Welcome to Papua New Guinea! Upon arrival Mount Hagen airport, you will be transferred to your hotel for lunch and time to freshen up. Later this afternoon enjoy a city tour around Mt Hagen City and time permitting, you will drive to Paikona Village where you can enjoy learning about village life, the people of the Central Highlands region, the famous face painting done by Mount Hagen women, and try ‘mumu', a local dish cooked in a stone oven.
Continue on foot to a nearby village to witness the WAIPA dance, a dance performed by young males females who are courting.
Return to your hotel this evening for diner. Stay 3 Nights: Jiwaka Mission Resort or similar (L/D)
Enjoy an early breakfast this morning before you depart to visit the Sing-Sing (tribal gathering groups) groups from different provinces in their camps. Witness how their body decorations, colourful traditional costumes and vibrant face painting is done. Your guide will offer explanations outlining the various types of costumes and their significances in differing the cultures of these tribes people.
Proceed into the showgrounds to witness hundreds of warriors, all dressed in their very finest traditional regalia, dancing and singsing, each group in their own cultural style and language with the intention of outclassing all the other groups. You will then have the truly unforgettable opportunity to walk amongst the dancers, even shake their hands and meet them, before enjoying a picnic lunch right in the middle of the action at the showground.
Later in the afternoon, you will return to the hotel. (B/L/D)
Following breakfast, transfer to the showground to enjoy another full day at the Mount Hagen Festival. Immerse yourself in the upwards of 100 tribes peacefully sharing their cultural traditions through costume, dancing and music. Disguised in anthropomorphic body paint, clad in elaborate headdresses, jewellery made of shells and boars' tusks and skirts made from leaves and fur, the groups perform their primal dances; the tribe that garners the most applause and biggest reaction from the crowd wins.
Enjoy lunch at the showgrounds again today and return to your hotel later in the afternoon. Dinner this evening is in your hotel. (B/L/D)
After breakfast this morning, you will be transferred to the Mount Hagen airport for your flight back to Port Moresby (flight not included). (B)
There are currently no departures available on this trip. Either it's the end of the season and new departures will be released shortly, or this itinerary has been changed and will no longer continue. Feel free to contact us for information about when next seasons dates will be released or click here to view the general release dates for all destinations.
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