The Kokoda Track

Guide

Our Kokoda trips are accompanied by a crew consisting of a tour leader, a lead man, and the porters. We have established a partnership directly with the local landowners to ensure that our clients receive not only the best value for their trip, but also the best cultural interactions possible. In choosing to support this collective of landowners, we have been able to select the best of the Kokoda Track's local guides and porters to work with us. Our guides have been trekking the Kokoda Track for up to 10-15 years and have learnt the skills, knowledge and tricks of the trade from many extremely experienced and long-established Kokoda Track tour operators. The collective was created by local experienced guides from the Kokoda Track, and its members represent a number of villages from Nauro to Eora Creek. The collective was formed with the objective to empower local landowners along the track and to enhance the international profile of local guides, many of whom are the original descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. We are working with the collective to provide ongoing training and development opportunities for local people - we hope that with time, our porters of today will gain the experience to become lead man, and ultimately tour leaders. TOUR LEADER: Each group will be assigned a local tour leader who will be responsible for communication with home base, decision making on the track and liaising between the lead man, porters and trekkers. The tour leader has ultimate responsibility for the group on the Track, and has the authority of us in all instances - including making decisions on whether a trekker can continue if sick or injured. Due to the remote locations being trekked and the limited resources available locally, it is imperative that the seniority of the tour leader is respected and supported by all trekkers. The lead man and porters will not act against the instruction of the tour leader. Any decisions made by the tour leader reflect the needs and safety of the whole group which must be prioritised above the wishes of individual clients. LEAD MAN: The lead man will be at the front end of the group at all times and is responsible for setting the pace for the trekking group. The lead man is the senior assistant to the tour leader and he will be in contact with the tour leader who is positioned at the back end of the group. PORTERS: Included in your tour cost is the assistance of a personal porter to carry your main kit. Please note that there is a weight limit of 10 kilograms for personal belongings carried by the porters as they will also carry your additional food and their own personal belongings.. Any additional items will need to be carried by the trekkers themselves in day-packs - each day you will be asked to carry your own water and one day’s snack pack as well as personal items such as your camera, guidebook etc. We include a 1:1 trekker to porter ratio to promote relationship building between porters and trekkers. Our aim is to provide greater employment opportunities for porters as well as ensuring that all our trekkers complete the trek from start to finish. For some trekkers, part of the challenge is to carry their own pack - we encourage you to take advantage of the porter's presence so that you can focus on enjoying the trek and staying safe and well. By nature, local people are quite shy, so if they offer their hand to assist you and you decline, they will wait for you to ask for help in the future. Their experience and kindness will astound you and we encourage you to use this unique opportunity to get to know them as much as possible. Try to look at your Kokoda Track trek as an exercise in partnership rather than as a challenge for the individual. Our intention is that the relationship between the trekkers and the porters becomes one of the most important experiences of the trip, reflecting the wartime bonds between Australian troops and the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

Meals

9 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 8 dinners

Others

Complimentary Airport Arrival Transfer Kokoda - Kokoda Memorial Kokoda - Kokoda War Museum Kokoda - Kokoda Track trek with personal porter Port Moresby - Bomana War Cemetary Complimentary Airport Departure Transfer

Transport

On Foot,Plane,Private Vehicle

Accommodation

Hotel (2 nts),Village community hut or camping (8 nts)

Others

Other activities and services not included

Flights

International flights not included.

Optional

Other activities and services not included

Insurance

Insurance is not included. Travel insurance is required for this tour. Please make sure you are adequately covered. If you require travel insurance, TourRadar has partnered up with World Nomads to provide a hassle-free experience. More information can be found here (https://www.tourradar.com/travel-insurance).