Korowai & Asmat — Forest Worlds, River Cultures & Remote Frontiers

Meet your guide and driver at Mozes Kilangin Airport. Subject to access and arrival timing, visit Kuala Kencana before exploring Timika’s traditional market, where regional produce and everyday trade introduce the area’s cultural diversity. Settle into Horison Diana Timika, your base for two nights.

Visit a coastal community where timber houses and raised walkways follow the tidal landscape. With your guide, meet residents and learn about daily life along the waterfront. Return to Timika to browse local crafts and revisit the market, with time to notice the details of the town’s changing daily trade.

Fly to Ewer, then continue by motorcycle to the jetty and by boat to Agats. A longer river journey leads through Jinak to Suator, where you stay in a simple local guesthouse with mosquito nets provided. This is a full day of travel, with timing dependent on flight arrivals and river conditions.

Flight: Timika → Ewer · Included

Travel by speedboat to Sipanap, then change to a smaller motorised wooden canoe for the shallower waterways towards Mabul. Continue to the forest landing and walk to your host community. Meet your hosts and settle into basic expedition accommodation for the first of two nights in Korowai territory.

River travel: Approximately 2½ hours to Sipanap by speedboat, followed by approximately 2 hours to Mabul by motorised wooden canoe

Basic expedition accommodation arranged with local hosts, with meals prepared by the expedition team.

Spend the day with your hosts, learning about sago processing, fishing, traditional tools and knowledge of the forest. Activities follow the community’s plans and willingness to share. Walk nearby trails and learn about local building traditions, with opportunities to see elevated houses where they remain in use and access is welcomed.

Walk back to the river and retrace the waterways by motorised wooden canoe through Mabul to Sipanap. Rejoin the speedboat, pausing in Suator before continuing to Jinak for the night. River and trail conditions determine the day’s pace.

Depart Jinak at approximately 6:00 a.m. for a river journey of around three hours, depending on tides and conditions. Visit an Asmat community to learn how woodcarving expresses ancestry, belief and identity, with opportunities to meet carvers when available. Continue to Agats for the night.

Explore the Asmat Museum’s carvings and ceremonial objects before continuing by boat and local transport to Ewer for your flight to Timika. The museum visit may be arranged on Day 7 to suit opening hours and flight timing. Settle into Swiss-Belinn Timika, with time to rest before a farewell dinner.

Flight: Ewer → Timika · Included

Transfer privately to Mozes Kilangin Airport for your onward flight.