If you are looking for a place to explore that has almost every geographical and ecological feature know to man, is home to an abundance of wildlife, a place where you can feel really ‘lost’ and ‘off the beaten track’ and where there are still ‘untouched’ people living a natural way of life then you would be wise to consider Borneo or Papua New Guinea.
Now then, before you pack your bags and hop on a flight there are a few things to take into consideration before exploring Borneo and Papua New Guinea. Both Borneo and Papua New Guinea are tropical countries so there are health considerations. Papua New Guinea is in a tropical cyclone area (Asian version of a hurricane). Also, Borneo and Papua New Guinea are considered third world countries, so the in-country infrastructure will not be what you are used to at home.
Let’s look at some of the health issues you need to look into before setting off for an adventure holiday exploring Borneo and Papua New Guinea.
- Vaccinations – before setting off you will need to have a good chat with your doctor or, preferably, a specialised travel clinic where you can get a decent and well planned set of vaccinations. It would be wrong of us on here to comment further on what jabs you need, please seek professional medical advice.
- First aid kit – always keep with you a decent first aid kit with everything in it waterproofed, sealed and in-date. There are many pre-made kits out there on the market, some of which we will review soon. For now please visit Nomad Travel to see their collection.
- Water – two things about water, one is that you’ll need to drink lot of it…. sorry, did I say a lot, I meant A LOT!!! So have a good water bottle (or two) and secondly, just as important, make sure the water you drink is of a good quality, so take along with you a means of water purification. Iodine is good for short term emergencies.
- Food – read up on all the foods you should and shouldn’t eat. Make sure food is cooked thoroughly, avoid salads if you think the food hasn’t been washed properly. It is very very important that you prepare yourself for the worst because it doesn’t matter how careful you are, you WILL get a dodgy tummy sooner or later, so make sure you know what to do when it happens.
Next …. picture the scene, you are deep in the jungle, exploring Papua new Guinea…. then you are told a typhoon is coming your way. This will put a real downer on your trip I assure you.
Whilst on an expedition in Belize, Rob (the Managing Director of S2Si) who was at the time in-country manager, sent a messenger out to my expedition base camp with the news that Hurricane Mitch was coming! After a very swift but highly professional pitch-black, middle of the night, evacuation we got to the capital. The rest of our time in-country was spent in the British High Commission where we boarded up windows, secured doors, did night patrols to make sure looters didn’t come into the compound and watched the news as the Caribbean took a beating. The normal season for the cyclones is November to May, but you would be wise to check recent updates on any fluctuations.
Borneo might escape the tropical revolving storms but it has a wet and dry season which can seriously affect roads, rivers and your enjoyment.
Lastly in our small but highly useful advice section for exploring Borneo and Papua New Guinea we cover the basic infrastructure problems that you need to be aware of before setting of.
- Electricity – in smaller towns power cuts can be frequent and when you get off the beaten track you’ll be lucky to find electricity. So a head torch and spare batteries are essential.
- Water – running water in places might be intermittent. Pack your wash kit with things like all-in-one soap (good for clothes as well) or a shower gel. Learn how to improvise by making your own showers out of plastic water bottles or a water bag.
- Roads – poorly maintained roads can mean transport delays so keep an open mind regarding timings and schedules. Don’t plan a long bus journey right before your return flight home .
- Communications – you are going out there to get away from the modern world and back to basics, when you get away from civilization don’t expect all the phones to work, if they have an internet connection you can bet it will be a slow one.
There you have a few basic points to exploring Borneo and exploring Papua New Guinea – we should have called this article “Travel tips for exploring Borneo and Papua New Guinea – The tip of the iceberg!!!” as we have really just given you a taster of the adventure ahead of you. Anyway, it wouldn’t be called exploring if we held your hand for you.
So get reading and send us a postcard!
Tags: how can I explore Borneo, how can I explore Papua New Guinea, What are the best gap year travel ideas, What can I do on my gap year, Where can I go on my gap year
