Of all the world’s birding destinations, Papua New Guinea must certainly rank amongst the most fascinating and exotic. The second largest island on Earth, New Guinea was the last inhabited island to be explored by Europeans, and even today many areas have little or no exposure to Western influence. The virtually untouched forests come alive with incredible fruit doves, fig parrots, fairywrens, jewel-babblers, pittas, honeyeaters and berrypeckers, while over twenty species of dazzling birds-of-paradise present sometimes unbelievably iridescent colours and wild tail plumes in one of the most astonishing exhibits of the natural world!
Travelling by air, road, and boat we will explore the diverse habitats of the country, from winding lowland rivers and sprawling grasslands, to the richly forested highlands. Native tribes still dress themselves to mimic the island’s fabulous birds, adorned with elaborate head plumes made from the feathers of parrots and birds-of-paradise. Our eighteen-day tour covers the highlights of this enchanted and little-travelled country. We can expect a phenomenal variety of remarkable birds in and amongst vast regions of immaculate forests that have been experienced by few people on earth!
King of Saxony, Superb, Magnificent, King, Twelve-wired, Greater, Raggiana, Lesser & Blue Bird-of-paradise, Magnificent & Growling Riflebird, Black, Brown & Black-billed Sicklebill, Glossy-mantled, Crinkle-collared & Trumpet Manucode, Short-tailed Paradigalla, Ribbon-tailed & Princess Stephanie's Astrapia, Queen Carola's & Lawes's Parotia, Salvadori's Teal, Forest Bittern, Papuan, Pygmy & Gurney's Eagle, Doria's & Black-mantled Goshawk, Papuan Harrier, Chestnut & Forbes's Forest Rail, New Guinea Flightless Rail, New Guinea Woodcock, New Guinea Bronzewing, Cinnamon Ground Dove, Pheasant Pigeon, Southern Crowned Pigeon, Wompoo, Pink-spotted, Ornate, Orange-fronted, Superb, Coroneted, Beautiful, White-bibbed, Orange-bellied & Dwarf Fruit Dove, Purple-tailed, Rufescent, Pinon's, Collared, Zoe's & Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Papuan Boobook, Marbled & Papuan Frogmouth, Archbold's Nightjar, Feline, Starry, Wallace's, Mountain & Barred Owlet-Nightjar, Hook-billed, Common Paradise, Little Paradise, Buff-breasted Paradise, Brown-headed Paradise, Forest, Torresian, Yellow-billed, Mountain, Papuan Dwarf & Azure Kingfisher, Shovel-billed, Blue-winged & Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Pesquet's, Yellow-capped & Buff-faced Pygmy, Papuan King, Eclectus & Brehm's Tiger Parrot, Striated, Red-flanked, Fairy, Papuan, Yellow-billed & Orange-billed Lorikeet, Purple-bellied, Dusky, Goldie's & Coconut Lorikeet, Orange-breasted Fig Parrot, Papuan Pitta, Archbold's, MacGregor's, Flame, Yellow-breasted & Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Papuan Treecreeper, Wallace's, Emperor, White-shouldered & Orange-crowned Fairywren, Goldenface, Papuan Babbler, Papuan Logrunner, Loria's & Crested Satinbird, Tit & Crested Berrypecker, Papuan Whipbird, Spotted, Blue & Chestnut-backed Jewel-babbler, Painted Quail-thrush, Mottled Berryhunter, Papuan & Black Sittella, Wattled Ploughbill, Rufous-naped Whistler, Crested Pitohui, Lesser Melampitta & Greater Melampitta, Blue-capped Ifrit, Mountain Firetail, White-spotted, Great-billed, Grey-headed, Hooded & Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.
Spectacled Dasyure, Black-tailed Giant Rat, Agile Wallaby, Great Flying Fox
lowland and montane rainforest, Eucalyptus savanna, mangroves, grasslands, wetlands, islets
hot and humid with tropical showers, cooler in the highlands
8 with 1 Rockjumper Leader / 10 with 2 Rockjumper leaders
moderate pace with some longer hikes
comfortable to good hotels and lodges with one basic lodge
moderate, can be challenging at times
300 - 350
traditional carvings, spectacular forest vistas and mountain scenery
good
[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.
We thought the birding went very well. Both Dusan and Stephan were great guides - very knowledgeable, very dedicated, quite determined to get everyone onto pretty much everything, and they combined very well. And, they both tried very hard to help all the participants who needed it, whether it was locating a bird, getting up a steep section or getting in or out of the boats. They did an admirable job.
Dušan Brinkhuizen was very personable, great birder, keen on helping us all see the species.
This was my first birding tour ever, so I wasnt sure what to expect. The tour leader, Paul, was so amazing, there are not enough superlatives. All of the other participants had been on birding trips before, and Paul was very gracious to make sure I had the opportunity to see as many birds as possible and know what to expect. He was very conscientious, and prepared for almost anything. The trip was physically challenging due to the steep muddy trails, high and low temperatures, and oh yeah, the earthquakes. I wasnt sure what to expect, although the descriptions were pretty accurate, but I was ready to stop hiking by the 11th day. Thank you for the recommendation of collapsible walking sticks. Those were very useful. I am very glad I had the opportunity to take this trip. I cant say enough good things about Paul as the trip leader. I hope he gets to lead all of his first choice tours in the future!
Both Lev Frid and Andre Bernon were excellent guides. Lev was particularly emphatic about the vagaries of travel in PNG and the propensity for things to go wrong. Despite his warnings, the trip went extremely smoothly; the accommodation was all great be it the highly rustic (Kwatu) or high end (Walindi); the Papuan guides and ground team were very good; it was nice to see that Rockjumper was clearly supporting the local organisations; and overall both the Rockjumper guides and the Papuan bird guides were very knowledgeable. Overall, a really excellent experience on the ground.
02 Jun 2024 - 19 Jun 2024 (18 days)
PGK47,950 - 1 Space Available on this guaranteed departure
Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth
Tour price (Per person): PGK47,950 * USD12,519 * GBP9,920 * EUR11,617 * AUD19,238
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,292 * GBP1,024 * EUR1,199 * AUD1,986
Flight costs: PGK5,950 * USD1,553 * GBP1,231 * EUR1,442 * AUD2,387
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain I 2024
02 Sep 2024 - 19 Sep 2024 (18 days)
PGK47,950 - No Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Stephan Lorenz
Tour price (Per person): PGK47,950 * USD12,519 * GBP9,920 * EUR11,617 * AUD19,238
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,292 * GBP1,024 * EUR1,199 * AUD1,986
Flight costs: PGK5,950 * USD1,553 * GBP1,231 * EUR1,442 * AUD2,387
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2024
09 May 2025 - 26 May 2025 (18 days)
PGK39,450 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Julian Parsons
Tour Leader: Paul Varney
Tour price (Per person): PGK39,450 * USD10,300 * GBP8,162 * EUR9,558 * AUD15,828
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,292 * GBP1,024 * EUR1,199 * AUD1,986
Flight costs: PGK3,400 * USD888 * GBP703 * EUR824 * AUD1,364
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain I 2025
18 Jul 2025 - 04 Aug 2025 (18 days)
PGK39,450 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Amanda Guercio
Tour Leader: Lev Frid
Tour price (Per person): PGK39,450 * USD10,300 * GBP8,162 * EUR9,558 * AUD15,828
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,292 * GBP1,024 * EUR1,199 * AUD1,986
Flight costs: PGK3,400 * USD888 * GBP703 * EUR824 * AUD1,364
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain II 2025
20 Aug 2025 - 06 Sep 2025 (18 days)
PGK47,950 - No Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth
Tour price (Per person): PGK47,950 * USD12,519 * GBP9,920 * EUR11,617 * AUD19,238
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,292 * GBP1,024 * EUR1,199 * AUD1,986
Flight costs: PGK3,400 * USD888 * GBP703 * EUR824 * AUD1,364
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2025
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise (Small Group) II 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Highlights II 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise IV 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Adelbert Range & Huon Peninsula 2023 - July 2023
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise III 2022 - July 2022
Papua New Guinea - New Britain II 2022 - July 2022
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise II 2022 - June 2022
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension I 2022 - June 2022
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
Papua New Guinea - Highlights 2018 - September 2018
Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2018 - August 2018