Our Papua New Guinea Highlights tour has been specifically crafted to take in the region’s very best sites, from Mount Hagen and Rondon Ridge to the lowlands of Varirata, and is designed for those with less time to spare in the field, yet still wishing for a comprehensive overview of this exceptional land. Time is spent in areas rich with avian diversity giving ample opportunity for finding many of the area’s most sought-after species including representatives from all of Papua New Guinea's endemic bird families. Fabulous birds-of-paradise will also feature highly, while we will also enjoy some incredible fruit doves, kingfishers, parrots, honeyeaters, and bowerbirds. This tour can also be linked with our Adelbert and Huon Extension for a wonderful two-week exploration.
15+ Bird-of-paradise species!, Zoe’s Imperial Pigeon; Pheasant Pigeon, Wattled Ploughbill, Crested Satinbird, Painted Quail-thrush, Brehm’s Tiger Parrot, Papuan Lorikeet, Lesser Melampitta, Emperor Fairywren, Crested Berrypecker, Mottled Berryhunter, Mountain Firetail
Spectacled Dasyure, Black-tailed Giant Rat, Agile Wallaby
lowland and montane rainforest, secondary forest, Eucalyptus savanna, mangroves, grasslands, wetlands
hot and humid with tropical showers in the lowlands, cooler in the highlands
8 with 1 Rockjumper leader
moderate pace with some longer hikes
comfortable to luxurious hotels and lodges
moderate, can be challenging at times
worthwhile
Glen Valentine was excellent, seeing and hearing most of the target birds, despite a very chatty, enthusiastic group that must have been very challenging at times.
"Andre and Lev were excellent guides, and ensured we had a great time, even when birding, the weather, or the inevitable logistical challenges of travel within PNG seemed to do their best to thwart us. They did an excellent job of managing expectations, but also ensuring that as many people in the group got to see the birds, while also understanding that not everyone would see ingle bird. Difficulties, whether with accommodations, weather, or even participants, were dealt with quickly, and I have no doubt far more issues were cleared before the group was even aware they existed! I look forward to returning to New Guinea (including West Papua) with Rockjumper soon, and also exploring more birding destinations with Lev and Andre or the other excellent guides you have!"
Glen is always a pleasure to travel with and his professional yet friendly manner was appreciated by the whole group. He knows his birds extremely well and works hard to get everyone in the group onto the birds. He has a great memory for names and always remembers and greets by name, local guides, drivers, hotel staff, etc that he has met on previous trips. The trip went very smoothly, due to his excellent handling of logistics.
[This was] my third trip with Adam Walleyn and I will definitely go with him again. He is constantly looking and working to find the birds---during lunch breaks, after the day ends, on the bus. He never stops and it pays off. He works hard to get everyone on the birds and remembers special needs that various members of the group have. He took a lunch break one day to spend time with me looking for one bird that I had repeatedly missed. We didn’t find it, but the effort was very much appreciated and noticed. He gave me some pointers and I did find the bird later on during another break.
Birding in PNG was a little more challenging that expected, ..... the birds are as shy as anything I've experienced and the bird densities were extremely low. Of course that is not the fault of Rockjumper or the guides. The tour was excellent overall. The main guide, Stephan Lorentz, was really top class. His knowledge of the birds and calls and the fine id details was exceptional and his field skills were awesome, outdoing the local guides at times. And he is extremely personable and friendly. The local guides were also excellent and provided an exceptionally high level of field skill and support, and great enthusiasm in getting pax onto the more challenging birds. And physical support also, including even helping some of the pax on slippery slopes and cutting stairs on river landings at times!! The landed arrangements were generally slick and the accommodation of good quality. Some delays in getting collected at Kiunga airport were I think down to some communication issues with the local agent (Samuel) regarding the rerouting of our flights from Mt Hagen. And the offloading of three of our bags from the plane at Kiunga and delay in getting them back to us in Port Moresby was an Air Niugini issue. Overall it was an exceptional and really memorable tour with superb birds and birding, much or most of which would not have been possible without the Rockjumper team, slick tour planning and arrangements, Stephan and the local guides.
21 Jul 2024 - 30 Jul 2024 (10 days)
PGK18,950 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: André Bernon
Tour price (Per person): PGK18,950 * USD5,143 * GBP4,201 * EUR4,834 * AUD7,987
Single Supplement: PGK2,500 * USD678 * GBP554 * EUR638 * AUD1,054
Flight costs: PGK1,150 * USD312 * GBP255 * EUR293 * AUD485
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - Adelbert Range & Huon Peninsula 2024
Papua New Guinea - Highlights I 2019 - September 2019
Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise V 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension II 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise IV 2019 - July 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise III 2019 - June 2019
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension I 2019 - June 2019