Papua Tribe Festival Wamena – 1 week

We usually combine trips to Papuan festivals with our expeditions – the expedition dates were chosen to reflect this. Please, refer to schedule, and check if you are not interested in some combination. We try to put together the visit of the Wamena festival with the visit of Mount Hagen festival, which takes place shortly after the Wamena festival. This option of course depends on the actual dates of both festivals.

More information on the trip is available on our dedicated page on Wamena

Schedule

2016

August/September – term not confirmed yet, we recommend to add as a facultative trip to Tree People expedition

Itinerary

Day –2: Participants meet at Jakarta airport (Indonesia) in the late evening hours. Then depart to Papua.
Day –1: The rest of the participants jopin the group in Sentani (Jayapura). Trekking to Sentani waterfall (Jayapura), arrangement of the necessary permits for Papua. Alternatively, relaxation at the hotel swimming pool.

Day 1: Departure to Wamena. Wamena sightseeing, local marketplace.
Day 2 – 6: The festival in Wamena and neighboring villages. We will transfer from village to village with hired cars, according to the festival program. The festival in Wamena is less professional than festivals on Papua New Guinea. On the other hand, it is much more natural, because many of the participating tribes still keep the old traditions in their everyday lives. Festival in Wamena (in the Baliem Valley) does not take place in the city, but at a large area in the wilderness.
Day 7: Visit of Dani tribe villages: Mummy in Jiwica, making fire, pig roasting, fascinating battle reconstruction, dances, songs, trip to a salt lake and the observation of how salt is “mined” using stems of banana palms.
Day 8: Departure by plane to Sentani (Jayapura) the capital of Indonesian province Papua. Sightseeing and shopping for souvenirs at the Hamadi market.
Day 9: Departure to Jakarta – participants who have connecting flights leave, the others spend the night in Jakarta and leave the following day (Day 10).

OPTIONALLY: There is the possibility to extend the stay for diving in the north of Sulawesi (Manado-Bunaken Island and Lembeh Strait are some of the best places in the world to dive. Even National Geographic has reported on Lembeh Strait  – 11/2005). It is also possible to dive directly in the western part of Papua, which is perhaps the best diving place in the world. It has gotten this name because of its beautiful variety of coral reefs, the quantity and varietys of fish, and the multitude of other sea animals, including 8 species of pygmy sea horses, … A week long visit comes with a guarantee of Manatee observation – a fantastic experience. Please contact us for further information. For our clients, we organize diving trips for the standard prices of the local dive shops. We recommend only the really good, and well-tried ones.

The price includes: Air transport from Jayapura – Sentani to Wamena and back, all accommodation in local mid-range quality hotels, inland transportation, entrance fees to the festival, and an English speaking guide with very good knowledge of the local environment.

The price does not include: The price of the flight to Asia (Jakarta) and back, the flight to Jakarta – the Papua province Indonesia (Jayapura – Sentani) and back to Jakarta (we will make the booking upon request), food, entrance fees to other attractions apart from the festival, and possible fees for taking photos and filming. However, taking photos and filming should be included in the festival entrance fee.

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