Papua New Guinea by Sea Kayak with Aurora Expeditions -- April 2009 |
ABOUT THIS WEB PAGE: Trip Advisor, Expedia, and other websites do an excellent job of sharing travel experiences amongst the global and regional travelers. However, they do not accept reports on more obscure hotels and on tour companies. So we simply post the reports on our own web pages so that others can benefit. We hope you enjoy our information and do not mind the absence of advertisement, fancy graphics , and robust hyper-linking. External links are certainly welcome. And you may |
Kayaking: Southern Sea Adventures -- The kayak portion is booked
as an add-on to
Aurora Expeditions standard Papua New Guinea trip.
Southern Sea Ventures
delivered as expected. 7 of the 80+ guests took part in the kayaking
package. Transportation, Meals, Lodging: Aurora Expeditions -- Aurora's Marina Svetaeva 100 guest small cruise boat hosted our kayaking on their standard tour. We booked top of the line double mini suite accommodations. Aurora Expeditions booking and delivery was a huge disappointment. Recommendation: Take this trip if you have an interest in development of primitive cultures but then ONLY IF you can stomach spending half your time in 'tour bus' level activities geared to the special safety needs of the slowest moving of octogenarians AND like tours where the operator is constantly changing the venue AND are do not have posh expectations AND are not looking for adventure or challenge. Marketing Literature Description:
|
PNG OVERVIEW Visiting the coastal villages of Papua New Guinea is an extraordinary experience. There aren't too many places left on earth where one can experience the development of humanity without the intrusion of a] communications b] transportation c] storage methods for food. The only impact seems to be from the missions of Christian churches which have cajoled the people to speak English and wear clothes when others are around and to stop eating one another. Otherwise there is a subsistence lifestyle not much changed over the millennia. We found the indigenous people charming, friendly, and engaging. The scenery was beautiful and the villages clean and welcoming. Since many of the villages we visited get roughly just a single exposure to white people in an entire year, we are just as much a novelty for them as they are for us. They were curious to try our swim masks, zoom ahead of friends with our high tech kayak paddles, taste gummy bears, and see themselves in the displays of our digital cameras. The native dances -- called sing-sing's -- put on by the indigenous people were excellent. If you have a craving to visit someplace unchanged by recent globalization, don't wait much longer. The more savvy PNG villages are already learning that tourist ships bring special magic which enables them to amass 'cargo' with values far higher than pigs or shells. Note: There is still some level of nudity so if you are offended by this, just stay home ... don't go and voice your criticism as did some ill behaving visitors. Kayaking In contrast, a kayak troupe of 8 persons paddling up to a beach always resulted in warm smiles and quick welcome. We would typically be greeted by as many as a half dozen natives. As word of our arrival spread, more people would arrive. By the time we were departing, there would be be a dozen or two involved with us. Some of our best encounters were with local fishermen and their families in their dugouts hundreds of yards from shore. We would occasionally give rides and trade boats. Taking photos were never a problem. We kayaked every chance we got -- 13 times in total -- averaging 3-5 miles
each trip [longest trip was 8 miles]. We also enjoyed the diversity
of other adventures -- village sing-sing celebrations, scuba diving, long zodiac
excursions. Our guide -- Judd Hill -- inspired confidence in the kayak and
was extraordinary in engaging locals. Judd also buffered some of what
appeared to be negative sentiment on the part of other Aurora Staff toward the
intrusion that Kayaking caused during zodiac loading. Aurora Expeditions and Ship Marina Svetaeva Then, every
day, schedules changed to accommodate the interests of the leader -- Gary
Miller. Guests with time management skills were always left waiting.
... Read More Details Aurora also failed to advise unsteady passengers of the difficulty of loading
and unloading zodiacs from the Marina Svetlana and failed to advise nimble
passengers of the boundaries placed upon their freedom by having to accommodate
so many unsteady passengers. In other words, neither the elderly nor the
capable were pleased. If you are nimble and looking for an adventure
requiring some physical fitness, some aerobic component, and some level of
challenge Aurora Expeditions is NOT for you. ... Dining areas hopelessly overcrowded and under air conditioned. In one of the dining rooms, the tables were so tightly packed that it was impossible for the guest next to the wall to enter/exit without the other 3 persons getting up and clearing the row. This is quite inconvenient for breakfast which is self serve. And it's a good thing that no-one had a choking incident. Conversations at mealtime were nearly impossible because the other party could rarely be
heard. This caused everyone to shout yielding even more noise. For
those who bothered by noisy environments, meals were a regular and repeated
unpleasant experience. As a review from TripAdvisor would suggest, this is not the first time Aurora Expeditions has mismatched the skill and fitness of their guests to the challenge and difficulty of the trip. Our Papua New Guinea was the opposite of the TripAdvisor Antarctica experience -- Antarctica was too difficult, PNG was too easy. ... The re-arrangement of daily schedules meant that those who do
good job with time management were in constant hurry up and wait mode.
|
MARKETING LITERATURE:
From Aurora Expeditions:
From Southern Sea Adventures: Polar Pioneer was built in 1985, is ice-strengthened and accommodates 54
passengers. Marina Svetaeva was built in 1989, is also ice strengthened and
accommodates 100 passengers. Both ships are manned by very experienced
Russian captains and crew. *NOTE: THESE VOYAGES OFTEN FILL UP MORE THANaA YEAR IN ADVANCE SO WE SUGGEST YOU BOOK YOUR PLACE EARLY. ALL SHIP BASED TRIPS REQUIRE SOME KAYAK EXPERIENCE. Detailed Itinerary
|
DAY BY DAY |
hyperlinks to other djhome pages
link to djhome home page
back to top
title and keywords