Bird Watching

Kumul Lodge is an environmental and biodiversity paradise in Papua New Guinea situated 2,861 metres / 8,869 feet above sealevel.

There are not too many places where the Bird of Paradise can be viewed from the bedroom window. The Kumul Lodge is a birdwatchers, ecological and environmental tropical mountain paradise. Other birds which can be seen from the balcony of your room and of which you can make photos of include Crested Berrypecker, White Winged Robin, Tit Berrypecker , Brown Sicklebill and Ribbon Tailed Astrapia.  The breathtaking view of the Hagen Mountain (3,727 metres / 11,181 feet) is right in front of you. And be in awe of the beauty of the alpine altitude nature all around your.

The Wonders Of Kumul Lodge
The Kumul Lodge is situated next to the Highlands Highway just after you cross the border from Western Highlands Province into the Enga Province.  The buildings of the Lodge are hidden away from the Highway amidst an unspoiled and environmentally protected high altitude tropical mountain forest area. There is unbelievable beauty, peace and quietness all around you.  The Lodge was locally designed and built with mostly local materials. So its wondrous magic does blend in well with its astonishing surroundings.  Do not expect just another western style concrete hotel. Instead the beauty of an extraordinary wilderness resort lodge as you never might have experienced it before. With the Lodge being an integrated part of the beauty and unbelievable local area the Lodge is situated in.

We recommend between a couple of days up to a full holiday. The Lodge is stretched out over an area of 27 hectares. This is one and only for Papua New Guinea. In addition all the grounds between the Lodge and the Hagen mountain as well as the Hagen mountain itself do belong to the village owners of the Lodge. Total security is guaranteed, therefore. There are now 6 walking tracks, all named and numbered out on this area. Ranging from 30 minutes to 6 hours of walking. Walking up the Hagen mountain is now almost as popular as the Mt. Wilhelm venue. You can walk around the Hagen mountain or walk up the mountain (2 days). So you will experience total nature and total relaxation like in no other environmental set-up in Papua New Guinea.

Meals

Includes:

• Breakfast - continental or cooked
• Lunch - Salad side dish - large, soup of the day
• Dinner - Salad side dish - large, cake or fruits with ice-cream
  

Activities

• Enjoy walking one of our 6 walking tracks on the 27 hectare area of the Lodge. Walking time is ranging from 30 minutes to 6 hours.
• Go bird watching and try to detect some of the over 220 varieties of birds on the hotel area or near and further away to the Hotel. Some 75% of all species of the Bird of Paradise on the island of New Guinea can be seen in the area of the Lodge, the Hagen mountain and guided car driven tours. No other highland tourist outlet has to offer so many birds to watch and to see.
• Get to know more about Enga culture and Enga traditions by staying with a village family in the nearby Anji village which population is very conscious and proud of its cultural heritage. Or just pay a visit to the village and enjoy an earthole lunch (Mumu), a bamboo mumu and local dancing (Singsings).
• Have a walk around the Kumul Lodge area and the up the forest part of the Hagen mountain and discover dozens of incredibly beautiful mountain orchids. Some of them only got discovered recently and still need to be named.
• Take part in ½ day and full day guided car trips into lower highland areas for bird watching, orchid finding, nature walks and the every day life style of various village groups with often different cultural heritage.
• Enjoy the unspoiled nature and clean air of the area of and around the Kumul Lodge, the Hagen mountain and more distant lower mountain places for nature walks and eco walks.
• Take advantage of the many other activities and sightseeing activities which the Kumul Lodge has to offer. Such as very scenic picnic places, swimming in a natural pool under a water fall.
• A huge playground for children during the ever more popular family weekend holidays at the Lodge.
• Enjoy the view from our scenic lounge room windows towards Mountain Hagen.
• Sit around the open fire side during the cool mountain evening and chat with other local or international visitors.
• Trek up the Hagen mountain (3,727 metres / 11,410 feet) which becomes an ever popular activity because the top of the mountain, a rugged plain with a number of lakes, is outdoing all other mountains.
• Overnight in a “cave hotel” while walking up the mountain.
• Meet and chat with our friendly people and visit their village communities.
• See the nearby mighty waterfalls, the mighty Lai river and a cassowary sanctuary.
• A bus service by the Kumul Lodge is available to accommodate larger groups of visitors for sightseeing tours. (up to 15 visitors)
• The Kumul Lodge is the perfect place to stay for visitors to the now very famous Enga Cultural Show (2. weekend in August) and the Western Highlands Cultural Show (3. weekend in August).
  

Who Is The Kumul Lodge
The Lodge is a locally owned and staffed venture und advise by naturalized tourism experts and overseas environmental protection organisations. . It is rural development project by the people and for the people to better and improve their rural life style. This, again, makes the Kumul Lodge one and only in Papua New Guinea. The majority part of the Lodge’s income does go towards this goal and related other development projects for the people. The Lodge is an eco-tourism enterprise which works in cooperation with local village societies. Our aim is to give you the holiday of your life time through a small comfortable set up yet with moderate tariffs and a high level of personalised service. The Kumul Lodge is very unique for tourism in Papua New Guinea.

We concentrate on local activities so that you can fully enjoy the incredible beauty of the tropical high mountain surroundings. And so that you can personally meet and get to know our friendly local people and their rural communities. We would like you to be in direct contact with nature and the people instead of viewing this from a bus only. This does make the Kumul Lodge outstanding and different. Different to many other urban and rural tourism outlets in Papua New Guinea the Kumul Lodge does not have a public bar for local visitors who might just come in for a drink. Our house bar is reserved for in-house visitors only. At the Lodge our visitors will find no disturbing pokies or a loud and noisy “entertainment centre”.

Your friendly Kumul Lodge does provide decaffeinated coffee, decaffeinated tea, green tea, herbal teas, fruit teas, sugar substitutes and salt (sodium) reduced seasoning as health related alternatives. – Almost all of our vegetables and fruits are getting organically grown on our own vegetable / fruit plantations which are village society projects. The plantations do assist participating rural villages in the upgrading of their standard of living and do provide work and income for so far unemployed rural school leavers

Should you have any special dietary requirements, please, let the reception know so that your meals can get prepared accordingly without any extra charge.

Kumul Lodge: 2,861 metres / 8,585 feet
Use of our nature tracks, eco tracks, fitness tracks or walking tracks on the Kumul Lodge area is free for our in-house guests. However, in order to maintain our high standard of securely we recommend that you get accompanied by two of our friendly and helpful lodge staff.

The following other activities can be carried out on the area of the Kumul Lodge by in-house guests. Visitors who wish to use these recreational facilities only would have to pay the ½ day tour fee or the full day tour fee in order to enjoy our activity offers.

● Mountain Trekking with Cave Hotel Stay – among others the wondrous, mystic and sacred Hagen Mountain with its historic sages, stories and events (to be collected and written down)
● Bird Watching
● Orchid Viewing
● Nature Walks
● Frog and Insect Finding
● Natural Swimming Pool under a Water Fall with large Recreational Area and Picnic Facilities
● Picnics at Wonderful Scenic Places
● Star Watching
● Holiday Hide-Away with total Relaxation
● Ongoing Environmental Protection Activities in Order to Achieve the Status of a National Park

Pigites Birding Site
5 kilometres driving time from Kumul Lodge / 2,566 metres – 7,689 feet
● Bird Watching
● Orchid Viewing

Anji and Walya Villages Birding Sites
11 kilometres driving time from Kumul Lodge / 2,311 metres – 6,933 feet
● Bird Watching at lower area
● Torrent Water Fall
● Torrent Luck Birds (can only be found and seen here)
● Frogs / Insects / Butterflies
● Flying Foxes
● Lime Stone Caves
● Traditional Cane Bridge Crossing
● Cultural Centre
● Cassowary Sanctuary
● Orchid Farming
● Traditional Story Telling
● Traditional Healing Performance
● Traditional Dancing Performance (SingSing) with Face Painting
● Traditional Net Bag (Bilum) Hand Weaving
● Local Village Market Life
● Sustainable Organic Farming
● Stay with Village Families

Tonga Birding Site
15 kilometres driving time from Kumul Lodge / 1,817 metres – 5,451 feet
● Lower Area Bird Watching - Blue Bird of Paradise
● Third Major Village in the Area
● Rural Health Centre
● Community School
● Community Market
● Substantive Gardening
● Tonga Water Falls along the Road Side

Lai River / Mambis Birding Site
23 kilometres driving time from Kumul Lodge / 1,524 metres – 4,572 feet
● Lower Area Bird Watching - Equal in Heights to the Bayer River Bird Sanctuary
● Rural Hospital
● Fifth Major Village in the Area
● Mighty Lai River (largest river in the Enga Province)
● Wild Lai River Gorge and Cliff
● River Village Communities
● Substantive Gardening along The Lai River

Kama Birding Site
30 kilometres driving time from Kumul Lodge / 1,706 metres – 5,119 feet
● Lower Area Bird Watching - Lesser Bird of Paradise – Blue Bird of Paradise
● View of the Lai River Valley
● Organic Coffee Farming
● Official Local Airstrip
● Community Market
● Local String-Bag and Hand-Craft Sale

 Download Bird Lists Here