Adventure Birding 'n Outdoors in New Guinea's Wild West
Getting up-close and personal with the endemic and endangered marsupial Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis could be one of the highlights of an outdoors adventure to the largest Raja Ampat island of Waigeo. Copyright © Alex van Zon
Outdoors break (5 days/4 nights)
Lying at the northern extremity of the fabled Raja Ampat or ‘Four Kings’ archipelago, just below the Equator, Waigeo is the largest island in the group, with a surface area in excess of 3,100 square kilometers. This outdoors break offers a taste of the island's exquisite wildlife, which includes a large-bodied marsupial cuscus, a mound-building megapode, a delightful crowned pigeon, and two nearly mythical birds-of-paradise. Indeed, the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise and the Red Bird-of-paradise here surely are contenders for the title of most beautiful bird on Earth. Just arriving on a remote island the stature of Waigeo is an overthrowing experience, let alone the journey inland in the company of friendly ethnic Ma'ya and Biak peoples, custodians of the island's splendid natural heritage.
When?
Possible year-round, but most certainly best from June to November.
Scheduled departures
Please enquire for details on our upcoming departures.
Physical effort
Reasonable physical fitness and good agility are required to bird the at times challenging terrain here.
Tour summary
Day 1 > Sorong and Sorong lowlands.
Day 2 > Sorong and Waigeo Island.
Day 3 > Waigeo Island.
Day 4 > Waigeo Island and Sorong.
Day 5 > Sorong.
Tour description
Day 1 > Sorong and Sorong lowlands Morning arrival at Sorong's DEO 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 by chartered vehicle to visit a nearby area of mangroves. After an early lunch in town, we shall then drive out by chartered vehicle for 30 minutes along a road winding into the surrounding foothills. Here we shall enjoy a relaxed walk through selectively logged rainforest where we may be rewarded with sightings of dazzling forest kingfishers among others. The final hour of light or so shall see us gathered at an open vantage point to witness evening flights of pigeons, hornbills and parrots. Dinner and overnight in our partnering Sorong hotel.
Day 2 > Sorong and Waigeo Island After breakfast in our Sorong hotel, we shall set out on the two hours’ ride by scheduled public fast boat across Dampier Strait to Waigeo. We shall then continue overland by chartered vehicle to our partnering resort located on the beach-front on Waigeo’s southwestern shores. We shall enjoy lunch at the resort and set out on foot along a track winding into the surrounding forested limestone hills, where we shall start our exploration of Waigeo proper. Majestic hornbills and colorful parrots may fly overhead as we acquaint ourselves with some of the more conspicuous forest birds. The final hours of light we shall devote to a popular display tree of the fabled Red Bird-of-paradise, taking ample time to observe the up to eight plumed males that normally gather here, interacting with soliciting females. Finally, a nocturnal foray on the way back down toward the coast could bring us up close with a weird-looking frogmouth or cuddly marsupials like the Striped Possum or the endemic and endangered Waigeo Cuscus. Dinner and overnight in resort.
Ein empfehlenswerter Veranstalter ist zum Beispiel Papua Expeditions, der professionell geführte, auch mehrtägige exklusive Exkursionen auf die Insel Waigeo anbietet. Paradiesvogelbeobachtungen sind hier garantiert und der Aufenthalt im Dschungel ist aufgrund der kleinen Gruppengrößen sehr komfortabel gestaltet.
Day 3 > Waigeo Island Following a nocturnal breakfast, we shall hike to an area where a number of display courts of the Wilson’s 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 full array of display postures and high-intensity male-female interactions in this nearly mythical species at close range from well-appointed hides. We shall then continue our exploration of the wider vicinity. Incubation mounds of the Dusky Megapode are scattered everywhere throughout the flattish parts of the forest here, and it should not take long before we feast our eyes on a couple of Western Crowned Pigeons as they lift off with clapping wing beats from the forest floor to alight in nearby emergent trees. After lunch back at the resort, we could enjoy a spot of snorkeling on the fringing reef, a leisurely walk along the beach exposed at low tide, or a visit to the local, typically Papuan, village. Dinner and overnight in resort.
Day 4 > Waigeo Island and Sorong After breakfast there shall be a final opportunity to spend rewarding time with either the Wilson’s or Red Bird-of-paradise. Alternatively, we could make a walk in the wider vicinity. Following lunch back at the resort, we shall then drive out by chartered vehicle to catch the public fast boat back to Sorong. Dinner and overnight in Sorong hotel.
Day 5 > Sorong We shall enjoy breakfast in our Sorong hotel and transfer you to Sorong’s DEO Airport to check you in for the first morning flight to Jakarta or alternative destination.
Related links
❯Read on about the birdlife of the Vogelkop lowlands.
❯Read on about the birdlife of Waigeo Island.
❯Browse our terms and conditions.
