Ambunti Crocodile Festival

Welcome to Papua New Guinea and the town of Wewak, the capital of the East Sepik Province. Feel free to arrive anytime today. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel.This evening you will enjoy a welcome dinner which will give you a chance to meet your fellow travellers. (D)Overnight – Wewak Boutique Hotel

This morning, we travel overland across the Prince Alexander Mountains and the Sepik River Plains to reach Pagwi our access point to the mighty Sepik River in the Middle Sepik River region. Upon arrival in Pagwi, your transport will change from a vehicle to a motorized canoe. For the next few days, you will use this mode of transport as you continue deeper into the Sepik and explore the surrounding villages. Motorised canoes are open to the elements, so you are encouraged to bring an umbrella for shade, and a cushion to sit on.Visit Korogo village whose internationally renowned artists produce carvings of exquisite beauty. We also visit Palembei where villagers produce a unique style of carving upon which they paint in fine detail their clan bird representations. The women of Palembei sell their sought after bilums or string bags which are made of a heavier string and open weave which expands to contain the largest of personal items, including a pikinini (baby).Next we appreciate two of the most decorated Spirit Houses on the Sepik River. Toniught we stay in Kanganaman Village in the spiritual shadow of the largest and oldest Spirit House on the river. (B,L,D)Overnight – Kanganaman Village Guesthouses – Middle Sepik River

Early morning birdwatching on Chambri Lakes in a motorised dugout canoe. We then visit Aibom village which is well regarded for its clay pottery sago storage jars and large fireplace dishes, known as gugumbe dishes, which are used for cooking. Here you will observe the clay pot making process. The pots are dried in the sunshine and firing is achieved by heaping dried sago palm frongs over the pottery. After 30 to 60 minutes the pots turn orange and the process is complete, enabling the painted decorations to be added. The villagers exchange and trade this essential and functional pottery with other villages for food. Located inland from the middle Sepik River the villagers source clay from the foot of Ambom mountain behind the village.We will also visit other villages including Kamanimbit and Tambanum where the American anthropologist Margaret Mead lived and worked for a period of time. These centres of carving activity produce incredibly artistic masks and netted string animals denoting clan totems such as the pig. Large representations of clan birds such as the cassowary along with sizable lifelike carvings of crocodiles add to a varied and impressive array of artifacts.This evening, we go crocodile spotting and experience a “talk talk” accompanied by customary music in the Kanganaman Spirit Haus. (B,L,D)Overnight – Kanganaman Village Guesthouses – Middle Sepik River

The Sepik River Crocodile and Arts Festival is a cultural celebration staged in Ambunti, a village that draws tribes in from the Upper Sepik River region. In Sepik culture man and crocodile share a special bond and the villagers have cultural traditions, beliefs and legends based on this ancient animal. Skin-cutting initiations continue in Sepik River communities where men proudly wear scars cut into their skin during the rite of passage.The Sepik River Crocodile and Arts Festival presents this remote region’s unique culture with a holistic approach including sing-sings, dances, chanting, music, arts, crafts and storytelling. Tribes will journey along the mysterious Sepik River in their dugout canoes to attend and perform at the festival. Local villagers have lived along the river for millennia producing magnificent wood carvings and artful clay pottery.Later in the afternoon we will make our way further up the river and through an enchanting system of channels into the Wagu Lagoon and the Wagu Village which is set against the impressive Hunstein Range that looms behind. This experience is as remote as you could imagine, so far from outside influences and amongst a people who are so much a part of their surrounding natural world. We will stay in village style housing this evening. (B,L,D)Overnight – Wagu Village Guesthouse – Upper Sepik River  

Start with an early morning exploration of the Wagu Lagoon and the surrounding ranges where you will have the opportunity to witness the bird of paradise. The bird watching in Papua New Guinea is unlike anywhere else in the world, and the best time to see and hear this spectacle is between 5.30 and 6.30 am.You will then return to Ambunti and the Sepik River Crocodile and Arts Festival where you will witness the locals display their unique cultures of the mighty Sepik River in competition with each other to show their superiority among their tribal clans. Learn about the ancient traditions as your guide explains the day’s activities and get up close with the locals, sing-sing groups and crocodile Spirit dancers. (B,L,D)Overnight – Wagu Village Guesthouse – Upper Sepik River

The many dozens of tribes that live along this milky chocolate riverine wilderness are experts in survival, coping with isolation in the wet season when the river runs big or conversely isolation when access to the swamps and backwater lakes is cut off from the main river during extended dry seasons. They collect sago and fruit, hunt cassowary, feral pigs and crocodiles, and create magnificent wooden buildings and carvings. The practices of the tribes vary, such as those of the Ngala, known as the ‘Insect Tribe’ because they specialise in carvings of sago beetles, dragonflies and the praying mantis. Spirit drums are only to be beaten after nightfall, or the spirits will know who drummers are. The “spirits” are the ghosts of the ancestors going all the way back to creation. As well as sacred drumming and a host of secret ceremonies, the spirits insist on the carving of the tribe’s unique insect totems, effectively fortifying their own particular culture.We depart from the Wagu Lagoon visiting the final day of the Sepik River Crocodile Festival again on our way down the River. We continue onto Pagwi before extracting ourselves from the majestic river and travelling overland, returning to Wewak. (B,L,D)Overnight – Wewak Boutique Hotel

The day is yours until it is time to transfer to the airport for your flight back to Port Moresby (flight not included).