Travel Papua recommends to use sustainable accommodation which are owned by local Papuans or direclty benefit the local Papua community. However, the accommodation facilities depend on your travel destinations in Papua. Bigger cities like Wamena, Jayapura and Sorong, have internationally standardized hotels instead of locally owned guesthouses. Nowadays the Raja Ampat islands offer exclusive resorts which many of them are built using local materials and workforce meaning they are still sustainable. During trekkings and jungle expeditions the facilities are poorer, but your experiences will become richer! You will stay in simple guesthouses, on campsites or in the houses of local villagers. Here is a selection of the accommodations we recommend to use during our tours.
Jungle Lodge – Arfak Mountains
When you are looking for accommodation in the thick rainforest of majestic Arfak Mountains to enjoy an easy wildlife and nature tour, the Jungle Lodge is the perfect base camp. It is a short distance away from the sites of the endemic bird species: Vogelkop Bowerbird, Magnificent Bird of Paradise and Six-Wired Bird of Paradise (Western Parotia). The Jungle Lodge was build with the support of the local government in order to promote and boost eco-tourism. It has a beautiful, flowery environment but however, the comfort level is basic; The beds have thin mattresses and water is brought in with buckets for personal use from the nearby spring. In the evening we light up candles all around the accomodation since there is no electricity. The Jungle Lodge has a common dining room and the meals are prepared by the cooks in a traditional kitchen using wood fire.
How to get there: Fly to Manokwari. Continue by 4-wheel driver jeep to the mountains. In about 1.5 hours you will reach the Jungle Lodge.
Women Centre – Southern Baliem Valley
The woman centre in southern Baliem has a very cozy guesthouse with a private dining room. The location is on a beautiful setting, offering great views to the Baliem Valley and the mountainous areas. Even though the room is basic, it is very clean and neat. It is a perfect place to start your trekking tour or to have it as your base camp for day trekkings around the area. Staying in this guesthouse means you will support the educational program of the girls that live here. The girls come from different tribes (Yali, Dani or Lani tribe) and some have walked 3 days through the jungle to get here as there is no road systems. The center offers an after school education programs like health and nutrition, sewing and handicrafts. You are free to have a look around.
How to get there: Fly to Wamena (From Jayapura). From Wamena it is a 45 minutes drive to Yetni River, where the car can’t go further. Walk 1.5 hours on an asphalt road or take a 15-minute motorbike ride. Climb o15 minutes up the hill and you get to the Women centre.
Papua Explorers – Raja Ampat
Luxury can be sustainable! This Resort is constructed by using traditional Papuan construction methods, workers and local, natural materials. The water bungalows are designed to be in perfect harmony with the exotic surroundings. The walls are made from Daun Bobo, the roofs are made from Daun Nipa and the floors, the windows and the doorframes are made from teak wood. These are some typical materialsused for traditional Papuan houses. We can offer you good deal of this resort, so please contact us for more information!
How to get there: Fly to Sorong. From the town harbour, continue to Waisai by the public ferry and from there, take a speedboat to the resort. Faster option is to take a speedboat directly from Sorong to the island, which takes about 2 hours.
Campsites and local houses
Even though there are sometimes no facilities or they are very basic, campsites and staying in local houses offer unique and great experiences for adventurous souls! Staying in a local house gives you the chance to truly be part of the friendly Papuan community and gain that local experience. Sometimes we even stay overnight in an empty church. For some trekking routes where we will pass no villages, we will bring our own tents. We will make a camp nearby a river or a spring so we have a possibility to bath. When the night is clear, the stars light up the sky which is an impressive view to see in the middle of the mountainous jungle area. In the morning the beautiful sounds of birds will wake us up.
