Guest Comments

testimonials

Three of us—two from the US and one from Australia—recently took a two-week trip to West Papua and Papua.  We were guided expertly by Monal, who not only knows the birds but shows great care for those on the tour.  We visited three sites--lowland forest at Malagufuk, near Sorong; the Mokwam village in the Arfak Mountains; and Biak Island.  The late addition of Biak was made by Monal and his staff when travel to the Central Range was not possible.  

Malagufuk was reached after an hour of driving, then about 2 hours of walking through the wet forest, birding all along the way.  The facilities there were simple but totally adequate and were located in the middle of an excellent forest habitat—a different habitat than we would see on the rest of the trip.  Local guides were good, the food very good and the birds even better.  Highlights included five birds of paradise displaying, a juvenile northern cassowary, a black lory, and a red-breasted paradise kingfisher. 

The second stop was Maibri village in the fabled Arfak Mountains, requiring about 2 hours driving upslope from Manokwari.  The guesthouse was outstanding, the food excellent and, again, the birds were unbelievable.  Local guides were keen observers and knew just where to look for the area's specialties.  Early starts took us to the nearby mountain trails and bird hides, from which we added five more birds-of-paradise, Vogelkop and masked bowerbirds, feline and mountain owlet-nightjars, vulturine (Pesquet's) parrot, as well as a number of robins and honeyeaters. Other highlights included Oriental hobby, pygmy eagle, Gurney's eagle, and New Guinea eagle. 

The last three days were on Biak Island, which held several new species for us.  Because of the late change, the hotel choice available to us was limited, but was adequate—and right on the ocean!  Birding consisted of alternating driving with walking forest roads, which gave great views of special birds: Biak endemics, such as Biak coucal, Biak scops-owl, and Biak paradise-kingfisher. We saw more than a dozen island endemics (monarch, flycatcher, leaf-warbler, white-eye) and five others that likely will be split, as well as numerous parrots, lories, and lorikeets.  We had great looks at the Papuan frogmouth and several species of fruit doves and imperial pigeons.  Excellent dining was at local restaurants known to Monal and the local guide.

In all, we totaled 162 species seen, 6 more heard, and 5 endemics that are likely to be split soon.

Two of us had traveled with Monal two years earlier, so we knew already how well he operated his tours.  Monal and his staff did an excellent job arranging the tour details and truly taking care of us as birding clients.  We especially appreciated how well Monal integrated the local guides and drivers into the tours, treating them with respect, which added to the total experience for us.  We look forward with great anticipation to the next tour we take with Monal and his Birding Tours. (Gemmy, Rob and Texas Ranger)