It's official

Travel arrangements for the expedition are now made. We leave LAX on Thursday the 16th of August and fly to Fiji, then the Soloman Islands, then to Port Moresby, New Guinea, then to Rabual, New Guinea, then to Hoskins, New Guinea. On Friday, Oct. 5th, we're retracing our steps to Fiji, where we'll spend about a day and a half before making it back to LAX on Sunday the 7th at 1:30 in the afternoon.

Some interesting facts about the area:

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded around 5000 BC.

At 4,884 metres, Puncak Jaya (sometimes called Mount Carstensz) makes New Guinea the world's fourth highest landmass.

Many believe human habitation on the island has been dated to as early as approximately 40,000 BP[1], and first settlement possibly dated back to 60,000 years ago has been proposed. The island is presently populated by very nearly a thousand different tribal groups and a near-equivalent number of separate languages.

With some 786,000 km² of tropical land - less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the earth's surface -- New Guinea has an immense ecological value in terms of biodiversity, with between 5 to 10% of the total species on the planet.

A high percentage of New Guinea's species are endemic (found nowhere else), and thousands are still unknown to Western science: probably well over 200,000 species of insect, between 11,000 to 20,000 plant species; over 650 resident bird species, including most species of birds of paradise and bowerbirds, parrots, and cassowaries; over 400 amphibians; 455 butterfly species; marsupials including Bondegezou, Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo, Huon Tree-kangaroo, Long-beaked Echidna, Tenkile, Agile Wallaby, Alpine Wallaby, cuscuses and possums; and various other mammal species.

A central east-west mountain range dominates the geography of New Guinea, over 1600 km in total length. The western half of the island of New Guinea contains the highest mountains in Oceania, rising up to 4884 m high, and ensuring a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The tree line is around 4000 m elevation and the tallest peaks contain permanent equatorial glaciers - sadly disappearing due to a changing climate. Various other smaller mountain ranges occur both north and west of the central ranges. Except in high elevations, most areas possess a warm humid climate throughout the year, with some seasonal variation associated with the northeast monsoon season.