Wildlife Wonders at Kumul Lodge

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

Great place to visit. Excellent for bird watchers. Basic but comfortable rooms, cold beer and friendly service.

A unique experience

Very basic and cold rooms in this lodge. Used it when going to Mouth Hagen sing-sing. It's a good hour away by motor vehicle. Hot water was very sporadic and there were cockroaches in the bedroom and bathroom. Some rooms have electric blankets on the beds and many don't - try to get one with a blanket as at 2400 m the nights are very cold. The food was plentiful and fine, particularly the fresh fruit - no complaints on that front. The best thing about this place is that they attract birds to a viewing area, including parrots and birds of paradise, by putting out fruit for them. Other than that location is completely isolated. There's a small tuck shop, dining room staff were friendly enough but not at the check-in desk where they treated us as a burden when we arrived and they tried to put those who arrived together (even though all strangers) into shared rooms which was not what was booked or paid for! I'd been placed here on a 10-day tour that I'd booked through Crooked Compass (Australia) who then gave all the contract to a local company called PNG Footprint Tours Ltd (also operates under many other names such as Bougainville Horizion Tours (sic)). Was told that the accommodation had been changed to Kumul Lodge in the last minute with excuses given as to why. This meant that first part of my tour itinerary was also cancelled with no explanation given. It became clear quickly I'd only been placed here since the company was trying to run multiple tours with miminal unprofessional "guides". Avoid this local company at all costs and avoid Crooked Compass since they didn't do due diligence. We'd to abandon the tour eventually it was so badly run and we ended up without a place to stay on a remote island and having to beg a school master to let us sleep on the bare floor of his classroom.