Papua New Guinea

Kapa Kapa Track

We go by PMV from Port Moresby to Gabagaba. The track is over 200 kilometres across the Owen Stanley Range near Mt Suwemalla (or Ghost Mountain) and includes many river crossings - The trek is completed with a PMV ride into Buna, then we fly back to Port Moresby from Popondetta.

* Gabagaba, 50 kms to the south east of Port Moresby, is where a Company of Engineers from the US 32nd Division commenced cutting a track in mid 1942. **Buna is where the campaign ended on January 22nd 1943

The trip could be described as being in four sections:

First section, four days - Kemp Welch River, waterfalls & jungle - natural scenery (medium walking).
Second section, nine days - Mountains, mountains & hills, dense jungle, villages and village living (tough walking).
Third section - Beautiful villages, lowlands, jungle scenery, (hard walking).
Fourth section - Popondetta, Buna & Sanananda on the north coast. If the weather is kind to us, not too much rain, we spend a few days here on R & R.

Note: It took the Americans 42 days to cross from coast to coast.

Note: We have limited our group size to only 14 trekkers due to the logistics of this particular trek. Our aim is to provide you with a safe, eco-friendly and culturally sensitive experience in another of the world's best kept secrets.

Suggested reading "The Ghost Mountain Boys" by American author James Campbell, Crown Publishers, New York.

Quote from this book by one the veterans of the 32nd Division; "If I owned Hell and I owned New Guinea, I would live in Hell and rent out New Guinea"

Itinerary - brief

• This new track was explored by a group of 8 experienced walkers from Getaway Trekking in October 2009.
• 20 day PNG tour with 15-17 nights on this new track across the Owen Stanley Ranges
• Experience many villages on your adventure where few white men or women have been
• Walk alongside the Kemp Welch River before we climb the main range
• Experience the track as the American 32nd Division did in 1942 as little has changed
• Climb the range near Mt Suwemalla or Ghost Mountain as the Americans named it
• Sleep in "bivvy style" accommodation when we cannot make a village
• Experience magnificent scenery, wonderful sunsets and star gazing along this new adventure in PNG
• Experience traditional village welcomes that no longer occur in more "commercial tracks" in PNG
• Only available to previous GT Kokoda trekkers who are fit, can handle a category 3 walk and want to be a part of a group dynamic. We want team players. Note: this condition may be waived subject to meeting certain criteria.

For more information:

Kapa Kapa Track
Click here for Kapa Kapa Track - Getaway Trekking