Kokoda Without Guides

[joseph]

Hi, I got so fascinated with the kokoda trail that I'd like to pass there soon…but I would like to do the Kokoda trail alone with some friends, but without a guided tour or group, just ourselves.
So I'd like to ask to the experts of the forum who had already been there:

• is it possible to get the permit without a guided tour?
• how frequent are food sources? which means are there any villages to get some food or do I have to bring food and be self sufficient for all the days I intend to be there?
• is there at least one water source per day along the trail or can I encouter more than one day without water?

I thank you in advance if anyone of you can answer my questions.

Thank you very much

[Brian]

Firstly Don't! Take Food with you for the full trek. Water is available take purification tablets
Permits essential available from the authority.

Be prepared to pay for some camping spots as every bit of land along the way is owned by someone.

What happens and it does if you have accident as you may be several hours trek from the nearest village where only very limited if any help exists.

There are no very detailed maps and it would be easy to take the wrong track at some locations.
Do you speak Pigeon? as many you meet along the way may not speak English as you know it.

If the rivers are up how are you going to cross them, the boys are experts at this knowing where to and always there to help.

I spoke on the phone, yes they now have mobiles in Kokoda, to my friend there only yesterday afternoon he tells me the Air Strip there is currently closed, may open again soon, so you will need to get to Pomedetta to get a flight out. Trekking companies have this prearranged if you can not get transport you have a very long walk there.

I trekked with KTL making some very good friends amongst the boys looking after us this friendship I treasure so much so that we have had one of those friends stay with us for a couple of weeks since the trek I felt having the boys (porters) was one of the highlights, for me, of the trek.

[peterh13]

Everything Brian says is correct.

I'm sure you'd get a permit to walk it, but you'd need a guide to show the track. Even though there are 100's of people walking it, sometimes it just vanishes from sight altogether.

eg,,, one section of the track has about 17 or 18 creek crossing in it, you cross the same creek and then instead of walking out on a well defined track you walk up a another small creek. I stopped and had a good look at it and theres no way i could tell it was a part of the track.

All evidence of past comings and goings have been washed away.

Take a guide. Hire one from KTL.

[joseph]

Thank you very much for the answer.

So it seems that is probably more difficult than I thought. Just to make an approximative statistic, how many people (percentage out of all the trekkers) do the kokoda whitout a guide nor porter?

In your kokoda experience did you encounter any one without guides nor porters?

Just one thing I did not understand clearly in your answer, where do you get food? are there villages to buy something?

[Brian]

As far as I am aware there are no trekkers going without a guide even PNG nationals who do not live in this area and have come from another all arrange to have a guide often a family member of friend living in the Kokoda area to guide them.

It would in my opinion be utter stupidity to go unguided.

You will have to carry your food all the way from Port Morseby if walking Owers Corner to Kokoda if going the other way, Kokoda to Owers Corner, you will have to take your food with you to Kokoda as you will not buy suitable food for walking there.

Whilst there is no guarantee you may be able to buy some fruit and perhaps vegetables at villages but do not rely on doing so.

I would suggest that you take trekking type food with you from Australia as I know for sure that you will have difficulty finding suitable trekking type food in Moresby.

By the way do NOT go shopping any where in Morseby alone as it is not safe, I am not kidding, personally I would only go with a local preferably two who know their way around there.

KTL I know obtain thier trekking food from a supplier in Australia.

[joseph]

It's interesting how we can talk on such a specific subject me writing from Italy and you answering from (I guess) Australia. I get your point of view, but as an old school mountaineer I have my personal one. In my opinion self-sufficiency is one of the most important things of any adventure; of course "not get in trouble" is the first rule.

In my experience I never had to rely on the help of guides or porters, if I was not ready for something I always had time to wait for the right moment, and that's the challenge. Eventhough I can imegine that share the trail with local people can be a wonderful experience.

I guess that jungle is not mountain and is very likely to get lost, plus food unreliability, poor maps (GPS points would make the real difference!), underdeveloped country ecc ecc. So I thank you for warning me.

By now I have enough preliminary informations, but I didn'y make my mind yet on "how".

Thank you, take care.

[peterh13]

Hi Joseph.

When I was on the track,last July there was a group of high school students walking as well, they were military cadets as and such should have had some idea. there was approximately 40 of them. They thought they would be ok eating food from the local villages. All but 3 of them had to be evacuated by helicopter.

3 out of 40 ended up finishing the trek all because they ate local food and did'nt practice proper jungle hygiene.

Besides the poor quality of local food, theres no way of knowing if there would any spare food in the local villages to sell to you. They have no refrigeration at all so everything spoils after a day or 2.

[Lorna]

Hi Joseph,

Peter and Brian Have pretty much summed it up, but I'd just like to add a couple of observations from my trek in June last year:

I didn't see any trekkers attempting the hike without guides.

The only food I found to purchase were bananas, Twisties (a type of snack, like a crisp) and warm soft drinks, such as Coke Cola. Maybe once a day at best, sometimes not even that frequently.

Without guides I would have certainly taken wrong turns in several places.

Personally, I'd hate to be in the predicament of having injured myself – and having no one to provide assistance.

I understand and applaud your adventurous streak, but, believe me… the Kokoda Track is not the place to try it.

[Author]

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