breakfast, check out of Kalam Guest House and walk 30 minutes to the airfield. 08:00 Charter flight arrives from Mt Hagen. Load up and depart. 10:00 Check in at the Airlines PNG terminal at Mt Hagen airport. A pizza lunch will be delivered to the airport as there is not much catering available at the terminal. 12:20 Airlines PNG flight CG1421/1604 departs Mt Hagen for Wewak via Lae and Madang, arriving 16:50 (aircraft: Dash 8) Transfer by hotel shuttle to Wewak s best hotel, the Boutique. Overnight 3.5 star accommodation at In-Wewak Boutique Hotel includes setmenu dinner and tropical breakfast. See TOUR NOTE: About In-Wewak Boutique Hotel
DAY 9: SAT 24 SEP 2016 WEWAK / SEPIK RIVER 08:00 Depart Wewak by private four wheel drive vehicle to Pagwi, the jumping-off point to the Middle Sepik River. The road from Wewak to Pagwi is tar sealed most of the way and quite a scenic four hour journey. First you climb steep winding curves from the steamy coastal strip to the cool forests of the undulating Prince Alexander Range. Two hours into the trip you can stop at a roadside market to buy tropical fruits, cooked vegetables and delicious green coconuts to drink (pay as you go). A packed lunch is also provided by the hotel. Descending onto the savannah grasslands of the Sepik Basin, you pass through a number of villages before arriving at Pagwi station on the Middle Sepik by midday. At Pagwi the group will board two or three waiting motor canoes and head down-river approximately two hours to the twin crocodile cult villages of Kanganaman and Palembei. The two villages are located on opposite banks for the river and both villages are around 30 minutes walk inland from the water. The spirit houses in the Middle Sepik are very large and contain an variety of artifacts produced by the initiated men, many of whom are skilled traditional carvers. Anything new-looking is usually for sale whereas anything old and dusty is usually a cultural artefact and not for sale. As the daylight dwindles we will use the rest of this afternoon to explore Kanganaman and leave Palimbei for tomorrow. A cultural group will perform a Sepik River singsing in front of the Kanganaman spirit house before sunset and after dinner in the evening we will hear the elder men beat their large slit-gong drums (garamuts) and play their traditional bamboo flutes unique in Papua New Guinea. See TOUR NOTE: About the Middle Sepik crocodile cult Overnight 1 star village guest house accommodation, Kanganaman - includes local style meals and bottled water. DAY 10: SUN 25 SEP 2016 SEPIK RIVER / WEWAK This morning the group will leave the Kanganaman village guest house and cross the river by canoe then walk 45 minutes inland through the grasslands and lily ponds to Palembei. Like many Sepik villages, Palembei was originally built right on the river bank but over the years the river changed its course leaving the village some distance inland. Palembei is known as the heart of the Middle Sepik being geographically central and also the venue for many of the regional elders meetings and the annual Middle Sepik Culture Festival. Being a Sunday no cultural dancing will be permitted today but we will still be able to explore the village, visit the spirit houses and meet with some of the villagers and inspect the crocodile skin scars of some of the initiated men. A local style lunch of fresh fruit, sago and smoked fish will be served then we will be on our way back to Wewak, first retracing our steps to the river then canoeing two and a half hours upstream (against the current this time) to Pagwi then three to four hours by road back to Wewak. By ordering ahead we should be able to arrange for the hotel restaurant to open late and dinner to be ready shortly after our arrival during the evening. Overnight 3.5 star accommodation at In-Wewak Boutique Hotel includes setmenu dinner and tropical breakfast.
DAY 11: MON 26 SEP 2016 WEWAK / PORT MORESBY / FLY OUT 03:45 Awake and check out of your room. The hotel restaurant does not open for breakfast until 06:00 so just have tea or coffee in your room when you wake. 04:15 The hotel shuttle bus departs for Wewak airport. Passenger check-in usually opens at 04:45 06:10 Air Niugini flight PX125 departs Wewak for Port Moresby, arriving 07:30 (aircraft: Fokker F100 with 98 seats) On arrival in Port Moresby, transfer on the hotel shuttle bus to the Gateway Hotel for a buffet breakfast. Complimentary sightseeing or souvenir shopping is then available this morning until you fly out. TOUR ENDS See next page specific tour notes for this tour See separate document for general trip notes on our escorted small group tours
TOUR NOTE: Personal security in Mt Hagen Mt Hagen is a much more boisterous town than Goroka so it is not a good idea for visitors to walk around in crowded areas. Public drunkenness, bag snatching and pick-pocketing is common. Unlike Goroka which is a focal point for one province only, Mt Hagen is a crossroads for the Southern Highlands, Enga and Western Highlands provinces and unfortunately often serves as a venue for tribal conflicts. During the daytime thousands of villagers from surrounding provinces pour into the town to market, shop or loiter and sooner or later two enemies come face to face and challenge each other (eg hey you re the guy who stole my pig thwack!) followed by a call to arms for any of their tribesmen in the vicinity to join the fray. With fighting often flaring up without notice around bus stops, markets and shopping areas, these fracas are then taken advantage of by opportunists with occasional looting of shops while tribesmen are busy brawling and police are trying to break them up. TOUR NOTE: About Simbai Simbai is an isolated district in the highlands. It is located approximately halfway between Mt Hagen and Madang. Administratively the area falls within the Madang Province but culturally the people of the Simbai area are more similar to the highlands tribes than the coastal peoples of Madang. The area surrounding Simbai airstrip the Simbai River valley to the east and the Kaironk River valley to the west is populated by the Kalam tribe. Archaeological digs in this area indicate that the Kalam people have occupied the Simbai area continuously for more than a thousand years. The dialect spoken by the people here is one of PNG s most unusual languages, characterised by glottal stops. The traditional culture here is also unique among Papua New Guinea s eight hundred tribes. Native houses have a trademark irregular hexagon shape, men s initiation ceremonies feature nose-piercing and pig-killing, and on special occasions the initiated men wear huge cane-framed head dresses the largest in Papua New Guinea decorated with animal skins and the exoskeletons of thousands of luminescent green beetles collected from the forest. Just an hour s walk from the airstrip brings you to primitive villages where time has stood still and the local people still live in grass huts, still wear traditional dress and still hunt game and harvest fruit and vegetables from the forest for their diet. TOUR NOTE: Flights to Simbai The small aircraft which fly between Mt Hagen and Simbai operate under visual flight rules (VFR) and cannot take off from Mt Hagen if Simbai is known to be under cloud cover (otherwise they will waste time and fuel if they have to turn back). On some days Simbai is crystal clear first thing in the morning and aircraft can fly in early. Other days there is morning fog at Simbai and flights cannot land at Simbai until the fog lifts. On most days high altitude cloud cover closes the airstrip again mid-afternoon but sometimes earlier. Therefore our departure time out of Mt Hagen cannot be confirmed in advance and all we can do is get to the airport early and be prepared to fly either first-up or later in the morning once the pilot receives a radio report of clear visibility at Simbai. The clear weather window is normally between 09:00 and 14:00. There is a 10% risk that our flight will not operate at all today if the cloud cover at Simbai is particularly heavy, if the aircraft has a technical problem or if the pilot is sick (there is a shortage of both aircraft and pilots in PNG and there will not likely be a spare of either on the day). If our flight to Simbai today does not happen, an alternative activity will be arranged in Mt Hagen for today and the flight rescheduled for next morning. It s unlikely this will happen but we like to inform our clients in advance of potential disruptions. If we do have an extra night in Mt Hagen your hotel accommodation and meals will be covered by Ecotourism Melanesia. Obviously the same risk of disruption applies for the return flight sector from Simbai back to Mt Hagen and it s possible we may have to spend an extra night at Simbai thus missing some of the following itinerary activities. Please note missed activities are not refundable in this circumstance. Flight cancellation two days in a row is extremely unlikely as August is generally a good time of the year for travel to Simbai, and experiencing disruptions both on the way out and on the way back is improbable it certainly hasn t happened to us before. The tricky weather at Simbai is one of the reasons why other tour companies do not offer Simbai in their tour programs. However over the past 10 years Ecotourism Melanesia has learned how to work around the Simbai weather issue by informing our clients in advance of possible delays or disruptions and asking our clients for their patience while sitting at the Mt Hagen airport waiting for a clear weather report: may we suggest BYO deck of cards, Sudoku puzzles or Tom Clancy mega-novel All our past clients will tell you without hesitation that visiting with the Kalam tribe at Simbai was the absolute highlight of their trip to PNG and is well worth any waiting time.
TOUR NOTE: About Kalam Guest House Kalam Guest House is a basic but clean and comfortable facility built with local materials and operated by the Simbai community as a non-profit venture designed to attract more visitors into the area. The guest house has ten twin rooms with clean bedding supplied. The bathroom, which has fresh water and a sit-down toilet, is shared but it is unlikely that there will be any other guests staying apart from our tour party so we should have the place to ourselves (hardly any tourists come to Simbai and the guest house mainly accommodates visiting government officers, coffee buyers and the occasional intrepid salesman). Electricity is supplied in the evenings by a small generator. Local style meals prepared by Simbai ladies are served. In front of the guest house is an open area that the locals use as a meeting place and sing-sing ground. TOUR NOTE: About the Kalam Culture Festival The Kalam tribal culture festival is held in the third week of September with the highlight being the initiation of young boys between 12-15 years by nose piercing ("sutim nus" or shootim-nose). The festival traditionally features pig killing, bride price payments, debt settlement, feasting, dancing and singing. This is not a show put on for tourists (there are no tourists - yet), it is a genuine cultural phenomenon when all the surrounding village people flow into Simbai station for the occasion. Visitors simply stand and watch in amazement as initiated Kalam men parade around the station with their huge head-dresses decorated with bright green beetle exoskeletons. Most of the festival activities are informal and do not run to a fixed schedule. You will be free to move around on your own or with a local guide in tow, mixing freely with the local people attending the event. There will be a few other visitors around but not many, probably less than 20 apart from our group. The day s festival program will be a mixture of organised (or disorganised) and impromptu activities. Dance performances and nose-piercing ceremonies may be scheduled for particular times (and may or may not occur at those times!) and bride price and compensation payments may take place without notice. Bear in mind that the festival is a local cultural phenomenon that we have the privilege to observe, and is not staged for our benefit so we cannot expect the program to run with our Western concept of punctuality. And the fact that this festival is a bona fide cultural event is, of course, the reason why we have come to witness it! The first activity of the festival on the Thursday morning will be the pig killing ritual which is part of the initiation of boys to become men. The ceremony involves clubbing a number of pigs to death and these are later butchered and cooked in the earth oven. This is not a sight for the squeamish so we suggest you give it a miss if you think you might find it disturbing or if it might put you off your pork chops. The pigs heads are cooked separately from the other meat overnight and taken out of the earth oven the next day this is part of the initiation ritual. Nose-piercing of initiates also takes place today a sharp stick or cassowary quill is used to pierce the septum of the nose to enable a nose piece or nose ornament to be worn. TOUR NOTE: About Wewak Wewak town (population around 50,000) is the jumping-off point for the Sepik River and the Wewak Islands. A smaller town than Madang, Wewak is less tourist-oriented and the local economy is mainly based on commercial fishing. There are three good hotels and a number of smaller motels and guest houses. From Madang there are two roads leading to the Sepik River (one to Pagwi on the Middle Sepik and one to Angoram on the Lower Sepik) and charter aircraft operate from Wewak airport to airstrips along the river at Ambunti (Upper Sepik), Timbunke (Middle Sepik) and Karawari (a tributary of the Sepik). From the Wewak waterfront open speed boats travel 40 to 60 minutes to the outlying Wewak Islands, Muschu and Kairiru. TOUR NOTE: About In-Wewak Boutique Hotel Situated on a cliff top overlooking the Bismarck Sea the In-Wewak Boutique Hotel is a plantation-style property, less than 10 years old, featuring white-painted rooms with sterile clean bathrooms, white stucco facade, and wide verandahs with stiff sea breezes in the afternoons. By far the best hotel in Wewak, this hotel offers international-standard comfort and service in a small boutique package. The restaurant serves superb local seafood and the a la carte menu is a match for any of the larger hotels in Port Moresby. Breakfast and lunch are served in the café and represent good value. Dinner is served in the larger fine dining restaurant. Dial-up internet is available from user terminals near reception. There is a small freshwater pool but no beach access. In-Wewak Boutique Hotel is quite a distance from shops so self-catering in the rooms is not a viable option unless you bring food with you from Port Moresby. www.inwewak.com
TOUR NOTE: Sepik motor canoes The Sepik River and the neighbouring Ramu River are the only places in PNG where you will find motorised longboats or motor canoes. Elsewhere in the country, locally made fibreglass dinghies (called banana boats because of their curved design) are more common. Up to 10 metres in length, Sepik motor canoes are carved from whole tree trunks and take about 3 months to fashion. On the Sepik River you will see such canoes carrying up to 30 people or large quantities of fuel drums or other cargo weighed right down to the waterline but for comfort and convenience we load only 4 tourists plus baggage and supplies into a medium sized canoe (6-7 metres long with a 30hp outboard motor) or 6 tourists plus cargo into a large canoe (8-10 metres long with a 40hp engine). We do not own our own canoes: we hire them from local village operators in support of our responsible tourism policy. Sepik motor canoes are very safe and in all our years of operating Sepik River trips we have never known a canoe carrying tourists to capsize or sink. This is because when the makers carve the canoe they leave the wood at the bottom of the canoe very thick and carve the sides and prow thin. This way the centre of gravity remains low and the canoe tends to remain upright and not tip over. For stability reasons we prefer not to place cane armchairs in canoes for tourists to sit on (as do some other tour operators) because when passengers sit high in the canoe this raises the centre of gravity of the canoe and makes it roll from side to side and increases the risk of a passenger toppling out of the canoe when standing up in the canoe to stretch or take a photograph. The local people normally sit cross legged right down in the bottom of the canoe and for safety reasons we prefer our clients to do the same, although we normally provide a cushion or sleeping bag to sit on for comfort. We do provide life jackets and encourage you to wear one even if you are a strong swimmer because the Sepik River has very strong currents that are hard to swim against. Although none of our tourists have yet fallen out of a canoe, if it does happen to you the best strategy is just to float in the current until you are washed onto a sand bank at the next river bend or until the canoe comes around to pick you up. Don t try to swim against or across the current. The biggest danger with Sepik canoe travel is sunburn. Apart from applying sunscreen we recommend you wear long sleeves and hold a sturdy umbrella (which we normally provide) or wear a large wide-brimmed hat while travelling in these open canoes. Despite the brown colour of the river it does reflect a lot of solar radiation upwards under your umbrella or the brim of your hat so it is important to apply sunscreen to the undersides of your face and arms as well. TOUR NOTE: Crocodiles on the Sepik Crocodiles play a major part in the lives of the Sepik people. Apart from their centrality to spiritual beliefs, crocodiles are important for the local diet and the village microeconomy. Everywhere in the Sepik River basin, the crocodile is an occasional source of protein for the village diet, and crocodile skins are sold for cash to outside buyers. The collecting of crocodile eggs in the wild and hatching them in crocodile farms is an ongoing threat to the wild population. WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is educating locals about sustainable harvesting of wildlife resources and encouraging them to turn to alternative sources of income such as ecotourism. The two species of crocodile prevalent in the Sepik basin are the common saltwater crocodile (Crocodilus porosus) and the New Guinea freshwater crocodile (Crocodilus novaeguineas). These days the wild populations of both species are retreating to the more remote tributaries of the Sepik that are furthest from their major predator: humans. It is unusual to see crocodiles along the main human-occupied areas of the Sepik River proper these days, as the constant passage of motorised dinghies and other small boats has driven the crocodile population up into backwaters. Very large crocodiles are rare these days and no monster man-eaters have been caught in the past 10 years. TOUR NOTE: About the Middle Sepik crocodile cult Crocodiles (known locally as pook-pooks ) play a major part in the cultural heritage of the Middle Sepik people. Crocodiles are animal totems symbolising strength and power. In the Middle Sepik crocodile cult villages from Korogo down to Kaminabit the attributes of the crocodile are so envied that the men even try to make themselves look like crocodiles. The initiation of boys into adulthood involves a painful and bloody scarification ritual during which dozens of small cuts are made all over the back from shoulders to hips, and pockets of skin are lifted away from the flesh. Upon healing, this leaves raised scars that resemble the bumpy hide of the crocodile. Such initiations are carried out in secret only once or twice a year and outsiders are not normally allowed to witness the cutting ritual although increasingly villagers are accepting large cash inducements from film crews and wealthy tourists for permission to observe and photograph their young men undergoing the skin cutting. Once initiated, the men of the crocodile cult may sit in the Haus Tambaran (men s spirit house) and participate in pagan cult practises such as communing with the ancestors. Middle Sepik men who are not initiated (for whatever reason eg due to Christian religious beliefs, due to living in the city and not having the opportunity, or due to being frightened of
the pain), are not permitted to enter the Haus Tambaran. However in most villages the initiated men do allow outside visitors, including foreign women, to enter.