20 Aug 2025 - 06 Sep 2025 (18 days)
PGK47,950 - No Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth
Tour price (Per person): PGK47,950 * USD12,099 * GBP9,212 * EUR10,909 * AUD18,139
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,249 * GBP951 * EUR1,126 * AUD1,873
Flight costs: PGK3,400 * USD858 * GBP653 * EUR774 * AUD1,286
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension III 2025
25 Jul 2026 - 11 Aug 2026 (18 days)
PGK49,900 - 3 Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Paul Varney
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): PGK49,900 * USD12,591 * GBP9,586 * EUR11,353 * AUD18,877
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension II 2026
Of all the world’s birding destinations, Papua New Guinea must certainly rank amongst the most fascinating and exotic. The second largest island on Earth, New Guinea was the last inhabited island to be explored by Europeans, and even today many areas have little or no exposure to Western influence. The virtually untouched forests come alive with incredible fruit doves, fig parrots, fairywrens, jewel-babblers, pittas, honeyeaters and berrypeckers, while over twenty species of dazzling birds-of-paradise present sometimes unbelievably iridescent colours and wild tail plumes in one of the most astonishing exhibits of the natural world!
Travelling by air, road, and boat we will explore the diverse habitats of the country, from winding lowland rivers and sprawling grasslands, to the richly forested highlands. Native tribes still dress themselves to mimic the island’s fabulous birds, adorned with elaborate head plumes made from the feathers of parrots and birds-of-paradise. Our eighteen-day tour covers the highlights of this enchanted and little-travelled country. We can expect a phenomenal variety of remarkable birds in and amongst vast regions of immaculate forests that have been experienced by few people on earth!
King of Saxony, Magnificent, King, Twelve-wired, Greater, Raggiana, Lesser & Blue Bird-of-paradise; Magnificent & Growling Riflebirds; Black, Brown & Black-billed Sicklebills; Superb Lophorina; Glossy-mantled, Crinkle-collared & Trumpet Manucodes; Ribbon-tailed & Princess Stephanie's Astrapias; Queen Carola's & Lawes's Parotias; Salvadori's Teal; Forest Bittern; Papuan, Pygmy & Gurney's Eagles; Doria's & Black-mantled Goshawks; Papuan Harrier; New Guinea Flightless Rail; New Guinea Woodcock; New Guinea Bronzewing; Cinnamon Ground Dove; Pheasant Pigeon; Sclater’s Crowned Pigeon; Wompoo, Pink-spotted, Ornate, Orange-fronted, Superb, Coroneted, Beautiful, White-bibbed, Orange-bellied & Dwarf Fruit Doves; Purple-tailed, Rufescent, Pinon's, Collared, Zoe's & Torresian Imperial Pigeons; Papuan Mountain Pigeon; Papuan Boobook; Marbled & Papuan Frogmouths; Archbold's Nightjar; Feline, Starry, Wallace's, Mountain & Barred Owlet-Nightjars; Hook-billed, Common Paradise, Little Paradise, Buff-breasted Paradise, Brown-headed Paradise, Forest, Torresian, Yellow-billed, Mountain, Papuan Dwarf & Azure Kingfishers; Shovel-billed, Blue-winged & Rufous-bellied Kookaburras; Pesquet's, Yellow-capped, Buff-faced Pygmy, Orange-breasted Fig, Papuan King & Brehm's Tiger Parrots; Papuan Eclectus; Striated, Red-flanked, Fairy, Papuan, Yellow-billed & Orange-billed Lorikeets; Purple-bellied, Dusky, Goldie's & Coconut Lorikeets; Papuan Pitta; Archbold's, MacGregor's, Flame, Yellow-breasted & Fawn-breasted Bowerbirds; Papuan Treecreeper; Wallace's, Emperor, White-shouldered & Orange-crowned Fairywren; Goldenface; Papuan Babbler; Papuan Logrunner; Loria's & Crested Satinbirds; Tit & Crested Berrypeckers; Papuan Whipbird; Spotted, Blue & Chestnut-backed Jewel-babbler; Painted Quail-thrush; Mottled Berryhunter; Papuan & Black Sittellas; Wattled Ploughbill; Rufous-naped Whistler; Crested Pitohui; Lesser & Greater Melampittas; Blue-capped Ifrit; Mountain Firetail; White-spotted, Great-billed, Grey-headed, Hooded & Chestnut-breasted Mannikins.
Spectacled Dasyure, Black-tailed Giant Rat, Agile Wallaby, Great Flying Fox
lowland and montane rainforest, Eucalyptus savanna, mangroves, grasslands, wetlands, islets
hot and humid with tropical showers, cooler in the highlands
6 with 1 Rockjumper leader
moderate pace with some longer hikes
comfortable to good hotels and lodges with one basic lodge
moderate, can be challenging at times
300 - 350
traditional carvings, spectacular forest vistas and mountain scenery
good
"Andre and Lev were excellent guides, and ensured we had a great time, even when birding, the weather, or the inevitable logistical challenges of travel within PNG seemed to do their best to thwart us. They did an excellent job of managing expectations, but also ensuring that as many people in the group got to see the birds, while also understanding that not everyone would see ingle bird. Difficulties, whether with accommodations, weather, or even participants, were dealt with quickly, and I have no doubt far more issues were cleared before the group was even aware they existed! I look forward to returning to New Guinea (including West Papua) with Rockjumper soon, and also exploring more birding destinations with Lev and Andre or the other excellent guides you have!"
Birding in PNG was a little more challenging that expected, ..... the birds are as shy as anything I've experienced and the bird densities were extremely low. Of course that is not the fault of Rockjumper or the guides. The tour was excellent overall. The main guide, Stephan Lorentz, was really top class. His knowledge of the birds and calls and the fine id details was exceptional and his field skills were awesome, outdoing the local guides at times. And he is extremely personable and friendly. The local guides were also excellent and provided an exceptionally high level of field skill and support, and great enthusiasm in getting pax onto the more challenging birds. And physical support also, including even helping some of the pax on slippery slopes and cutting stairs on river landings at times!! The landed arrangements were generally slick and the accommodation of good quality. Some delays in getting collected at Kiunga airport were I think down to some communication issues with the local agent (Samuel) regarding the rerouting of our flights from Mt Hagen. And the offloading of three of our bags from the plane at Kiunga and delay in getting them back to us in Port Moresby was an Air Niugini issue. Overall it was an exceptional and really memorable tour with superb birds and birding, much or most of which would not have been possible without the Rockjumper team, slick tour planning and arrangements, Stephan and the local guides.
Glen Valentine was excellent, seeing and hearing most of the target birds, despite a very chatty, enthusiastic group that must have been very challenging at times.
We thought the birding went very well. Both Dusan and Stephan were great guides - very knowledgeable, very dedicated, quite determined to get everyone onto pretty much everything, and they combined very well. And, they both tried very hard to help all the participants who needed it, whether it was locating a bird, getting up a steep section or getting in or out of the boats. They did an admirable job.
I thought Lev Frid did a great job in managing the tour.
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension III 2024 - August 2024
Papua New Guinea - Bird Families 2024 - July 2024
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise (Small Group) I 2024 - June 2024
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension I 2024 - May 2024
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise (Small Group) II 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Highlights II 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension III 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise IV 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Adelbert Range & Huon Peninsula 2023 - July 2023
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise III 2022 - July 2022
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension II 2022 - July 2022
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise II 2022 - June 2022
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension I 2022 - June 2022
Papua New Guinea - Highlights I 2019 - September 2019
Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise V 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension II 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise IV 2019 - July 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise III 2019 - June 2019
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension I 2019 - June 2019