Adventure Birding 'n Outdoors in New Guinea's Wild West
The gorgeous male Ornithoptera tithonus is one of three species of birdwing butterfly that can be
seen on a stroll through the well-flowered garden around our partnering community-owned guest house in the Arfak Mountains.
Copyright © Ty Smedes smedesphoto.com
Explore Arfak
Outdoors break (5 days/4 nights)
On this West Papuan outdoors break we basically follow in the footsteps of the great Italian naturalists
D'Albertis and Beccari, who once collected in the Hattam cultural area only a few kilometers away from our base in the Arfak
Mountains on the mid-slopes of majestic Mount Indon, towering 2,425 m above the Prafi Valley.
More than 150 years have now elapsed since the intrepid D'Albertis was the first westerner to penetrate any
distance into the mountains of New Guinea exactly here in 1872, but exploring these magnificent woods, swathed in clouds during
parts of most days, remains an irresistible adventure. A privileged opportunity also, to be taken in tow by the Hattam, across
their ancestral lands, and marvel at endemic wildlife that comparatively few outsiders have ventured to come and see before.
When?
Possible year-round, but most certainly best from June to November.
Scheduled departures
Please enquire for details on our upcoming departures.
Physical effort
Reasonable physical fitness and good agility are required to hike the relatively steep slopes here.
Tour summary
Day 1 > Manokwari and Arfak montane forests.
Day 2-3 > Arfak montane forests.
Day 4 > Arfak montane forests and Manokwari.
Day 5 > Manokwari.
Tour description
Day 1 > Manokwari and Arfak montane forests Morning arrival at Manokwari's Rendani Airport on overnight
domestic flight from Jakarta or alternative gateway. We will be there to welcome you at the airport, and we shall soon set out
together on the two hours' drive by chartered 4WD-vehicle to a community-owned guest house located at c. 1,600 m elevation in the
Mount Indon area of the Arfak Mountains. A stroll through the lovely flowered garden surrounding the guest house may yield three
species of large and colorful birdwing butterfly, a family that evolved chemical defence against predators as well as the largest
species of butterfly in the world, and for which the Arfak Mountains are believed to be the center of origin and radiation. After
a packed lunch at the guest house, there will be ample time to get up close and personal with the highly entertaining Vogelkop
Bowerbird from one of the well-appointed hides set-up in front of its iconic so-called 'roofed maypole' bowers in the area.
Finally, a nocturnal foray after dinner could bring us face to face with a weird-looking Feline Owlet-nightjar or cuddly
marsupials like D'Albertis and Arfak Ringtail. Overnight in community-owned guest house.
Day 2 > Arfak montane forests Following breakfast we shall hike all day along a loop ascending to a high
point at c. 2,000 m elevation where there is a largish natural clearing on a broad ridgetop with a peculiar 'subalpine' flora
featuring rhododendrons and pitcher plants. Most of the trail follows gently-sloping ridgetop forest but we shall also be
traversing some challenging and steep terrain. As we gradually reach higher ground, the forest changes into a distinctive, stunted
Kruppelholz-formation with gnarled trunks and branches heavily draped in epiphytic moss and ferns; an eerie environment
often shrouded in clouds, where occasionally past-flittering elfs would not look unbecoming at all. This is the realm of the Black
Sicklebill, the adult male of which sports a pair of incredibly long ornamental central tail feathers. In former days, the coastal
Biak people treasured these plumes above those of all other birds-of-paradise for use in their ceremonies and rituals, and hence
black sicklebill skins were a valuable trade item of highland-oriented Hattam, Meyah and Sougb ethnic groups who effectively
controlled the species' montane forest habitat in the area. Probably as a result of the high historical hunting pressure, the
sicklebills remain wary of humans today, but with some perseverance and a little luck, we should still be able to track down this
impressive bird. We shall have lunch in the ridgetop clearing where magnificent views of the summit of Mount Indon are to be
enjoyed in good weather. On our way down again, we shall be passing several artsy-craftsy bowers of the Vogelkop Bowerbird, and
we shall certainly also go and marvel at an incubation mound of the Wattled Brushturkey, the only member of the megapode family
that is truly adapted to the montane environment. Dinner and overnight in community-owned guest house.
...on sent vraiment le début d'une amitié avec eux, dommage que nous n'ayons pas plus de temps mais ce sera
aussi l'occasion de revenir, merci Like et Iwein. — Cedric and Yanick Gentil, Founders,
ExplorAction, Switzerland
Day 3 > Arfak montane forests After a hearty nocturnal breakfast, we shall hike pre-dawn to an area of
secondary forest where a number of display courts of the Magnificent Bird-of-paradise are located in close proximity to one
another in a so-called exploded lek configuration. Here we stand an excellent chance of witnessing the amazing array of display
postures and high-intensity male-female interactions in this glorious species at close range from well-appointed hides. Following
lunch back at the guest house, we shall monitor nearby display courts of the area's only other terrestrially displaying
bird-of-paradise, the Western Parotia, again from well-appointed hides. The wacko ballet performance of the court-tending male of
this species simply needs to be witnessed to be believed and invariably ranks as the highlight of a trip to the Arfaks. Dinner
and overnight in community-owned guest house.
Day 4 > Arfak montane forests and Manokwari Following breakfast, there shall be a final opportunity for
an observation session at either the Vogelkop Bowerbird, Western Parotia or Magnificent Bird-of-paradise, or we could go for a
walk in the wider vicinity. After lunch back at the guest house, we shall then proceed to a popular display tree of the stunning
Lesser Bird-of-paradise, taking ample time to observe the up to six plumed males that normally gather here, exploding with their
cocked-up elongated yellowish flank plumes amidst all shades of green to woe soliciting females. We shall drive back to Manokwari
in the evening for dinner and a good night's rest in our partnering Manokwari hotel.
Day 5 > Manokwari We shall enjoy breakfast in our Manokwari hotel and transfer you to Manokwari's Rendani
Airport to check you in for the first morning flight to Jakarta or alternative destination.
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