Melpa Festival 2024

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Melpa Festival

Thursday 11th July to Sunday 21st of July 2024

A Tumbuna Sing-sing is a celebration of culture and tradition - celebrating 'pasin bilong Tumbuna,' the way of the ancestors.

The Melpa Tour is an unescorted 11 day/10 night tour around 3 diverse locations in Papua New Guinea. It features a diverse PNG Highlands experience and culminates in the Melpa festival itself. The 2023 Melpa festival will be a spectacular celebration, involving local tribes celebrating their culture in a colourful extravaganza of traditional dress, dancing and singing. Bringing together a few of the many tribal groups of Papua New Guinea, the Melpa Festival is a unique opportunity to witness the diversity of this ancient and fascinating country.

ITINERARY 

Thursday 11 July 2024

Upon arrival at Jackson's International Airport in Port Moresby, you are met by Trans Niugini Tours' staff members who will then transfer you to Airways Hotel.Spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure.

Overnight: AIRWAYS HOTEL (D)

Friday 12 July 2024

Transfer from Airways Hotel to Jacksons airport for your domestic Air Niugini flight to Tari. The Huli tribe that inhabit this area is the largest as well as one of the most colourful and iconic tribes of PNG. Once you arrive you will be transferred to Ambua Lodge; nestled at the edge of the lush green rainforest and overlooking the serene Tari valley below.Spend the afternoon enjoying Ambua’s winding forest trails that take you through lush rainforest, past gushing waterfalls and over traditional vine-bridges. While on the nature walk you may chance to observe up to 13 species of the birds of paradise alongside a wide variety of coloured flowers, exotic plants and insects.

Overnight: AMBUA LODGE (BLD)

Saturday 13 July 2024

Spend the day touring the villages and countryside of the iconic Huli tribe. The Hulis’are famed for their colourful bilas (traditional dress) and the unique traditions. The Huli men pride themselves on their beautiful bilas with its’ elaborately constructed human hair headdress which they lavishly decorated with flowers, mosses and ornate bird feathers. Their bilas combined with their unique sing-sing is intended both to enrapture their audience as well as intimidate enemies. Visit the mens’ wig school and tour the local villages to experience how this proud mountain tribe has evolved in the modern age, while still maintaining the stories, beliefs and traditions of their ancestors.

Overnight: AMBUA LODGE (BLD)

Sunday 14 July 2024

This morning fly by charter flight into the deep heart of the jungle where your wondrous journey continues at the Karawari Lodge in the Sepik region. From Karawari airstrip, you will be transferred to Karawari Lodge. Sitting on a ridge above the Karawari River, the lodge boasts a spectacular view of hundreds of kilometres of dense tropical jungle. Proceed with lunch, followed by an afternoon visit to a nearby village to learn about the customary process of harvesting and preparing the sago palm. Sago is the staple food for the Karawari tribes.

Overnight:  KARAWARI LODGE (BLD)    

Each day you will travel by motorboat down the river to visit the small villages that line its shores. The villages provide a unique opportunity to visit traditional homes, witness ceremonial dances and celebrations and glimpse traditional village life. The Karawari tribes express their beliefs through their skillful and artistic expressions of sculpture and art. Enjoy this opportunity to admire or the beautifully woven baskets, carved masks, drums and sculptures. You will have an opportunity to buy art from the local villages.

Overnights: KARAWARI LODGE (BLD)

Fly by charter from Karawari to Mount Hagen. During the flight mountains rise up to startling heights out of the flat lands of the Sepik Basin. Mount Hagen town is in the upper Wahgi Valley - a valley with some of the oldest evidence of agriculture in the world. Upon arrival, drive up the mountain to Rondon Ridge Lodge. After settling in, enjoy the remainder of the afternoon on a guided birding and nature walk in the surrounding nature trails. The Rondon Ridge area is a pristine rainforest and home to numerous orchid species and a wide variety of birds. The lodge has hours of walking trails providing ample opportunity to explore the unique ecology of this area. Over 180 species of birds have been recorded in the rainforests around Rondon Ridge including twelve species of Bird of Paradise.

Overnight: RONDON RIDGE (BLD)

One full day is spent exploring the Hagen Area and Wahgi Valley. The Mount Hagen area is the home of the Melpa people, a people with a strong culture, who in the face of modernity, still live largely traditional subsistence lifestyles. First contact with the Melpa was made in the mid-1930. The Melpa people are “true farmers” that still maintain traditional farming methods that can be traced back 9,000 years. The tour will bring you to local villages where the villagers will share their fascinating tribal traditions; such as the rites of widowed women, the ceremonies surrounding marriage and funerals, the traditions of tribal warfare and the daily customs of the Melpa people. This area is also the home of the famous Pogla mudmen, famed for their unique bilas (traditional dress) and the ancient story that surrounds it.

The tour will also include a visit to a local Huli Village in Mount Hagen. These Highland people employ as their art, body decoration, face painting and human hair decorated with feathers, flowers and moss. The Huli culture is the most vibrant, intact and colorful to be experienced anywhere.

Overnight: RONDON RIDGE (BLD)

Friday 19 July 2024

Today is spent at the Melpa Festival.The Melpa Festival is an intimate gathering of a dozen or more different PNG tribal groups, each performing their unique sing-sing while lavishly decorated and dressed in full bilas; tribal dress. The traditional PNG bilas and sing-sing is a unique and distinctive feature of each of the more than 800 tribes of Papua New Guinea.
The show takes place at a beautiful outdoor showground on the Rondon Ridge property. The stunning mountain vista framed by the distinctly vast highlands’ sky serves as the perfect backdrop for this unique demonstration of PNG tradition.
The celebrations will begin as the tribes arrive and gather to carefully adorn themselves with their complex headdresses, face and body paint and traditional clothing. Guests will arrive at the showground with plenty of time to wander throughout the area where they can interact with the dancers as they prepare for the sing-sing. This is an excellent opportunity to take photographs.
As the morning progresses, we will gather together and the groups will each perform their sing-sing. The performance gradually builds until each of the tribes is performing simultaneously to the sound of rhythmic drumming and singing voices. It is an unparalleled experience.

Overnight: RONDON RIDGE (BLD)

Saturday 20 July 2024

Transfer to Kagamuga Airport for your flight to Port Moresby. Upon arrival in Port Moresby you will be met by Trans Niugini Tours staff and transferred to your hotel. After lunch enjoy a half day tour to the Nature Park.

Overnight: AIRWAYS HOTEL (BLD)

Sunday 21 July 2024

This morning you will be transferred to the airport for your out-going international flight. (B)

****** End of Trans Niugini Tours Arrangements ******

INVESTMENT

LAND COST

$6,933.00 per person - TWIN SHARE

$8,060.00 per person -  SINGLE ROOM THROUGHOUT 

LAND COST INCLUDES:
Accommodation, airport transfers and tours on a seat in a bus basis, meals from dinner on 11 July to breakfast on 21 July, local English-speaking guides and sing-sing entry fee.

LAND COST DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Domestic and international flights, gratuities and services of a personal nature such as beverage, laundry charges, phone and fax bills.

Land Cost Valid Till 31^st December, 2024

ADDITIONAL AIR CHARTER COST FOR 2 SECTORS

Total cost for 2 flights: $1,446.00 per person

Sunday  14 July 2024 -Ambua/Karawari
Wednesday 17 July 2024 -Karawari/Mount Hagen

Special Note Regarding Charters: Maximum baggage allowance is 10kg per person and a maximum of 5kg carry-on baggage per person. Large, hard sided suitcases are not permitted on charter aircraft. 

DOMESTIC AIR NIUGINI FLIGHTS
Domestic and international flights are not included in the cost and we do not arrange these. You book and ticket the domestic Air Niugini flights together with your international flights. We will book the internal air charter flights.

BOOK THESE AIR NIUGINI FLIGHTS:
Friday 12 July, 2024 - PX864 Port Moresby/Tari

Saturday 20 July, 2024 - PX181 Mount Hagen/Port Moresby

BOOKING AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES
To secure space, a non refundable deposit of USD500 per person is required. We will confirm your booking only on receipt of your deposit. Full payment will be required 45-30 days before clients arrival.

For further information please contact us

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