Round trip 16 days Baliem valley and Raja Ampat homestay

Garuda Indonesia flies non-stop from Amsterdam to Jakarta with her new Boeing 777-300 ER. Experience the hospitality of the Indonesian culture on board of Garuda Indonesia, the national flight company of Indonesia. This direct flight takes you in 13 and a half hour from Amsterdam to Jakarta. Departure from Amsterdam around midday, arrival Jakarta early in the morning. Your connecting flight to Jayapura leaves about 16 hours later and takes ca 5,5 hours. In between your two flights you will use the FM7 resort, a 30 minutes-drive from the airport. Your connecting flight leaves halfway through the evening and arrives around sunrise. A more comfortable alternative is the code-share KLM flight, with departure from Amsterdam around 20:50 and arrival in Jakarta in the late afternoon. Your connecting flight to Jayapura leaves about five and a half hours later. Max. weight: 30 kg.

Your flight arrives in the morning in Jakarta and your connecting flight only leaves later in the evening. We booked a room for day-use in the FM7-resort, a 30 minute drive from the airport. At the exit of the airport, outside, your driver is waiting for you and drives you to the hotel.

From Jayapura airport you fly with Trigana airlines to Wamena, a flight of almost an hour. When you arrive in Wamena we pick you up at the airport, then visit some villages around Wamena and check you in for 4 nights at the Pilamo hotel in the centre of Wamena.

Flight with Trigana Air, Wings or NAM Air Daily departures from Jayapura: 06:45, 08:50, 09:05, 11:10 en 13:30 from Wamena: 07:50, 09:55, 12:15, en 14:35

After breakfast a little more than a half an hour drive to Sogokmo for a day hiking in the wonderful surroundings of the Baliem river. Via a hanging bridge we walk along traditional Dani villages and across sweet potato fields. After our picnic lunch we return to Sogokmo, where the car is waiting to drive us back to the hotel in Wamena.

After a one-hour drive we reach Jiwika in the central part of the Baliem valley. Here starts our climb of about one hour uphill through the mountain rainforest. We arrive in a traditional Dani village with a salt mine. Ladies in traditional clothes accompany us and show us the original way of salt mining. After our lunch in the village we walk to Kurulu where we’ll see a very old mummy of de famous Dugum clan. Everywhere the friendly people from Kurulu will show you their jewelry, art, weapons and other curiosities.

All day long we will visit a traditional pig festival in Jiwika. THE opportunity to attend this special ceremony where they prepare a pig on hot stones. The Dani still celebrate these pig festivals, notably for weddings. During our tour this traditional ceremony will be held especially for you, which means a nice little earner for them and allows you, with your guide, to meet and speak with the Dani people.

Immediately after breakfast we leave the hotel and take the first flight from Wamena, back to Jayapura. You’ll stay there one night in the Swissbell hotel or the simpler, but very cosy beachfront Tablanusa resort in Depapre. The rest of the day you can do a sightseeing tour with a visit to the Mc Arthur war monument and lake Sentani. If you stay in Jayapura you can also go to the museum and the Hamadi market.

After breakfast your driver takes you to the airport for your flight to Sorong. When you leave the small airport of Sorong your guide is waiting for you. He’ll help you with the necessary local formalities and takes you to the harbour. A porter helps you aboard. You sail with the fast ferry at around 14:00 in about 2 hours to Waisai on the island Waigeo. You will be greeted there and sail with a seaworthy pirogue to the island Pulau Gam where you will be taken to the guesthouse you’ve chosen. If you are too late for the ferry, the guide takes you to your hotel in Sorong and you will make your boat trip to Pulau Gam the following day.

Flight GA-699 Garuda Indonesia Departure 11:05 Arrival 13:50 Max weight: 20kg

If you’re talking about Papua, you’re also talking about culture. Let a guide accompany you to experience local life in the kampong. Sundays excepted you might as well be able to visit a school. Anyway, you stay at a local family’s home, so you can ask them everything about life on Raja Ampat. Remember that Sunday is the day of the Lord and you can’t demand too much your host and hostess, but an absolute ‘must’ is going to the church service.

If you’re talking about Papua, then you’re especially talking about diving. There are numerous unique dive spots that are breathtaking. Wobbegong sharks and Manta rays are just some of the highlights. There’s simply too many to mention, you can go diving 5 full days and even then you won’t have seen 25% yet! Diving can be arranged locally. Generally you pay between € 30 and € 40 per dive. You can hire a complete diving-equipment for around € 30 per day. If you want to make a dive trip further afield you can rent a boat for circa € 30 for the whole day. If you wish we make an all-in package with 2 or 3 dives per day.

If you’re talking about Papua, then you’re also talking about the birds of Paradise. These beautiful birds generally turn up around sunrise and sunset. The male birds show themselves at their very best to the ladies. Sometimes high up in the trees but sometimes also close to the ground. You will find the birds of paradise on the islands Waigeo, Urai, Gam, Mansuar, Arborek, Kri, Painemu and Friwen.

If you’re talking about Papua, then you’re also talking about snorkelling. From almost any guesthouse it only takes a few steps to walk from the beach into an aquarium... During the length of your stay you can use a pirogue, a local wooden motorised little boat, with which you also can sail to the best snorkelling spots. Raja Ampat is known for the most beautiful coral reefs. Lunchbox on board and you will have a great day!

If you’re talking about Papua, then you’re especially talking about diving. There are numerous unique dive spots that are breathtaking. Wobbegong sharks and Manta rays are just some of the highlights. There’s simply too many to mention, you can go diving 5 full days and even then you won’t have seen 25% yet! Diving can be arranged locally. Generally you pay between € 30 and € 40 per dive. You can hire a complete diving-equipment for around € 30 per day. If you want to make a dive trip further afield you can rent a boat for circa € 30 for the whole day. If you wish we make an all-in package with 2 or 3 dives per day.

After an early breakfast you sail back to Waisai on the island of Waigeo. Around 09:00 you will board the ferry and sail back to Sorong. Our driver is again waiting for you at the harbour and drives you to the airport or your hotel in Sorong. Lunch and dinner are at your own expense this day.

Flight with Garuda Indonesia Sorong-Amsterdam with transfers in Makassar and Jakarta. Departure from Sorong in the late afternoon with transfer of a good 2,5 hour in Makassar, arrival in the evening in Jakarta. The connecting flight leaves in the evening from Jakarta. Arrival Amsterdam in the morning.

In the morning arrival at Schiphol. The end of a beautiful trip...