Bird Watching Tours Papua
- 7 Days / 6 Nights
- Birding
Easy-Moderate
Bird watching tours in Papua rainforest is an exciting experience for the endemic Bird of Paradise lover. This easternmost and the largest island in Indonesia is rich in biodiversity. Papua is home to over 710 bird species including the birds-of-paradise, cassowary, sulfur-crested cockatoo, kingfishers, Papuan hornbill or Blyth’s hornbills, Papuan pitta, western crowned pigeon and many more.
Birds-of-paradise, or locally known as Cendrawasih, is the icon of Papua. The 26 out of the world’s 42 species of birds-of-paradise are found in this region, and six species are Papua endemics. Birds of paradise are best known for the beautiful array of feathers that are existent on the male birds of paradise, which the male bird of paradise uses to attract the attention of the surrounding female birds of paradise.
Papua Bird Watching Tours Spots
All of our West Papua birding spots are located in a remote area within the pristine wilderness. Our bird watching tour program in the lower montane of Mount Arfak and Raja Ampat provides excellent birding experience. Even though it’s not a 100% guarantee as they are wild animals and not always predictable but these areas offer a high chance of bird’s sightings.
Arfak Bird of Paradise at Susnguakti Forest
Susnguakti is a rainforest area in the south of Manokwari city, located at an altitude of 0 – 600 m above sea level. The watching targets of this area are: Lesser Bird of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus), King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius), Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Beautiful Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus), Spangled Drongo, Common Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera galatea), etc. Not only suitable for bird watching, but Susnguakti is also suitable for insect observation.
Please aware that there is no proper accommodation available in this area. The base accommodation is jungle hut. Dome tents, mattresses, and pillows are provided.
Waigeo Island Birding, Raja Ampat
Waigeo Island is the largest island in the Raja Ampat archipelago. Raja Ampat is a group of islands comprising over 1.500 small islands located in the western tip of West Papua. The name of Raja Ampat, Four Kings, represented four major islands in the archipelago Waigeo, Misol, Batanta, and Salawati. Raja Ampat is known to have the richest marine biodiversity on earth, the home of 75% world’s marine species with over 550 species of coral, 1,427 fish species and more than 700 different types of mollusks. Not only underwater, but wildlife and landscape are equally breathtaking. Waigeo Island is home to Wilson birds-of-paradise and red birds-of-paradise.
- Arrive Manokwari – West Papua.
- Meet and greet with your birding expert guide to the coastal area of the Arfak range. Our destination is the Susnguakti forest. It is a lower montane forest in the eastern region of the Arfak range. It takes approximately 1.5 hours ride to reach our destination. The car is usually operated by villagers to transport people and agricultural goods to the city.
- Arriving at the entrance path of the forest, we still have to continue our trip on foot for 1 hour to our jungle hut. The slopes are steep. Please, wear hiking boots.
- Arriving at the jungle hut, local guides will make a fire to boil water for making coffee and tea as well as preparing food. They also will prepare dome tents, mattresses, and pillows.
- After having tea and coffee with some biscuits we will explore the surrounding forest near our base camp.
- Have dinner at around 19.00.
- After dinner, we will do a night walk in the forest to find cuscus possum and other nocturnal animals.
- Return at around 22.00 to sleep.
Accommodation plan : Tent / guest house
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
- Wake up at 05.00 to have breakfast
- At 05.30 am, we will start walking to the birding site of Lesser Birds of Paradise. Several male Lesser Bird of Paradises begin to call their female counterparts at approximately 06.00. They will compete with one another to win the heart of their female birds by performing Courtship Dance.
- At 09.00 am, Continue the birding tour to a higher elevation forest of the Susnguakti forest to watch King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius).
- At 11.00 am, return to our jungle huts
- Have our lunch and take a rest for a while or take a bath at a river near the jungle huts. There is NO TOILET in the middle of the forest, we could use the small river near our basecamp whose water is flowing into the ground again. The river does not flow into the sea.
- At 15.00, hiking to higher elevation forest to watch Magnificent Riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus), and other birds such as Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Beautiful Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus pulchellus), Spangled Drongo, Common Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera galatea) and etc.
- At 18.00, return to our basecamp to take a shower and have dinner.
- At 20.30, we do another night walk to find Cuscus Possum, Ground Brown Skink, and Papua Dragon Lizard.
- At around 22.30 we will return to our huts to sleep.
Accommodation plan : Tent / guest house
- Wake up early in the morning to find birds of paradise that we haven't seen well. It could be Lesser BOPs or Magnificent Riflebird.
- Then, we will have a tour to a nearby river in the forest to find Great Cuckoo Dove, or Azure Kingfisher, hopefully, the Common Paradise Kingfisher will also show up.
- After early lunch at 11.00, we will pack our things and slowly walk back to the main road again. A short visit to a coastal village at the foot of the mountains will allow us to see how local people live in their daily life. Our local guide will show how to use a traditional match (made od bamboo, pebble, and palm fiber) to make fire.
- Return to Manokwari city at around 15.00.
Transfer to Swiss bell Hotel Manokwari for dinner and overnight.
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Transfer to the airport to catch your flight to Sorong city.
- Arrive in Sorong, continue to catch a public Ferry for a 2-hour journey to Waisai Island – Raja Ampat.
- Transfer to the Hamu Eco Lodge or similar for rest and overnight.
- Early in the morning, we drive to Sapokren Village, the starting point to the red bird of paradise viewing spot. In addition to the red bird of paradise, Wilson red bird of paradise, parrots, hornbill, cockatoos, kingfisher can be spotted. The male red bird of paradise begins the performance to attract females from 06.00 am – 7.30 am. Other bird endemic to West Papua can also be spotted.
- We then walk down to Sapokren village. Visit the village then return to the accommodation for lunch.
- In the afternoon, we will do a soft hike in the Sapokren village area to spot other endemic birds.
Accommodation plan: Hamu Eco Lodge or similar
- We kick off the day by hiking bird-watching spot to observe Wilson Bird of paradise. Wilson BOP is rather small. Males can reach a length of 16 centimeters (6.3 in) (21 cm including central rectrices) and a weight of 53–67 g., while females can reach a length of 16 cm, but a weight of 52–60 g.
- Return to the guest house for lunch.
- Free of activity in the afternoon.
- Accommodation: Hamu Eco Lodge or similar
- Transfer to the harbor to catch the public ferry to Sorong.
- Arrive in Sorong, transfer to the airport to catch your flight to the next destination.
- END OF YOUR TRIP
- All transfer
- Birding guide (English speaking)
- Porters
- Full board meals in Mt. Arfak
- Entry permit to Papua
- All Entry Fees and donations
- Accommodation listed on the program
- All activities mentioned in the program
