Goroka Festival, Madang & The Sepik River

Welcome to Papua New Guinea. Upon arrival in Goroka, you will be met at the airport on arrival and transferred to your hotel.

Following lunch at the hotel, head to Keiya village. Here, you will witness some incredible cultural performances, including the ‘Cane Swallowing' initiation ceremony, which is a ritual for boys at puberty and young men, where they swallow up to 30 centimetres of a small cane before pulling it out. There is a sacred understanding that this ritual clears the mind and enlightens the heart and body. Often referred to as Dring Kol Wara (Drink Cold Water) by the Bena people of Eastern Highlands, the initiation is practised only by young men. In previous times, women were never allowed to know about it, much less see it.

The cane is carefully carved to achieve a smooth surface to allow easy ingestion. With careful preparations, final touches are made to bend the cane into a U-shape before hanging it to dry in kitchen huts. It is dried for about one month before being used. Every now and then the dried cane is taken out and left in water to regain moisture to maintain its outer covering. Its length may vary from a metre upwards.

The initiation period may last for two to three months, depending on the amount of pork available for meals in the ‘haus man'. Mothers of young boys cry for their sons, as they are taken away to learn their custom and embrace manhood.

During the course of this initiation, initiates are required to lie on their back, face-up to sleep, as it is believed that that will straighten and elongate the intestines in preparation for the Neheya. Meals provided for the initiates comprise of only pork fat and boiled kaukau (sweet potato), believing that this dish, also known as hosamaya, ensures the smooth passing of the cane along the digestive tract. It is prepared only by elderly women who have gone past menopause. To witness this ancient practice, is a rare experience. Return to your hotel for dinner. Stay 3 Nights: Emanuel Lodge or similar (L/D)

Enjoy an early breakfast, as you depart at 7:30am to get your bearing at the festival. The sing-sing groups start to arrive from 9am. You will be in awe at their body decorations, colourful traditional costumes and vibrant face painting. Learn about the different types of costumes and their significance in the cultures of these people.

Colours, kundu drums and chanting explore your senses, as thousands of warriors, all dressed in their very finest traditional regalia, performing and dancing and in sing-sing. Each group, with their own cultures and languages vow to outclass the other groups. Walk among the dancers, shake their hands and meet them.

Following the festival, you will be transferred to the Tumbuna market for the opportunity to purchase locally made handicrafts, before returning to your hotel late in the afternoon. (B/L/D)

This morning you will enjoy another festival day at the arena with your guide. A picnic lunch will be provided, so you do not miss any of the action.

After the festival at approx. 3.00pm, you will visit the McCarthy Museum just near the showground.

The museum's main collections are artifacts and specimens from the Highlands region, including wooden dishes, stone mortars, stone blades, magic stones and sandstones for making stone blades. There are also some WWII relics on display, including a P-39 Airacobra. (B/L/D)

After breakfast, drive to Madang on the north coast. The roads are bumpy but the scenery is spectacular. Pass plantations and villages until you emerge on the fringe of the coast. A packed lunch will be enjoyed along the way. Upon arrival to your resort, the rest of the day is yours at leisure. Stay 2 Nights: Madang Resort or similar (B/L)

Today, it's time to hit the water and head out to Pig Island. Cruise past some small islets with stilt houses and witness the simple lifestyle of these fisherman villages. Enjoy diving (additional cost) or snorkelling in the turquoise waters of Pig Island. If it is clear, you can see the remains of a bomber plane. Lunch is included today. Why not bring a book along, as you relax on the white sand beach?

This afternoon, you will head out to the Madang Museum. A small but incredibly fascinating museum, you will learn about the 1660 eruption of Long Island. Look for the ceremonial headdress from Bosmum village on the Lower Ramu River. These are worn during the ‘cleansing of the blood', the time in which blood is drawn from a boy's tongue and penis during initiation to manhood. Enjoy a village visit where you will have an insight into traditional, yet simple life by the ocean. (L)

This morning, you will transfer to the airport for your flight to Wewak, (flight not included) the base for entering into the mighty Sepik River. The remainder of your day is at leisure. Stay: Wewak Boutique Hotel or similar

This morning, take a one-hour boat ride from Wewak to a delightful small island, which is home to about five families. Enjoy a true castaway experience, as you slip in family life on the island. Participate in cooking up delicious seafood meals, learning from the locals where the best snorkelling is and learning from the children about spearfishing. This afternoon, you will venture over to lush Kairiru Island and visit the hot springs. Spend your night in a palm thatched bungalow right on the beachfront, as you sink into life with the Marek family, who have lived on the island for over 80 years – certainly an experience that money can't buy. Stay: Naigboi Guesthouse or similar (B/L/D)

This morning, farewell your local hosts, as you head back to Wewak and drive to Pagwi and onto 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 plus species of water birds. Stay: Ambunti Local Guesthouse or similar (B/L/D)

Today you will enjoy a 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.

You may have the opportunity to visit the Haus Tambaran, or ‘Spirit House', which is – as the name implies, 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). Stay: Local Guesthouse or similar (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 Tambarans 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 for artists and they make carvings with the heads of birds. Stay: Kaminibit Guesthouse or similar (B/L/D)

Return to Pagwi today, where you will meet your vehicle and transfer back to Wewak. Stay: Wewak Boutique Hotel or similar (B)

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