Day 1: Arrive in Goroka
Today you will be travelling from your destination through Port Moresby to Goroka. Due to different travel times and schedules, please ensure you are in Goroka town on the 14th of September. Our tour officially starts this evening with a welcome reception at the hotel. Here you will be introduced to your guide who will also go over the next few days’
schedules.
Day 2: Asaro Valley
After breakfast this morning, depart the hotel at 8 am and make your way to a nearby village. Experience a cultural show put on by the Asaro mud men, who are famous for their eerie ceremonial masks and clay-like body paint. According to legend, the tribesmen were once defeated by an enemy clan and forced to hide in the nearby Asaro River. When they emerged covered in the clay, the enemy was scared off by their ghost-like appearance. The mud men adopted the intimidating costuming for subsequent battles. While in the village, witness a fire-making ceremony, learn the art of firemaking.
Afterwards, take a trip around Goroka with your leader. Get a dose of history at the JK McCarthy Museum, discover how beans are processed at a coffee factory, browse the colourful produce stalls at a local village market, and visit Goroka’s RaunRaun Theatre.
Day 3: Kemase Valley
Today, discover the culture and heritage of the Kemase Valley. While navigating picturesque sandstone pillars, we will be told stories about the warring tribes and how the Kemase used these cliffs as a fortress protecting themselves from invading enemies. We will also view skull caves where ancestors of the Kemase Villages were buried. The caves are quite tricky to navigate and be sure to have some good walking shoes when visiting the caves. You will need to trek to get the most out of today, so please be prepared for a hike in the Eastern highland ranges.
Tonight we will be having a BBQ dinner.
Day 4: Goroka Festival Lead-In Performances
Today is all about the pikini’s – the children of the countries Eastern Highlands. They’ll be performing traditional song and dance shows as a lead-in to the main festival events tomorrow. Take your camera and enjoy the show. After the show we will make our way back to the hotel for a relax.This evening there will be an option to have a team dinner at the Aero Club where you can get to mingle with some of the local town folk and share a drink.
Day 5-6: Goroka Festival
The annual Goroka Show – Papua New Guinea’s biggest singsing and one of the most important events of the year. Over 100 tribes from around the country come together in a colourful, feather-fuelled celebration of culture, ritual, song and dance. The show originated in 1957, when a group of Australian patrol officers – known locally as ‘kiaps’ – invited tribes in their areas to gather in song and dance.
After your local guide has shown you around the show grounds, you’ll be free to wander from performance to performance in your own time.
Day 7: Depart from Goroka
Today we say goodbye for now and we travel back to Port Moresby where we will connect to our various homes around the world.
