Text and photos : Bruce Beehler
Kumul Adventure Lodge, perched on a forested knob at 2800 metres altitude, looks across a high valley to the western flanks of the ancient Mount Hagen volcano. The lodge, the brainchild of an Enga Province indigenous community, is entirely run by that community, and offers a remarkable opportunity to spend time in the mist-shrouded mountain forests of New Guinea’s central mountains. This community project is a wonderful ecotourism opportunity. Visitors can bird-watch around the lodge, seeing various birds of paradise and the rare Archbold’s Bowerbird. They can hike the forest trails to observe rare Pacific orchid species. Or they can choose to hike to the summit of Mount Hagen (3700 m). The lodge is about an hour’s drive from the Kagamuga Airport in Mount Hagen town. With advance notice, the Lodge staff can pick tourist up at the airport and deliver them directly to this remarkable highlands environment. Lodging is very comfortable, with hot family-style meals and individual highland-house-style rooms for lodgers. Because the nights are quite cool, each room is heated. This is perhaps the most exciting and successful local community tourism opportunity in all of Papua New Guinea
Contact
Paul Arut, Kumul Adventure Lodge
P.O. Box 989, Mount Hagen, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
Tel. : +675 542-1615
Fax : +675 542-1615
E-mail : kumul-logde@global.net.pg
Website : http://www.nghols.com/mird.html
Language : English