Trek Papua

Brief description: Korowai Tree House Tribe adventure

The Adventure – The walking tour is mostly through the dense jungle, swampy, and we sometime walking up the single log. Sometime our porter will free their hand to help you in the hard or difficult trail. The Korowai tribes live in the jungle only with their family or relatives, as they never stay in one big compound. We can found 2 or 3 Tree house in one camp only. Caused they are nomad peoples and they never life for such a long time in the one places, they have to moved to one and another places to get more food and animals to be hunt. We will stay with Korowai in their bevak or we build a tent or up the tree house if permitted.

Korowai People always moves from one place to another in order to be close to the foods and hunted animals provides by nature. Korowai and Kombai are hunter and gatherer who move and build a new tree house once every 3 years. For this reason we do not fix the place of our destination or what activities we do day by day. Once we arrive in Mabul or Upper Mabul, our contact person will telling us and update all the information in Korowai and Kombai area including the people and their tree house or if there is any sago grub feast take place while we are in the area. Sago grub feast is the main ritual ceremony in Korowai Batu tribe to re-new their world and relation with God/Spirit and among their own people in the clans or groups. We will arrange our visit to the place where the feast will serve a lot of foods including the most delicacy “Sago Grub” to the invited guests and every one will put on their best wear and dancing. Traditional wear of Korowai is very simple; men wear a piece of leave or a small penis gourd to cover their penis and women wear the skirt made of woven sago leafs. Compared Kombai tribe wears the same with Korowai but some of Kombai men wear hornbill head instead of the gourd during the feast time.

THE TRAIL

The trail is going through the swampy lands so you will get wet and could be very slippery and muddy when it rains. The weather is very unpredictable here. During the dry season (May – Oct) it can be very dry. So, prepare your self to the wet or hot weather condition with humidity from 65 – 99% or may be more. The surface of our trail into the forest is almost flat, no hike and we likely walk under the canopy of the forest’s trees most if the time. Tropic rain forest provides varies of wild life, beautiful and exotic fauna and flora, but you have to concentrate and watch carefully your steps especially when you have to walk on logs or fallen tree in the small river or sago swamp. For that we will always take 15 to 30 minutes break every time you need to drink water after one or two hours walk.

NIGHT CAMP

We overnight a tent near the tree house, but should you want to sleep on a tree house with Korowai Batu family bring your own mosquito net or you can use our own. We sometime spend 1-2 nights in one place of the tree house of there are some interesting event in the place and the family would like to host us that we can joining their daily activities. We really think that by joining the local daily activities is the best way to understand and experience the local life and culture. If there is no sago grub feast take place while we are in the area, we will join the local people daily life activities (e.g. gathering foods/sago, fishing, hunting or put on the trap for animal like pig or birds). We sometime watch people build a new tree house.

Detail Program

Day 01:  Jayapura Arrival – Yahokimo (L,D)

Arrive at Sentani airport of Jayapura by SJ580 at 07:00am, meet by tour guide and catching regular flight to Dekai/Yahokimo with schedule ETD 10:00, it will be depend on weather.  Make more preparation in Dekai for the next day by  charter motorized canoe. Rest of the day you may walk around Dekai villages  to explore Dekai small town. Lunch and dinner will be provided by our cook. These flight very often delayed or canceled due to bad weather. If canceled you shall be transfer to hotel and overnight stay (baggage allowance for this flight is 15kg per person)

Day 02:  DEKAI – Brazza River – Mabul/ Baygon (B,L,D)

Transfer by Jeep to Lokpon and today travel by motorized canoe through Brazza River for approx 4-6hours.  From Brazza river up to Kolf River on destination to Mabul or baygon. Depends with rivers high condition, sometime the water river down to 1 meter (low tide), the boat has to be slower. Arrive at afternoon or at night.  Dinner and overnight in the village of Mabul or upper of Mabul (Baygon)

Day 03, Day 04, Day 05, Day 06,   Trekking & Explore Koroway  (B,L,D)

We will spend these 04 days adventure is some of the most pristine lowland rain forest in the world. Along the way we will try and stay with the various tribes those inhabit the region.  Start our adventure by walking through the dense jungle, swampy, and we sometime walking up the single log. Our porter will free their hand to help you in the hard or difficult trail. After 4-6 hours walking we arrive the first Koroway camp (where some Koroway tribes life). The Koroway tribes live in the jungle only with their family or relatives, as they never stay in one big compound. We can found 3 or 4 Tree houses in one camp only. Caused they are nomad peoples and they never life for such a long time in the one places, they have to move to one and another places to get more food and animals to be hunt. Stay and overnight at tents. While the Canoe with their crews waiting us in this village while we doing adventure till we return.

Day 07:  Jungle  – Mabul/Baygon (B,L,D)

The Last day trek we will be arrive in Mabul. We will consider where we would sleep in the jungle near Mabul or at village itself. Lunch en route, dinner and overnight at tents.

Day 08:   Mabul – Dekai (B,L,D)

Boat is waiting us in Mabul for a few days and drop us back for 6-8 hours from Mabul to Dekai Lunch en route, dinner and overnight at Simple Hotel in Dekai or at tents.

Day 09:  Dekai – Jayapura/Wamena (B)

Simple breakfast at hotel. By regular flight to Wamena/Jayapura.