Papua New Guinea - September 2010

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We talked about visiting Papua New Guinea for a long time. We finally got there September 2010. It's a land of diverse cultures, remote tribes, over 800 separate languages, 600 islands and some of the best diving spots anywhere in the world.

We headed for Kimbe Bay, New Britain, for a 7 day liveaboard trip on the Febrina. We dived with about 9 other divers and Josie our dive master. Underwater, we saw some stunning corals and lots of pygmy seahorses, some found nowhere else.

The second stop in our journey was at Tufi Dive Resort for some macro diving. Tufi was our favourite spot overall; we saw incredible creatures for the first time ever such as the Spanish Dancer, dwarf cuttlefish, pipefish, frogfish and so many nudibranchs. Steve and I are definitely hooked on macro diving.

Apart from diving we also had a few walks and overnight stays in the jungle and attended festivals with traditional dancing.

And yes, apparently cannibalism still goes on in PNG - but rarely, and only in very remote tribes. Overall we found the people very friendly with such an interesting background and history. We would have no hesitations in recommending anyone visit this remote country.

Our Highlights:

• Learning about the many types of local plants that cure malaria
• Dan & Cat, the friendly diving instructors at Walindi and their german shepherd/timber wolf mix Lara
• Meeting Simon, the very funny UK diving magazine chief editor and expert photographer, and hearing about his amazing travels and diving stories.
• Trees lit up at night with fireflies brighter than a Christmas tree.
• Elderly women with elaborate tattoos.
• Adorable cuscus at Tufi and the scary stalking wallaby
• Overnight stay at village just outside Tufi, our welcoming host Rodney, giant spiders and falling asleep to the sounds of drumming late in the night
• Finding the birds of paradise after a 3 hour jungle trek in the rain (sorry - no pictures, too far away).


Lowlights:
• We never did found a python we searched for in the jungle cave
• Over-enthusiastic diving guides dragging out the little critters so everyone could blind them with their underwater camera flashes and strobes.
• Aggressive fellow divers not making room for others and harassing sealife.
• All our bags taken off the plane at Port Morsby to make way for palm oil tree seedlings. Flight attendants lying to us about when we'd get our bags back. Thanks Linda at Tufi Dive Resort for pulling strings and getting them back for us 3 days later!
• Port Morsby is a bit dangerous, not being able to go out exploring for fear of being mugged
• Finding out about illegal logging near Tufi, and elsewhere
• Too many palm oil trees!

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Photos

Village boy
His father guided us on a forest walk.

Palm Tree Nuts
Palm oil is a big industry in PNG.

Natural Malaria Cure
Who needs Larium?

Plane Wrecks in Jungle
Well preserved plane wrecks from WWII in the jungle.

Glow in the Dark Mushrooms
Unfortunately, we got here too early. Didn't see them glowing. Apparently the children love to stick them on their faces and run around at night.

Insect
Came across this beauty on our village walk.

Giant Fan Coral
Diving in Walindi, from the Febrina liveaboard, for 6 days.

Remora (or Sharksucker)
Valerie finds a new friend. Couldn't get rid of the little sweetie till I got back on the boat.

Tiny Pygmy Seahorse
One of the main reasons for diving Walindi. Would never find these without our excellent dive guides.

Squid - Night Dive
Breath-taking

Villagers
They traded food with the staff of our liveaboard. We got more fruit, they got noodles.