Papua Bird Photo Trip: Waigeo, Fakfak, and Arfak Mountains
Space available from January – December 2024
Our Price is US$ per person
Duration: 12 days / 11 nights
Starting city: Sorong (Southwest Papua)
Ending city: Manokwari (West Papua)
Physical difficulty: moderate to difficult
Focus: Bird photography
Max group size: 5 – 6 Pax + 1 Sultan Birding Tour Leader + local guide (every birding place)
Sample Tour Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival Sorong – Waigeo Island
The tours begin with your arrival in Sorong and then will be transferred directly to Waigeo island with a fast and comfortable ferry. On Waigeo island you will stay 3 nights in a comfortable resort with great views both from the beach to the forest. This island located in Raja Ampat archipelago, arguably boasts the most-wanted birds on the tour. The display sites of both Red Bird-of-paradise and the awe-inspiring Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise will be visited during our days on the island. To make it even better, these sites are easy to reach after short 10-minute walks.
Day 2: Waigeo Island
Just a few of the many species that we might encounter include Blyth’s Hornbill, Eclectus Parrot, Emperor Fairywren, Orange-fronted Fruit Dove, and Papuan Drongo. We need to wake up 30 minutes early at 4.30 for breakfast. At 05.00 am we visit the hide of Wilson’s Bird of Paradise until lunch. From our resort, it takes around 25 minutes to drive to the stop point and we continue to walk around 20 minutes to the hide. The afternoon schedule will be as follows.
Day 3: Waigeo Island
In addition to the aforementioned ‘BoP’s, the lowlands of this island offer a huge list of birds, including the localized Raja Ampat Pitohui, Great-billed and Moluccan King- Parrots, Claret-breasted, Orange-bellied and Dwarf Fruit-Doves, Palm Cockatoo, Coconut Lorikeet, Yellow-faced Myna, Papuan Pitta, elusive White-eared Catbird, Brown-headed Crow, New Guinea Friarbird, and Golden Monarch and the Waigeo Cuscus. Our morning will start just like yesterday and after all preparation we step up to the Red Bird of Paradise hide. From the resort, we will drive around 25 minutes to the stop point and walk for 15 minutes to the hide. You can enjoy the bird playing until 8 or 9 am and we go back to the resort for lunch. The afternoon schedule will be as follows.
Day 4: Waigeo Island – Sorong - Fakfak
At 9 AM in the morning we will sail to Sorong. Then by Wings air to Fakfak at 2 PM.
Day 5: Fakfak
Day 06:Fakfak
Day 07:Fakfak – Sorong – Fave Hotel Sorong
Day 08:Sorong – Manokwari – Arfak Maibri Birding Ecolodge
Day 09, Day 10, Day 11:Arfak, Maibri Birding Ecolodge
With so much to see here, we will spend four full days birding the various forests, gardens, and other secondary habitats that flank the mountains, and hold many of the tour’s standout birds. We will visit the display grounds of Magnificent Bird-of-Paradise, Western Parotia, and the bower of the Vogelkop Bowerbird, one of the great architects of the bird world, with an extraordinarily large and decorative bower that far outshines the dour bird itself! While these may arguably be the most famous targets in the mountains, the list of other birds is both extensive and tantalizing, and includes the likes of Vogelkop Superb BoP, If we are extremely lucky we might catch up with Masked Bowerbird, Vulturine Parrot, or the New Guinea Harpy Eagle. The nights will be spent at a community guesthouse. Sometimes owlet-nightjars, Feline Owlet-Nightar, papuan-frogmouth, and Papuan Boobook can be found in daylight.
(We can help you also to arrange the optional camping trip to see: Long-tailed Paradigalla, Arfak Astrapia, Black Sicklebill, and Splendid Astrapia.)
Day 12: Arfak – Manokwari – Transfer Out, END OF THE TRIP
Early morning at 4 AM from Maibri Birding Ecolodge transfer by 4WD car to the airport of Manokwari. End of the trip
TRIP CONSIDERATIONS
PACE: Moderate to Intense. This tour will require long days in the fields and early starts on most days. On some portions of the trip, especially those spent in the hot lowlands, we will have some time off in the middle of the day. At higher elevations, in the Arfak, the birding can stay active all day, and we will have a more intense pace.
PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY: Moderate to occasionally difficult. A lot of the birding is on dirt roads and easy logging tracks and trails, although there will also be a few difficult hikes, some of which are optional.
CLIMATE: New Guinea lies in the equatorial zone and is surrounded by warm tropical seas, with a humid tropical climate and many mountain ranges causing great variation in rainfall. This ranges from moderate to very high, with some montane regions having more than 10,000 mm of rainfall per annum. Temperatures along the coast are hot, above 30oC, but at very high altitudes it can drop below freezing at night, though snowfall is apparent only above 3800 m, and mainly in West Papua, where some relict glaciers remain. Clouds and fog are frequent, especially in the morning and late afternoon, though mornings typically are clear and sunny. Rain tends to come in the afternoon, often being quite heavy but sometimes not lasting for too long, although highland areas can experience quite long wet periods. Clouds cover the mountains and promote the growth of epiphytes and mosses, with very high humidity in the lowland and hill forests.
ACCOMMODATIONS: There is no camping on this tour. However, many of the guesthouses used are quite simple, and some of them only have shared bathroom facilities. In the Arfak, there is only electricity for a couple of hours each night. All other locations have full-time electricity. WIFI is only available in the town hotel.
INFO TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport is required; the passport must be valid for at least six months past your intended stay. Visas on arrival in Indonesia can be obtained for tourists from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and EU countries for stays of under 30 days. There is a fee for this, payable in cash (in US Dollars). Travel requirements are subject to change; we recommend double-checking entry requirements six weeks prior to the tour or asking our office staff for help.
PACKAGES INCLUDED: Accommodation from day 1 through into day 12; meals from dinner on day 1 through to breakfast on day 12, safe drinking water throughout; one arrival and one departure airport transfer per person; ground transport for the group to all sites in the itinerary; Express Boat (VIP Ticket) to get to Waigeo; entrance fees to all birding sites mentioned in the itinerary.
NOT INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGES: Domestic flights during the tour, tips for optional luggage porters in city hotels; camera/luggage porters in the jungle, international flights; snacks; additional drinks apart from those included; alcoholic beverages; visa fees (payable on arrival in Indonesia); departure tax when leaving Indonesia; travel insurance; excursions not included in the tour itinerary; extras in hotels such as laundry service, minibar, room service, telephone calls, tips to drivers, local guides, and lodge staff; and personal items; medical fees; other items or services not specifically mentioned as being included.
BIRDING IN NEW GUINEA
Birdwatching in New Guinea is exciting but difficult and demanding, although the rewards can be fantastic and some charismatic groups are simply “world-class”, parrots, pigeons, kingfishers, and bird-of-paradise being obvious examples. Birds here are usually shy, light conditions and weather are often challenging, the terrain difficult, transport problematic, and not to mention the logistic problems (including frequent unexpected airline-schedule changes). Security problems are ever-present but generally not major, provided that you follow the usual protocols:
• Make sure that you have local people to facilitate access to land, and agree with them in advance how much you are paying and to whom. Most disputes arise over land access, which is very different from Western norms.
• Do not wear valuable jewelry or carry expensive items in urban areas, and be particularly cautious in any large towns. Security in rural area is usually much less of an issue, and so long as you have local people along you will be unlucky to encounter major problems. Most people are friendly and intrigued by birders and what they are up to, but do explain carefully what you are doing.
• Be patient. Losing your temper and demanding things will give the opposite results to what is desired; the phenomenon of payback is alive and well in New Guinea and covers minor things, as well as serious tribal disputes.
Travel in West Papua is quite challenging but has improved immeasurably of late, although the infrastructure may be far less developed and it is advisable to have a good level of fitness to tackle steep trails and wet muddy conditions or hot humid lowlands. Security matters are generally better also.
