Wasur National Park

Savannah, Wetland And Monsoon Forest On The Papua New Guinea Border That Looks Like Northern Australia Because Biologically It Is Wallabies, Cassowaries And Termite Mounds Standing Taller Than A Person · Merauke, South Papua

Wasur is called the SERENGETI OF PAPUA and the comparison misleads in an interesting way: this is not African savannah but AUSTRALIAN, because biologically it is. On the far side of Wallace's line, the fauna here belongs to Australasia rather than Asia, and what walks across the grassland is AGILE WALLABIES, CASSOWARIES and bandicoots, among TERMITE MOUNDS THAT STAND TALLER THAN A PERSON in fields of them. In the wet season the whole basin floods and fills with WATERBIRDS IN ENORMOUS NUMBERS, many of them migrants from Australia across the Arafura Sea; in the dry it is open brown grass and dust. THE MARIND AND OTHER COMMUNITIES LIVE INSIDE THE PARK. It runs to the PAPUA NEW GUINEA BORDER, which is a line on a map drawn through one continuous landscape, and the animals on both sides have never taken the slightest notice of where the line runs. The Marind and other communities live inside the park.

Wasur, Merauke Regency, South Papua, Merauke, South Papua, Indonesia

WASUR IS ENTERED FROM MERAUKE, which has FLIGHTS from Jayapura and Makassar - the road east from the town runs along the park's edge toward the PNG border and much of the park is reached from it. A PARK ENTRY FEE AND A GUIDE ARE REQUIRED and are arranged at the park office in Merauke or through local operators. ACCOMMODATION IS BASIC GUESTHOUSES IN MERAUKE OR SIMPLE POSTS INSIDE THE PARK, which must be arranged in advance. WILDLIFE IS AT DAWN AND DUSK; a midday visit across open savannah sees very little and is punishing. THE WET SEASON FLOODS THE BASIN and brings the waterbirds but makes tracks difficult. PAPUA'S PERMIT AND SECURITY SITUATION CHANGES and the PNG border is sensitive - take local advice and do not approach it independently.

Wasur National Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos