Day 1: Arriving on (…..) at Sentani airport 06:00 with LionvAir, Garuda Indonesia, Express Air, from Jakarta Pick up at Sentani airport & same day to Wamena, make photocopies of the Passport getting to the Wamena Police station go to the INTEL office at the local POLRES (regency level police station) and get the Surat Jalan (50k). Again make Photo copy.
Day 2-8 (Baliem valley treks.
Day 9 Regular Trigana Flight to Dekai at 9:15 IDR 85 $), & same day shopping located at the upper reaches of Brazza River (about 35 flight minutes). After arrival, visit of local market and last shopping for the tour. After lunch at a local restaurant, drive to harbor (about 28km/ ca. 1 hour). At the harbor our motor longboat including crew await us. Today we plan to go downstream for 2 hours until we reach the village of Patipi Dibawa. Here we raise our first tent camp right down by the river. This short stage gives us an impression of what awaits us during the next days: jungle landscapes in the essence!
Day 10:
In the morning we have an early breakfast before we continue to go downstream with our longboat. Down Brazza river, we are passing amazing prime forest landscapes. Hornbills, flying foxes and other birds often startle when our boat appears. Around noon we will reach the mouth of the mighty Siret River. After our lunch break, we go upstream Siret river to the Kuruwai settlement Mabul. Going upstream, the Siret river changes its face; the current gets stronger, sand banks appear, big tree trunks often block parts of the way, less and less local boats can be spotted. Depending on the water level, our today’s boat trip takes around 8 hours. Under best circumstances, we will reach Mabul in the afternoon. Mabul is a small settlement of
Korowai people who were attracted by the Indonesian government to leave behind their nomadic lifestyle in the forest and to settle down. We will use this settlement as the starting point of our trekking into the Korowai corridor. After we set up our tents and kitchen, we will
start recruiting our porters for the next days. With a little bit of luck, we can set up our tents inside an empty stilt house.
Day 11:
After breakfast we meet our escort team. Our entire luggage and our food for the next days will be carried by our porters. We leave Mabul in Eastern direction. Only some 50 meters and we are standing in thick forest, which we will not leave for the next days. Today, we approximately need 5 hours until we reach our first destination: a fantastic jungle settlement with several tree houses.The traditionally dressed Korowai will give you a friendly welcome. Tent camp next to the tree houses.
Day 12:
Today, we trek on to Ajak Clan an oward to Koroway batu.
Day 13-15:
We will spend the day with the forest nomads. Maybe today they show us how to repair a tree house in crazy heights, or how to make and use bows and arrows – the most important weapons here. Or we join the Kuruwai on a journey into the forest to seek food. They are true
hunters and gatherers: in a few hours their nets are filled with spiders, Sago Craps, locusts and other exotic animals. They even shoot flying dogs from the trees. And again, we can look forward to another exotic dinner!
Day 16:
Whole day drive to Patipi Dibawa. Downstream river Siret, we get along very quick. What took 6 hours before, only takes 2 hours today. Late in the afternoon, tent camp in the familiar small village at the upper reaches of the Brazza river.
Day 17:
Today we start very early towards the harbor of Dekai. After about 2 hours’ drive we reach our destination and say goodbye to our boat crew. We continue directly to the airfield of Dekai. Around noon flight back to Jayapura or Wamena and transfer to the Hotel.
My E-mail: trekpapua@gmail.com Skype: wasage3
