About Indigenous Kokoda Adventures

Our treks, with the exception of the first and last day and one short 15-minute flight to the start, is all foot powered. This is the ultimate low carbon impact activity that not only leaves very little in the way of carbon footprints, but also provides an up-close look at the vegetation and plant life that grows along the track. Sustainable local food sources grow in community gardens and our guests are provided with many opportunities to sample some of the local cuisine. Our wildlife, specifically our birds, are also on display high amongst the treetops and we take special care to maintain an appropriate distance from all wildlife. We adhere to the 'leave no trace' philosophy and ensure that our wildlife is protected, respected and left to live the way it is intended - in the wild with as little contact and damage from human interaction. Our commitment to preserving our environment extends to our water use as well - we strongly urge our guests to bring environmentally friendly sunscreen and laundry soap. Our guides and porters are knowledgeable about safe places to wash and bathe in our streams and rivers so as not to damage the fragile ecosystems that exist here, including our villages, that depend on clean water for survival. ....less

Indigenous Kokoda Adventures (IKA) is committed to affecting change along the Kokoda Track.

For too many years our people have lived in a perpetual state of poverty. We are here to change that. While we know that breaking this cycle is impossible for one small tour operator, together with our trekkers we are moving forward with making an impact with your tour dollars. More of our trekker's tour fees go directly to our guides and porters providing them with a better life and allowing them to provide a better life for their families and children.

Our foundation, the IKA Foundation, assists with post Grade 8 education for the children along the Kokoda Track by way of scholarships. We are working with the local coffee farmers in the Kokoda region, and we are now selling IKA branded coffee with net proceeds from every sale going to the foundation. Kokoda Luti coffee is available to purchase from your guide, and we are currently looking at having our coffee available to purchase in local Port Moresby shops. If you would like to order coffee, please contact us, and we will discuss the best way to ship it to you. We believe education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and your purchase of our coffee will make a difference to a child's life. ....less

Our story begins a very long time ago, decades ago, probably long before many of you were born. During the Second World War, Japan intended to attack Australia and thought that Papua New Guinea would be a strategic place to launch an attack from. They had heard of a trail that the locals used to move from village to village and thought they could take that over and use it to move their men back and forth from Kokoda to Owers’ Corner.

What began as a relationship forged because of war remains to this day because of the unbreakable bonds that grew between the Australian soldiers and the local people who helped them in battle, named by the soldiers as their Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. We are the descendants of the original Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

Guiding people along the Kokoda Track is in our genes and our blood. It is who we are. We are the only wholly independant Indigenous tour operator that is locally owned and led in Papua New Guinea to offer an authentic trekking experience while directly supporting our people, villages and communities along the Kokoda Track. We have safely guided trekkers along Kokoda for decades for other tour operators, and have now stepped forward to reclaim our heritage and legacy.

Trekkers can be assured that when they book with us, because we are local, and we pay our guides and porters directly, more of the tour fee goes to who is doing the actual heavy lifting - your guides and porters. We have left out the middle man, and we ensure that there is very little if any, tourism leakage. Your tour dollars stay in the community where they are needed most. We live here and we bank here and tour fees stay in Papua New Guinea.

This is authentic regenerative travel at its best, and we invite you to come and experience our culture while challenging yourself in a truly magnificent setting. ....less

Indigenous Kokoda Adventures was built on the premise that keeping as much of the tourism dollar in Papua New Guinea, and in particular, on the Kokoda Track, would offer THE best way for the communities along the track to finally benefit from tourism. We believe that supporting our porters and guides by providing a more equitable employment experience is the most ethical and responsible manner for economic growth to occur on the Kokoda Track and will contribute to the end of the cycle of poverty that has existed on the Kokoda Track for decades. More money put directly into our guides and porters hand means they are better able to take care of their families and educate their children. We work with other local enterprises as much as we can – our website developer is in PNG, we bank in PNG and our coffee is grown, processed, and packaged in PNG, our choice of hotel is local, their employees are local, and the food served is local as much as possible. This keeps more money in country, as well as locally and absolutely minimizes the tourism leakage that occurs when foreign companies operate in PNG but use their own guides and ultimately bank in their home country.
While we are aware that PNG requires a flight, and usually a long one, to arrive in our country, our tours and treks are for the most part, all human powered. One quick 15 minutes flight from Port Moresby to the beginning of the track starts both our treks. After that point, all travel is by foot and there is very little access to electricity until we arrive back at the hotel at the end of the trek. We do encourage our guests to extend their visit to PNG by visiting other areas and this too lessens their climate impact.
By focusing on breaking the cycle of poverty that has existed on the track for decades while at the same time, keeping our culture and traditions strong and ensuring they are passed down to the next generation, gives the local people, our people, a realistic way to move forward and bring growth and hope to the next generation of the Kokoda Track.
....less

Indigenous Kokoda Adventures is committed to providing our guests with an experience that is not only challenging but also culturally immersive. We ensure that there is plenty of one-on-one time for our guests and their porters to learn about each other and their respective cultures as well as experience life along the track the way it is for those who call it home. Our guests sleep in village huts without the usual amenities that higher income countries come to expect (like electricity and indoor/attached plumbing). Local food, local stories (told by the people who have lived them), and direct connection to the local people are a few of the jewels to be experienced along the track. The opportunity to unplug and be absolutely present in your own life is not always available, but it is here on the Kokoda Track. ....less

We are happy to provide some information for your trek along the Kokoda Track other than the itinerary details.

Depending on timing and conditions, we will also incorporate a ‘mystery experience’ at a ‘to be announced time and place’ for our trekkers. It will be designed to provide you with an opportunity to experience something special in addition to what is below that will not only incorporate the Papua New Guinea culture and interaction with the residents of the villages, but it will also add a special memory for you when you are home and reflecting back on your visit along the Kokoda Track.

While the Track offers an opportunity for an act of historical pilgrimage for some, the ability to take a step closer and learn about remote Indigenous communities and cultures is the reason for many others to commit to the challenge of a journey along the Kokoda Track.

While most people enjoy some free time to wander and explore in the villages where we stop, we understand that time might be a factor for some people. This being said, if you can only manage a trek of a shorter duration please contact us, and we would be happy to put a custom trek together for you.

Due to the uncertainty of travel right now, we know you want to keep your travel dates as flexible as possible. We are happy to accommodate this and are offering flexible bookings to ease your concern. Please email us with your preferred dates to start the trek, and we will do everything we can to accommodate your travel requirements.

This is authentic regenerative travel at its best, and we invite you to come and experience our culture while challenging yourself in a truly magnificent setting.

Ne isivi alu a lohoveve ige au noele. Lohoi eleha abika teho Kokoda

(We would be honoured to be a part of your journey while you become part of ours. Come find yourself on Kokoda.)


....less

Indigenous Kokoda Adventures (IKA) is the only wholly Indigenous, locally owned led and operated tour operator on the Kokoda Track. We offer life changing treks along the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. The personal satisfaction of mastering the physical difficulties of completing The Kokoda Track is an experience you will never forget and never tire of retelling all who will listen. And it is worth a listen.

Our 11-day trek offers a unique experience to hear the local side of the Kokoda story, and we are committed to providing safe, educational and challenging treks for our guests.

Indigenous Kokoda Adventures vision is far-reaching. Our commitment to our guides for a better employment experience has been instrumental in making change happen.

We envision a day when people living along the Kokoda Track can make a decent wage while maintaining their dignity and having a decent quality of life. While being a professional guide or porter is a noble profession, it is an extremely physically challenging one, one that cannot be maintained forever. We hope that one day, the younger generation will have other options for their future employment and not have to default to being a porter like previous generations. It is one thing to be a porter because you want to and quite another because you have to.

IKA also envisions a day when families that live along the Track can confidently send their children to school and not worry about their futures. Families that live along the Kokoda Track are like families everywhere – they want their children to have full, productive lives, working in a profession that pays a competitive decent wage and being productive members of society. The main necessary ingredient in this is, of course, education.

A trek along the Kokoda Track with Indigenous Kokoda Adventures is a life-changing journey. Life changing for our trekkers and also, because your trek dollars are used more efficiently, life changing for your porter and his family and the communities along the Track.
....less

In addition to being a challenging trek and a pilgrimage, we ensure that the Kokoda Track also provides an opportunity to learn firsthand about a culture and land of the local people and communities. Through our lived experiences on the Track, we are able to tell our guests the stories of our lands and people, in our way, in our voice. The way we work in a sustainable way to manage the resources we have been given on our lands, the way we honour the wildlife that we share our lands with and the way we keep our culture close to our hearts while also knowing that our children are the next generation who will not only keep our stories and culture going but will also bring positive change and growth to our communities as more and more become educated.
By providing direct, equitable compensation we better support our guides and porters who are the backbone of Indigenous Kokoda Adventures. We provide a more equitable employment experience allowing them to better provide for their families and thereby educate their children. This is the number one way to eliminate the cycle of poverty.
We also walk our talk by working with local coffee farmers in the Kokoda region. We buy coffee and resell it in our branded packaging with net proceeds going directly to our foundation – the IKA Foundation that supports post Grade 8 education for the children along the Kokoda Track. After Grade 8, families must pay for their children to go and live in the city to attend Grades 9 through 12. This is a very expensive endeavour, and many families cannot afford to pay for this. And, sadly, many times if they can afford for one child to go, the girls end up staying in the villages, remaining uneducated.
Indigenous Kokoda Adventures was built on the belief that both genders need education, and we are committed to ensure equal access to available scholarship money.
....less

The Regenerative Travel Impact Awards 2021 — Community
Lux Life - Indigenous Kokoda Adventures - Papua New Guinea
Best Adventure Tour Operator - Oceania 2021 ....less

While Indigenous Kokoda Adventures is a tour operator, we consider ourselves first and foremost, a community focused one. Our mission is dual. First, to provide trekkers with a challenging, life changing experience on the Kokoda Track, while offering them an opportunity to hear the voice and stories of the local people, as told by the people of the Kokoda Track. Second, to break the cycle of poverty that has existed here for decades by providing a more equitable employment experience for our porters and guides.
We work in a sustainable way to manage the resources and land that Nature has provided us with, we honour the wildlife that we share our lands with, and we keep our culture close to our hearts while also knowing that our children are the next generation who will not only keep our stories and culture going but will also bring positive change and growth to our communities. We are committed to ensuring that all these parts of our story, our history and our kaleidoscope can thrive and live on for many generations.
....less

If you are feeling unwell, it is advisable to remain at home (travel insurance with a cancel for any reason option is strongly recommended) as we do not want to risk bringing any illness to the people and communities along the Kokoda Track and in Papua New Guinea. If you begin to feel unwell during the trek, please wear a mask and advise your guide as soon as you start to feel unwell. You may be required to take a Covid test to ensure the safety of the rest of the group as well as the communities we are visiting. Depending where we are on the track, you may need to evacuated (evacuation insurance is mandatory) and you will be brought to Port Moresby where you can make further plans depending on the severity of your illness. ....less

Indigenous Kokoda Adventures is committed to providing our trekkers with a safe, challenging trek in a remote part of the world. We allocate a 1:1 trekker to porter ratio to promote a strong bond between your porter and yourself. Our goal for each trek is to not only ensure that all trekkers safely complete their journey from beginning to end, but also to promote solid relationships between trekkers and porters. This relationship becomes one of the most memorable experiences of the trip and is reminiscent of the wartime bonds that were established during the war between the Australian troops and the forefathers of our guides and porters.

Our guides and porters are fully trained in first aid, emergency evacuation procedure and cooking (we feel food is a very important part of any trip!) Our tour leaders are always equipped with 2 way radios and satellite phones and are fully familiar with the route.

There is so much more to trekking in this part of the world than just historical war ruins. There is also the cultural experience of interacting with the Indigenous people (known as “Koairi’ and “Oro Kaivans”). There is the challenge and adventure created by rugged mountain terrain and fast flowing streams and the opportunity to glimpse the spectacular scenery and possibly some unusual wildlife. One of the greatest rewards however, is the interaction between a small group of people working together for a common goal and the personal satisfaction of mastering the physical difficulties of completing The Track.

Because we use your tour fees more efficiently, trekkers can be assured that every trek makes a difference in their porter's life and also for the communities along the Track.

We speak the absolute truth when we say that you will not return home the same person.
....less

For everyone’s protection, Indigenous Kokoda Adventures requires all our guests to be fully vaccinated against Covid 19. We will require proof of vaccination at the group welcome meeting on arrival day. If you are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons, you may apply for an exemption, and these will be assessed on an individual basis. To apply, you must provide a medical certificate from a medical professional.?Please note that those with a medical exemption are still required to produce proof of a negative test conducted no more than 72 hours before day 1 of their trip.

If someone exhibits symptoms while on the trek, they will be required to produce a negative test result before they are allowed to continue. If someone tests positive, they will not be allowed to continue and will need to leave the trip. We will assist with the arrangements for transport back to the hotel. The remaining guests will need to test and produce a negative result before being allowed to continue.

Please check with the proper governmental authorities to ensure you have the latest entry requirements and are up-to-date on entry and Covid-19 protocol requirements. ....less

Adventure Travel Trade Association - Indigenous Kokoda Adventures has been a member of ATTA since 2019.

Planeterra Foundation - we have been a part of Planeterra Foundation since 2021.

Terra Incognita - we have been a part of Terra Incognita since 2019.

....less