Ambunti Crocodile Festival

Welcome to Papua New Guinea and the town of Wewak. Feel free to arrive anytime today. A welcome dinner is included this evening which will give you a chance to meet your fellow travellers. Stay: Wewak Hotel or similar. (D)

This morning you will depart Wewak and make your way to Ambunti. The main Sepik River can become monotonous meandering through floating logs and floating islands until you reach Ambunti. In the evening, it will rupture into a vast environment of herons, cormorants, wild ducks, egrets, kites and +1000 species of water birds.

Check into your lodge before enjoying a half day tour to Meno, Tongijamp Yesan and Mayo which are remote communities within the Eastern Sepik. They had not had interaction with man until only recently and have an extremely fascinating lifestyle and culture which you will learn about. This evening, there is an option to go crocodile spotting on the river. Stay: 4 nights local village huts or similar (B/L/D)

Today you will have a full day to experience the Crocodile Festival. Starting off with an early morning trip to Wagu Lake where you will have the oppotunity to witness the bird of paradise. The bird watching in Papua New Guinea is unlike anywhere else in the world, and the best time to see and hear this spectacle is between 5.30 – 6.30am. From here, it is time to return to Ambunti where you will witness the locals display their unique cultures of the mighty Sepik River in competition with each other to show their superiority among their tribal clans. Learn about the ancient traditions as your guide explains the days activities and get up close with with the locals, singsing groups and crocodile Spirit dancers. (B/L/D)

Following breakfast before being transferred to the Crocodile Festival. Enjoy the festival until noon when you depart to visit the traditional villages – Malu and Avative both known for the fishing and unique burial grounds. In the evening, return to your lodge. (B/L/D)

Enjoy a full day at the festival where you may witness a series of fun dugout canoe races, sing-sing groups from different villages trying to outdo one another in decorative display, using the power of the dance and in sheer good-natured exuberance.

You may have the opportunity to visit the haus tambaran or ‘spirit house & is – as the name implies it is the home of the spirits; of ancestors, progenitors, crocodiles and other animals. Upstairs in these houses, carvers and other artisans sit quietly next to their creations – an astonishing array of figurines half-bird, half-mammal; or half-human, part-animal and so forth. (Women require permission to enter the spirit houses). Return to your lodge this evening. (B/L/D)

Today following breakfast, it is a full day to the Middle Sepik. You will visit Palimbe, Yenchan and Kanganamun. These villages have stood firm against the invasion of Christianity. They still have their Haus Tamarans and practice their customs including the initiation and scarification on young boys that depict the crocodile as a symbol of power and strength. The villages are also famous artists and they make carvings with the heads of birds.

Return to Pagwi this afternoon where you will meet your vehicle and transfer back to Wewak. Stay: Wewak Hotel or similar (B/L/D)

The day is yours until it is time to transfer to the airport for your flight back to Port Moresby. (Flight not included). (B)