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
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 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 inquire 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 our
partnering 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.
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.
Related links
❯Read on about the birdlife of the Arfak Mountains.
❯Read on about our filming expedition for Vogelkop Bowerbird in the Arfak Mountains with the BBC Natural History Unit.
❯Browse our terms and conditions.
