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Wild Rivers & Highland Warriors Expedition

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Departure Date

December 27, 2025

Overview

Trip Overview

This 11-day Papua New Guinea vacation invites adventurous globetrotters to embark on a thrilling journey through one of the world’s most remote and untouched destinations. Uncover ancient cultures, encounter rare wildlife, and cross the cast Central Ranges aboard the floating Sepik Spirit vessel for unforgettable adventures into the heart of Papua New Guinea. Meet the fascinating Melpa people of the Wahgi Valley, explore the hidden treasures of the remote Sepik River, search for the elusive Ribbon-tailed Bird of Paradise, and experience the traditions of the Huli warriors firsthand. 

Highlights

Departures

From Port Moresby:

Departs Saturdays

 

Trip Includes

  • Accommodation
  • Airport transfers/tours on scheduled basis
  • Meals as specified
  • Local guides

 

Trip Excludes

  • Travel insurance
  • International, domestic airfare & airfare taxes
  • Meals and beverages not explicitly listed as included
  • Gratuities
  • Optional excursions
  • Items of a personal nature
  • Visa fees, if applicable

 

Saturday

Upon your arrival in Port Moresby, you will be met by Trans Niugini Tours staff and transferred to your flight to Mount Hagen. Mount Hagen Town is in the upper Wahgi Valley - a valley with some of the oldest evidence of agriculture in the world. Perched high on Mount Kuta is Rondon Ridge, with unbelievable views of the valley and city below.

Meal

Dinner

 

Rondon Ridge Lodge

Rondon Ridge is a 40-minute drive from the town of Mount Hagen and just under an hour from the airport. There are several daily flights between Mount Hagen and the capital, Port Moresby. Rondon Ridge is a perfect hub for access to Ambua Lodge, Karawari Lodge, MV Sepik Spirit and Bensbach Wildlife Lodge.

Rondon Ridge Lodge

Sunday

Embark on a full day of touring featuring the unique culture and tradition of the Melpa tribe. First contact with this tribe was made in the mid-1930's. The Melpa are said, by anthropologists, to be "predisposed to capitalism" because of their complex traditional society in which "big men" earn status by accruing wealth and then giving it all away in ceremonial exchanges.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Rondon Ridge Lodge

Rondon Ridge is a 40-minute drive from the town of Mount Hagen and just under an hour from the airport. There are several daily flights between Mount Hagen and the capital, Port Moresby. Rondon Ridge is a perfect hub for access to Ambua Lodge, Karawari Lodge, MV Sepik Spirit and Bensbach Wildlife Lodge.

Rondon Ridge Lodge

Monday

This morning fly by charter flight into the deep heart of the jungle where your wondrous journey continues on the Sepik Spirit River boat. The design of this unique vessel was inspired by the local architecture of the "Haus Tambaran" or Spirit House. Your adventure begins with a tour to a local village and cruising down the jungle clad banks of the Karawari River.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

MV Sepik Spirit

The Sepik Spirit is a deluxe "floating Lodge". Originally commissioned as a vessel for cruising the Sepik and Karawari Rivers, the Sepik Spirit is now permanently moored at a strategic site on the Sepik River. The Sepik Spirit's nine spacious rooms accommodate a maximum of just eighteen guests. Each has an en-suite bathroom, large windows and personally controlled air-conditioning.

MV Sepik Spirit

Tuesday

Travel on the MV Sepik Spirit offers a unique and diverse experience of the remote Sepik region. The journey begins on the Karawari River, a tributary of the "Mighty Sepik River", and transverses along the remote river waterways to the middle Sepik River. You will pass jungle covered banks dotted with traditional fishing villages as you journey down the winding river for over 80 km to reach the Sepik River. As you meander along the Karawari River and Black water lakes you will experience remote villages, learn their customs and experience their day to day lives in modern times; which still closely reflect their traditional tribal lifestyle. Once you reach the Sepik River travel into the remote Chambri Lakes, where you will visit the original traditional spirit houses of Kanganamin and Palambei; some of the most remarkable spirit houses still in existence. We pay respect to the sacred Haus Tambaran where generations of secret tales are told and dances to the drums and the rituals and stories are passed on to the next generation. The middle Sepik is the place where carvers and artists create the unique artifacts that are so essential to the spiritual life of the people.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

MV Sepik Spirit

The Sepik Spirit is a deluxe "floating Lodge". Originally commissioned as a vessel for cruising the Sepik and Karawari Rivers, the Sepik Spirit is now permanently moored at a strategic site on the Sepik River. The Sepik Spirit's nine spacious rooms accommodate a maximum of just eighteen guests. Each has an en-suite bathroom, large windows and personally controlled air-conditioning.

MV Sepik Spirit

Wednesday

Travel on the MV Sepik Spirit offers a unique and diverse experience of the remote Sepik region. The journey begins on the Karawari River, a tributary of the "Mighty Sepik River", and transverses along the remote river waterways to the middle Sepik River. You will pass jungle covered banks dotted with traditional fishing villages as you journey down the winding river for over 80 km to reach the Sepik River. As you meander along the Karawari River and Black water lakes you will experience remote villages, learn their customs and experience their day to day lives in modern times; which still closely reflect their traditional tribal lifestyle. Once you reach the Sepik River travel into the remote Chambri Lakes, where you will visit the original traditional spirit houses of Kanganamin and Palambei; some of the most remarkable spirit houses still in existence. We pay respect to the sacred Haus Tambaran where generations of secret tales are told and dances to the drums and the rituals and stories are passed on to the next generation. The middle Sepik is the place where carvers and artists create the unique artifacts that are so essential to the spiritual life of the people.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

MV Sepik Spirit

The Sepik Spirit is a deluxe "floating Lodge". Originally commissioned as a vessel for cruising the Sepik and Karawari Rivers, the Sepik Spirit is now permanently moored at a strategic site on the Sepik River. The Sepik Spirit's nine spacious rooms accommodate a maximum of just eighteen guests. Each has an en-suite bathroom, large windows and personally controlled air-conditioning.

MV Sepik Spirit

Thursday

Travel on the MV Sepik Spirit offers a unique and diverse experience of the remote Sepik region. The journey begins on the Karawari River, a tributary of the "Mighty Sepik River", and transverses along the remote river waterways to the middle Sepik River. You will pass jungle covered banks dotted with traditional fishing villages as you journey down the winding river for over 80 km to reach the Sepik River. As you meander along the Karawari River and Black water lakes you will experience remote villages, learn their customs and experience their day to day lives in modern times; which still closely reflect their traditional tribal lifestyle. Once you reach the Sepik River travel into the remote Chambri Lakes, where you will visit the original traditional spirit houses of Kanganamin and Palambei; some of the most remarkable spirit houses still in existence. We pay respect to the sacred Haus Tambaran where generations of secret tales are told and dances to the drums and the rituals and stories are passed on to the next generation. The middle Sepik is the place where carvers and artists create the unique artifacts that are so essential to the spiritual life of the people.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

MV Sepik Spirit

The Sepik Spirit is a deluxe "floating Lodge". Originally commissioned as a vessel for cruising the Sepik and Karawari Rivers, the Sepik Spirit is now permanently moored at a strategic site on the Sepik River. The Sepik Spirit's nine spacious rooms accommodate a maximum of just eighteen guests. Each has an en-suite bathroom, large windows and personally controlled air-conditioning.

MV Sepik Spirit

Friday

Today we make our way back up the Karawari River and prepare to leave the Sepik Spirit for our journey to the next destination. Take a short flight from Karawari across untouched rainforest and mountains to the Tari Valley. Once you arrive you will be transferred to Ambua Lodge; located at 7000 feet in the Hela province. This area is the homeland of the Huli clan, famed for their colorfully adorned human hair wigs and ancient warrior culture. Spend the afternoon enjoying Ambua's winding forest trails that take you through lush rainforest, past gushing waterfalls and over traditional vine bridges.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Ambua Lodge

Nestled amongst the Doma Peaks near Tari, almost 7000 feet above sea level, is Ambua Lodge. An award-winning, eco-friendly lodge boasting magnificent views of the Tari Valley below. Guests are accommodated in forty round houses, set amongst landscaped gardens and built almost exclusively from natural materials.

Ambua Lodge

Saturday

Spend 2 days touring the villages and countryside of the iconic Huli tribe. In contrast to the Sepik people, whose art is manifested in ceremonial and decorative carvings, these Highland people employ body decoration, face painting and human hair wigs decorated with feathers, flowers and moss, as their expression of art. Visit the men's hair wig school and tour the local villages to experience how this proud mountain tribe has evolved in the modern age, while still maintaining the stories, beliefs and traditions of their ancestors.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Ambua Lodge

Nestled amongst the Doma Peaks near Tari, almost 7000 feet above sea level, is Ambua Lodge. An award-winning, eco-friendly lodge boasting magnificent views of the Tari Valley below. Guests are accommodated in forty round houses, set amongst landscaped gardens and built almost exclusively from natural materials.

Ambua Lodge

Sunday

Spend 2 days touring the villages and countryside of the iconic Huli tribe. In contrast to the Sepik people, whose art is manifested in ceremonial and decorative carvings, these Highland people employ body decoration, face painting and human hair wigs decorated with feathers, flowers and moss, as their expression of art. Visit the men's hair wig school and tour the local villages to experience how this proud mountain tribe has evolved in the modern age, while still maintaining the stories, beliefs and traditions of their ancestors.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Ambua Lodge

Nestled amongst the Doma Peaks near Tari, almost 7000 feet above sea level, is Ambua Lodge. An award-winning, eco-friendly lodge boasting magnificent views of the Tari Valley below. Guests are accommodated in forty round houses, set amongst landscaped gardens and built almost exclusively from natural materials.

Ambua Lodge

Monday

This morning you will be transferred to Tari Airport for your domestic PX Flight depart for Port Moresby on Air Niugini. Upon arrival in Port Moresby, you will be met by Trans Niugini Tours staff and transferred to the Airways Hotel. The afternoon is spent exploring the Nature Park and other interesting land marks.

Meal

Breakfast, Lunch

 

Airways Hotel

Airways Hotel is Papua New Guinea's leading hotel, Australasia's leading airport hotel and one of the most unique airport hotels in the world. Nestled into the mountainside in its own botanical gardens, with stunning views from crystal clear waters of Bootless Bay to the majestic mountains of the Owen Stanley Ranges, the hotel it is located just 2 minutes from Jacksons International Airport, Port Moresby.

Airways Hotel

Tuesday

This morning you will be transferred to the airport to meet you outgoing international flight

Meal

Breakfast


Summary

Terms and Conditions

Prices are "from" per person based on twin/double share accommodation and for travel in low season. Seasonal surcharges and blackout dates may apply. Limited seat/spaces and all pricing is subject to change and availability. Rates for single or triple travellers are available on request - please enquire.

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