The Kokoda Trail is a place of pilgrimage for Adventure Kokoda.
Our trek leaders have a combined total of 160 years professional military service which includes military operations in Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
They have successfully led more than 600 expeditions across the Kokoda Trail over the past 32 years and trained our current generation of leaders in pilgrimage and expedition leadership.
According to author, Peter Stanford, ‘pilgrimage‘ is the new term for adventure tourism.
Our Kokoda pilgrimage exposes trekkers to a legacy that reaches beyond firmer muscles and toned bodies. It leads to a re-awakening of dormant values often suppressed by mundane routines. A common refrain from past trekkers is the relativity it provides to their lives.
Papua New Guinea lends itself to such a ‘search for meaning’ as it is the custodian of land sacred to the shared military heritage for pilgrims from Australia, Japan, and the USA. It is also the ‘land of a thousand cultures’ governed by a ‘Parliament of a thousand tribes‘ in a ‘land of the unexpected’.
The founder of the company, Major Charlie Lynn OAM OL, pioneered the concept of pilgrimage tourism across the Kokoda Trail in 1992. During his search he rediscovered significant battle sites at Brigade Hill and Isurava which had been bypassed and reclaimed by the jungle. He carefully researched and mapped the Kokoda campaign, and has produced the only 1:25,000 topographical map of the Kokoda Trail. He is the author of ‘A Soldier’s Guide to Kokoda and Trek Diary’ and the subject of a book ‘Kokoda: 100 Treks’.
In the 2015 New Year’s Honours and Awards list, Charlie was inducted as an ‘Officer of Logohu’, one of PNGs highest honours ‘‘for service to the bilateral relations between Papua New Guinea and Australia and especially in the development of the Kokoda Trail and its honoured place in the history of both nations’ over the past 25 years’.
10 sound reasons to choose Adventure Kokoda to lead you on your pilgrimage across the Kokoda Trail:
- Adventure Kokoda specialise in pilgrimage tourism across the Kokoda Trail – we do not trek to any other location – Kokoda is all we do.
- Adventure Kokoda have been rated as the No 1. trekking company on the Kokoda Trail by Trip Advisor for the last eight consecutive years.
- Adventure Kokoda trek leaders are qualified in Wilderness First Aid, are experienced expedition leaders and expert in the history of the Kokoda campaign.
- Adventure Kokoda groups are equipped with satellite phones, VHF radios and specialist remote area medical kits.
- Adventure Kokoda have a permanent rear headquarters in Port Moresby and maintain a 24/7 VHF radio watch to monitor daily progress of our trek groups and to react immediately in the event of any emergency;
- Adventure Kokoda are the only trekking company to provide for the comprehensive welfare of our PNG guides and carriers through the provision of individual zippered sleeping bags and mats, full trek uniforms comprising caps, shirts and shorts (a great source of pride for them all) and emergency medical support.
- Adventure Kokoda provide high quality tents for each of our trekkers – we do not sleep in village guesthouses which have infestation issues in the tropical climate.
- Adventure Kokoda have established our own charity, Network Kokoda, to provide support for education, health and community development across the Kokoda Trail.
- Adventure Kokoda use a charter aircraft to fly directly into and out of Kokoda village.
- A recent audit revealed that Adventure Kokoda is the only Australian trekking company to operate legally in Papua New Guinea through our compliance with the relevant PNG Acts of Parliament – we also have a valid comprehensive Public Liability Insurance policy.
What we don’t do . . .
- We don’t start each day with group hugs and of ‘Ossie, Ossie, Ossie – Oi, Oi, ‘Oi!’ bogan chants.
- We don’t take the cheaper option of flying into Popondetta and loading you onto the back of a truck for a three-hour bumpy ride to Kokoda village. We also avoid the local law and order issues in the area. This video link shows a trek leader from another company involved in a recent brawl at the airport after a local raskol stole money from one of his young female trekkers.
- We don’t overload our PNG carriers – we subscribe to the 18 kg weight limit imposed by Regimental Medical Officer during the Kokoda campaign in 1942 rather than the 22.5 kg set by the current management body – this means we have to employ more carriers for each of our groups but it is the right thing to do.
