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Friendly Fantail Rhipidura albolimbata occurs throughout the mountains of New Guinea. Copyright © Dov Shapiro

Papua birding breaks

Our birding breaks have been designed with the occupied, regionally living bird watcher in mind, who wants to make the most of a week-long birding escape to Papua. These trips generally provide an excellent introduction to New Guinea birding, and by focusing on one particular hotspot alone, invariably prove highly rewarding in tracking down those most-wanted goodies otherwise not uncommonly dipped due to time-restriction alone.

So whether you simply seek a first taste of Papuan birding, or foster more ambitious plans for multiple visits in order to gradually come to grips with Papua's scattered and difficult-to-get-to endemics, our short bird watching vacations cater to both these wills. Why not extend your birding break into a fortnight adding any of our ready-made extensions? Or use these extensions and our breaks as 'building bricks' to put together your customized birding odyssey.

Arfak montane specialties

Superb Bird of Paradise Lophorina superba remains common in mid-montane forested habitats of the Arfak Mountains near Manokwari.

7 days/6 nights, from € 1,000
In search of the 10 Vogelkop endemics, we basically follow in the footsteps of the great Italian collectors D’Albertis and Beccari, who first explored the Hatam-country only a few kilometers away from our village base in the Arfak Mountains at 1,700 m elevation on the mid-slopes of majestic Mount Indon.

Geelvink Islands endemics

Numfor Paradise-Kingfisher Tanysiptera carolinae occurs only on Numfor Island in western New Guinea's fabled Geelvink or Cenderawasih Bay and hence is a Papua endemic. Copyright © Aniket Sardana

7 days/6 nights, from € 1,382
No less than 12 endemic bird species, including two fabulous paradise-kingfishers, plus heaps of highly distinct yet almost 'forgotten' endemic subspecies await us on this birding adventure covering the islands of Biak and Numfor in Papua's fabled Geelvink or Cenderawasih Bay.

Snow Mountains
specialties

Alpine Pipit Anthus gutturalis is readily seen around the Lake Habbema alpine plateau of the Snow Mountains near Wamena. Copyright © Ashley Banwell

8 days/7 nights, from € 1,781
Following in the footsteps of American explorer, mammalogist and millionaire, Richard Archbold, a superb selection of New Guinea's wonderfully diverse montane avifauna can be seen when hiking through cultivation and upper montane forests up the Ibele Valley onto the Lake Habbema alpine plateau at 3,200 m elevation above the timberline, in the shadow of Peak Trikora. Here, in some of the finest mountain scenery this side of the Himalayas, lives the star bird of the trip: the abberant MacGregor’s 'Bird of Paradise' Macgregoria pulchra.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Waitanta endemics

Wilson's Bird of Paradise Cicinnurus respublica occurs only on the Raja Ampat islands of Waigeo and Batanta and has often been claimed by seasoned world birders to be the best bird roaming the face of our planet! Copyright © Dov Shapiro

9 days/8 nights, from € 1,447
Every self-respecting world birder is bound to at least once in a lifetime undertake the pilgrimage to Waitanta’s avian delights. Bruijn’s Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii, Wilson's Cicinnurus respublica and Red Bird of Paradise Paradisaea rubra; this birding break has been designed to deliver exactly those dream birds. But best of all perhaps, just by joining this birding adventure of a lifetime, you actively help protecting an entire river catchment containing a spectacular component of Earth's living diversity.

Genuine birders catering for birders: we just know what the discerning bird watcher wants.
Expert bird identification and interpretation by great guides, keen on sharing an intimate knowledge, amassed over years of practical field experience.
Our unrivaled digital sound library of Papuan birds, now exceeding 5,000 tracks, maximizes the outlook of coming to grips with the most elusive of species through sparing and cautious playback in the field.
Extensively researched, top quality birding itineraries, maximizing time in the field: we take you off the beaten track to pristine hotspots we know inside out!
Very small groups for better birding: minimum 4 and maximum 6 participants plus 2 expedition leaders.
Small company means attention for people and detail.

Thank you very much for an excellent week on Waigeo. We all enjoyed it a great deal. You have a very good team and run the trip remarkably well considering the fairly difficult logistics. It was fantastic to see such an interesting and new variety of birds and we were lucky to be in the hands of an expert spotter and knowledgeable guide, though you did both miss the cuscus at the base of that tree ;-)
Well done for providing lots of tasty food throughout and an endless supply of lime juice. [Dr. Ivo Elliot, UK]