Part II: Journey from the 21st Century to the Pages of
National Geographic
Papua, New Guinea Expedition
(Sorry no pictures - internet not strong enough from the boat)
We boarded our expedition ship, the Oceanic Discoverer (also
called the “OD”), in Cairns and spent the next two days familiarizing ourselves
with the ship, the routine and the other passengers. Our shipmates were from Australia, a few from
the U.S., England, New Zealand, and one couple from Hungary. Most of the two days was spent at sea en
route to PNG, as Papua, New Guinea is called.
We did make a stop at a large coral reef called Osprey Reef; we spent
time there snorkeling amid coral and colorful tropical fish.
Our first port of call was on the southeastern tip of PNG at
a town called Alotau. We experienced a
welcome performance by dancers in costume.
Alotau was significant because it was the site of a WWII battle in which
the Australians and American troops fought the Japanese. It is also a central trading center where
residents of outlying areas bring their goods and barter for their needs. As I strolled through the market, I gazed
upon produce for sale and saw copious amounts of betel nut being sold by a long
row of vendors. It is a stimulant that
helps people get through the day. Betel
nut is chewed with a couple of accompaniments, one being lime made from
coral. It turns teeth red, and I
understand it leads to other tooth and gum disorders. More the pity, since I don’t believe there
are many dentists in the area! We also
visited a village and enjoyed a lesson on native plants that cure
illnesses. Most of the houses have
thatched roofs, palm frond walls and are elevated above the ground.
The next day was divided between water sports and village
visits. Dave had his first scuba lesson
with Riccardo, the dive instructor, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Renee took a ride in the glass bottom boat
with some other folks led by a marine biologist named Mike, who is with us for
the voyage and is guest lecturer on marine life that lives in these waters. Our other guest lecturer is a social
anthropologist named Maureen, who has studied the people and cultures of this
region, familiarly known as Melanesia.
We also went to two beautiful villages, one on a little
island called Dobu, where the school children welcomed us and performed songs. Each was dressed in traditional costumes, and
the adults danced, played the drums and sang.
The residents of Papua, New Guinea are very friendly people, happy to
see visitors and not at all annoyed that we’ve come ashore to see them, walk
through their villages and aim our cameras at them. They learn English in school as well as their
local native language, so communication is fairly easy.
During the next few days, our routine was similar. We had a balanced schedule featuring water
sports such as snorkeling on beautiful coral reefs with vast arrays of colorful,
tropical fish, scuba diving on the walls that drop off the reefs, and kayaking
in quiet coves where waterfalls tumble into the sea mixed with visits to
colorful tribes of native peoples. Each
time we went ashore to visit the people of the local settlements, we seemed to
go further back in time to more and more remote areas. We started feeling as if we had entered a
feature story in National Geographic with the tribal atmosphere of the jungle
clans in their traditional ceremonial dress entertaining us with drums, dancing
and chanting. It was only recently (mid
twentieth century) that many of these tribes and clans gave up head hunting and
cannibalism due to pressure from the missionary groups that came here to ‘save’
them.
On one particular visit, villagers came to the ship in
outrigger canoes, collected us in groups of 4 or 6, and floated us through a mangrove channel in the
jungle to their meeting point in a muddy, shaded rain forest to dance, sing,
play their drums, and demonstrate their skills at tattooing and making sago
(palm) flour. They wore colorful
headdresses of Bird of Paradise feathers, necklaces of local seashells, faces
painted with their particular tribal emblems, and they wore loincloths and
sarongs of painted bark and cloth. Most
of the people are self sufficient, getting all of their needs from the forest
and sea around them. They also trade
with other tribes for items not available in their area.
We still have about two more weeks left on this comfortable
and pleasant expedition cruise, so we’ll be catching everyone up to date as we
go along. Hoping everybody is doing
well; we’ll sign off for now.
