Luxury Holidays in Papua New Guinea

Fiercely distinct and proudly ritualistic, 600 tribes prosper in the dense jungles, isolated islands and cloud-wrapped highlands of our planet’s most culturally diverse nation.

Celebrated through music and dance, ceremonial “sing sings” offer an insight into long-lived traditions – from the brightly painted Huli Wigmen crowned with headdresses of human hair to the Asaro Mudmen concealed beneath clay masks crafted with pigs’ teeth and shells. In August and September, both groups perform in the Mount Hagen and Goroka Festivals, but there are always opportunities to witness shows or observe initiation rites. Along the Sepik River, men slice their torsos with razors to create welts resembling a crocodile’s rough hide, and numerous groups dress with stolen feathers. Revered birds of paradise flit flamboyantly through forests, along with giant butterflies the size of dinner plates. But what lies below the surface of the ocean in this region of the Coral Triangle is even more mesmerizing – outshining any terrestrial displays.