Scheduled Trip

Day 1 Jakarta– Jayapura - Nimbokrang
Day 2 Nimbokrang
Day 3 Nimbokrang – Jayapura
Day 4 Jayapura – Manokwari – Arfak
Day 5 Arfak
Day 6 Arfak
Day 7 Arfak
Day 8 Arfak - Manokwari - Sorong
Day 9 Sorong - Malagufuk
Day 10 Malagufuk
Day 11 Malagufuk - Sorong - Waigeo
Day 12 Waigeo
Day 13 Waigeo
Day 14 Waigeo - Sorong
Day 15 Sorong - Jakarta

Papua Birding packages
Duration: 15 days/14 nights
Starting city: Jayapura (Papua)
Ending city: Sorong (Southwest Papua)
Focus: Birding
Min group size: 4
Max group size: 8

Day 1 Jakarta– Jayapura – Nimbokrang
The tours begin with your morning arrival in Jayapura Airport and then will be transferred by a car directly to Nimbokrang for a 1 hour and 30 minutes drive. Arriving in Nimbokrang, we shall try to find our main target King Bird of Paradise, first at 01.30 pm. We need to walk around 40 minutes from the main road to the spot. We stay there until late afternoon. Return to the guesthouse. Night in Nimbokrang.

Day 2 Nimbokrang
Start the day earlier at 04.30 for breakfast, and then we step up to the Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise hide. From the parking area, we walk 35 minutes to the hide. We stay there until 07.30 and move to the Lesser Bird of Paradise Lek after that. From Twelve-wired to Lesser, we walk around 25 minutes. The condition of the road is up and down, with a lot of muddy trails. We stay there until lunchtime and return to the guesthouse. The afternoon schedule will be as follows.

Day 3 Nimbokrang – Jayapura
Last morning in Nimbokrang started at 04.30 am for breakfast, last visit to the Lesser Bird of Paradise spot. We stay until Lunchtime, go back for lunch, and prepare for the way back to Sentani. Overnight in Sentani

Day 4 Jayapura – Manokwari – Arfak
Upon Arrival at Manokwari Airport, directly to Arfak Mountain using 4WD. We spend around 2 hours to reach the Arfak Guesthouse. Before lunch, we can visit the feeding station first. Walk down from the main road to the hide for around 30 minutes. There are some species of Bird of Paradise in that spot, including females of Magnificent Bird of Paradise, females and males of Black-billed Sicklebill, females of Lesser Bird of Paradise, females of Vogelkop Superb Bird of Paradise, and sometimes Greenback Robin also shows up. And after that at 11.30 we go back to the guesthouse to have Lunch. After lunch, at 01.30 pm we can go to the hide of the Magnificent Bird of Paradise until 05.00 pm, and we go back to the guesthouse to have dinner.

Day 5 Arfak
Breakfast starts at 05.00 am in the morning and then at 05.30 we go to the Western Parotia hide. The range between the main road and the hide is around a 20 to 30-minute walk. At 11.00 am, go back to the guesthouse to have lunch. At 01.30 pm we continue to the Vogelkop Bowerbird. For Vogelkop Bowerbird, we need at least 20 minutes walking from the main road. At 05.00 pm, return to the guesthouse for dinner. Night in Arfak.

Day 6 Arfak
breakfast at 05.00 am and 05.30 walk to the hide. Superb Bird of Paradise is our first destination this morning. We walk down and up for around 30 minutes. Stay there till 11.00 am and back to the guesthouse for lunch. The afternoon schedule will be as follows.

Day 7 Arfak
Today will be our last time to wake up at 05.00 am in Arfak Mountain. Magnificent Bird of Paradise is our last destination to stay until 11.00 and go back to the guesthouse for lunch and prepare to return to Manokwari for overnight.

Day 8 Arfak - Manokwari – Sorong
Our flight from Manokwari to Sorong starts at 9.20 am or 10.10 pm and needs at least 55 to 60 minutes to arrive in Sorong. Lunch will be held at the local restaurant, and after that we start our short trip to Mangrove park using a car to see Blue-black kingfisher until late afternoon, and back to the hotel for dinner in a good restaurant or seafood restaurant in Sorong.

Day 9 Sorong – Malagufuk
You will drive from Sorong to Malagufuk, which takes about two hours. After reaching the entry gate for Malagufuk Village, we will walk on a wooden bridge for about 3.5 hours to reach the eco-village. Afternoon trip will be visiting the hide for King Bird of Paradise, and we will search for Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Blue-backed Kingfisher, and many more.

Day 10 Malagufuk
We will have breakfast at 4 am and start walking at 5 am to see the Twelve-Wired Bird of Paradise. This walk will take about 1.5 hours. After that, we will continue for another 30 minutes to look for the lesser bird of paradise and the red-breasted paradise kingfisher.

Day 11 Malagufuk - Sorong – Waigeo
Morning birding in Malagufuk, at 8 am check-out and walking to the main road for a transfer to Sorong Harbour, Lunch in Sorong, then at 2 pm, we will have a sail for 2 hours with an express boat to Waigeo/Waisai island. Upon arrival on Waigeo island will be directly transferred to the resort and stay there for 3 nights. From the harbor to the resort takes around 30 minutes by car or 15 minutes by speedboat. In the afternoon, we can do birding around the village.

Day 12 – Day 13: Waigeo
The island of Waigeo holds several species absent from the mainland, and these will form our focus here. Our primary target is to find the quite astounding Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise, a bird frequently cited as one of the most beautiful in the world. Using specially constructed hides, we will be able to observe the birds as they visit their display grounds completely oblivious to our admiring eyes. With good fortune, we will see the male in full action, calling and displaying vigorously to any females that enter his display arena. Other birds present include Red Bird-of-paradise, found only on Waigeo. Raja Ampat Pitohui. For the two days ahead, during our trip, we need to wake up 30 minutes early at 4.30 for breakfast, and at 05.00 we start to hide the birds.

Day 14 Waigeo – Sorong
Once again, birding in the morning until lunch before we return to Sorong. At 02.00 pm we will have a sail back to Sorong to overnight in the hotel.

Day 15 Sorong – Jakarta
Your flight is from Sorong to Jakarta and then to your next destination. End of the trip.

TRIP CONSIDERATIONS
PACE: Moderate to Intense. This tour will require long days in the fields and early starts on most days. On some portions of the trip, especially those spent in the hot lowlands, we will have some time off in the middle of the day. At higher elevations, in the Arfak Mountains, the birding can stay active all day, and we will have a more intense pace.

PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY:
Moderate to occasionally difficult. A lot of the birding is on dirt roads and easy logging tracks and trails, although there will also be a few difficult hikes, some of which are optional.

CLIMATE:
Papua of Indonesia lies in the equatorial zone and is surrounded by warm tropical seas, with a humid tropical climate, and the many mountain ranges cause great variation in rainfall. This ranges from moderate to very high, some montane regions having more than 10,000 mm of rainfall per annum. Temperatures along the coast are hot, above 30 °C, but at very high altitudes it can drop below freezing at night, though snowfall is apparent only above 3800 m, and mainly in West Papua, where some relict glaciers remain. Clouds and fog are frequent, especially in the morning and late afternoon, though mornings typically are clear and sunny. Rain tends to come in the afternoon, often being quite heavy but sometimes not lasting for too long, although highland areas can experience quite long wet periods. Clouds cover the mountains and promote the growth of epiphytes and mosses, with very high humidity in the lowland and hill forests.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
The local guesthouse in Nimbokrang have a rooms with bathroom inside, air-con room, cold and hot shower every room, in Sentani Jayapura you will stay in Town Hotel, in Arfak, the Maibri Birding Ecolodge have WIFI STARLINK, a rooms with mosquito net, Hot-water shower with shared bathroom facilities, In the Malagufuk, the glamping are quite simple, shared bathromm facilities and there is only electricity for a couple of hours each night. In Waigeo, you will stay at a nice resort with WIFI, good meals, and full-time electricity, and in Sorong, you will stay at the town hotel

INFO TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:
A valid passport is required; the passport must be valid for at least six months past your intended stay. Visas on arrival in Indonesia can be obtained for tourists from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and EU countries for stays of under 30 days. There is a fee for this, payable in cash (in US Dollars). Travel requirements are subject to change; we recommend double-checking entry requirements six weeks before the tour or asking our office staff for help.

PACKAGES INCLUDED:
Domestic flights during the tour, Accommodation from day 1 through in to day 15; meals from dinner on day 1 through to breakfast on day 15, safe drinking water throughout; one arrival and one departure airport transfer per person; ground transport for the group to all sites in the itinerary; Express Boat (VIP Ticket) to get to Waigeo; entrance fees to all birding sites mentioned in the itinerary.

NOT INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGES:
tips for optional luggage porters in city hotels; camera/luggage porters in the jungle, international flights; snacks; additional drinks apart from those included; alcoholic beverages; visa fees (payable on arrival in Indonesia); departure tax when leaving Indonesia; travel insurance; excursions not included in the tour itinerary; extras in hotels such as laundry service, minibar, room service, telephone calls, tips to drivers, local guides, and lodge staff; and personal items; medical fees; other items or services not specifically mentioned as being included.

That’s all the itinerary of 15 15-day trip in Papua and West Papua Island for Bird watching / Bird photography of the Bird of Paradise.