Papua New Guinea: West New Britain Extension

West New Britain offers a different facet of Papua New Guinea’s wild diversity. Lying in the Bismarck Archipelago, this large Melanesian island has never been connected to mainland New Guinea and thus supports a distinct assemblage of endemics and regional specialties. This extension centers on Walindi Plantation Resort, a comfortable, friendly lodge surrounded by tropical gardens and fronting the clear waters of Kimbe Bay.

From this base, you explore tall lowland and hill forests that cloak the island’s north coastal plain. The nearby Garu Wildlife Management Area protects extensive rainforest where endemics such as Black-capped Paradise-Kingfisher, Bismarck Pitta, and various island monarchs and myzomelas occur. Birding along forested tracks and narrow trails reveals pigeons, parrots, kingfishers, and honeyeaters, while occasional visits to open country and cattle pastures provide chances for rails, crakes, grassbirds, and cisticolas.

A highlight of the extension is a boat trip into Kimbe Bay. Small forested islands and surrounding reefs offer a blend of tropical seabirds and island landbirds, including White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Osprey, Island Imperial-Pigeon, Spot-breasted Cuckoo-Dove, Beach Kingfisher, and perhaps Nicobar Pigeon. Terns, boobies, and frigatebirds cruise above turquoise water, while coral reefs just beneath the surface are among the most colorful anywhere in the Pacific.

Between excursions, Walindi’s gardens and shoreline provide relaxed birding and quiet time to absorb the rhythms of island life. The extension concludes back in Port Moresby with a final evening at the Airways Hotel before international departures. This add-on provides a satisfying mix of forest, coastal, and marine birding that complements the mainland highlights perfectly.

West New Britain combines lush lowland rainforest, hill forest, and coastal plain habitats with coconut groves, secondary woodland, and small agricultural clearings. Tall trees draped in vines and epiphytes provide canopy for parrots, pigeons, and kingfishers, while the forest floor harbors pittas, rails, and skulkers. Along the coast, mangroves and river mouths blend into sandy beaches and coastal scrub, supporting waders, herons, and shorebirds. Offshore, tiny forested islands rise above coral reefs in Kimbe Bay, where seabirds, island monarchs, and specialized whistlers share a landscape of turquoise water and sheltered lagoons.