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Published: February 15th 2011
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I visited the Walindi Resort on New Britain, Papua New Guinea in August 2010. What an incredible, enriching, and intriguing part of the world it was. I first landed in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea and was so struck by the uniqueness of the locals. I have visited many places in the Caribbean, but not of them came close to comparing to PNG. My intention for this trip was to scuba dive and dive I did. My most sought after sea creature was the illustrious and tiny pygmy sea horse, and I am proud to say that I not only saw one, but several and captured them on film!
Our flight from Port Moresby was most interesting. We flew on a small place with Air Nuigini, with few amenities, but perfectly safe. Water was given to the first class and repeat customers.
I had a lovely converation with a young woman who was born and raised on New Britain. I was facinated to learn that she was college educated, on the mainland, and now worked for a worldwide AIDS agency. She had quite a challenge ahead of her, being one of the few and first
AIDS educators on New Britain. We discussed how most traditional PNG people lived in one room buildings and that most couples had sex while the others slept or would sneak outside to go to a private place. The concept of trying to explain the need for condoms was no doubt a challenge to most men and their masculinity. I empathized with her challenge, yet was in awe of how her small framed person was so passionate about taking on this daunting task. She was the first of many PNG locals that I would meet whose mouth showed the results of chewing "betel nuts" or buai. I, being of curious mind and not too shy, carefully asked my new friend about this habit or hobby. She was very open and proud about the tradition of chewing betel nut. It is a stress reliever, an awareness enhancer, and mild stimulant. It is also a statement of sorts. If you have the red, discolored teeth of a betel but chewer, it shows that you are honoring the "old ways" or the time honored traditions of a true Papua New Guinea native. She was quite proud to show me her reddened teeth and to
describe how she chewed the nuts. It seems that the "red" comes from dipping the nuts into a lime mixture then joining it with a previously chewed up nut. The chemical reaction give the islanders the red mouth. Of course, I also would learn that a large number of islanders contracted mouth disease and cancer as a result of this habit, not unlike our smokers or tobacco chewers of the modern civilization. I really enjoyed meeting my fellow companion and was grateful for her candor and openess of this curious and hopefully not to rude tourist.
Once arriving on New Britain, I was able to experience the very interesting Hoskins airport. I was prewarned by the Walindi booking consultant to NOT USE the BATHROOM. I heeded her warning and patiently waited for my "escort" to my destination. He was waiting with a small, well worn, handwritten sign simply saying "Walindi". After making contact with him, I was greatly entertained with the goings-on of the small airport. It seems the daily afternoon arrival also included the daily Port Moresby newspaper, supplies impossible to acquire on this small island, and many locals who had had an adventure or meeting in
the capital. Needless to say, us tourists stood out like a sore thumb, and I pride myself in not being one of "those" tourists who gawk and act as if they suddenly own the place. The locals were very pleasant, but I also had to wonder about the extreme security for this small, rather uneventful, airport. There was armed security and iron gates keeping the arrivals in and the locals out. You can imagine my curiosity and slight concern over why. Actually I felt quite safe, since my Walindi trip planner had passed along great peace of mind about how things worked here at the airport. It seems that there is actually very little trouble at the airport, but there have been times when the local police have had to calm some disturbances down and this current security was just preventative. If you have traveled to many third world countries, you can understand that living on a very isolated island, with very limited jobs, resources, or entertainment can lead even the most "chilled" islander to rise up against paradise.
Once the plane was uploaded and our van had acquired all of it's newest passengers, we set off to
Walindi. I rode with several other newcomers, headed to Walindi, which was built around the long existing village of Wlaindi. One very nice Italian couple was on their honeymoon. They were so cute and in so much love. The ride to Walindi was adventurous and bumpy. We passed through one of the largest cities on New Britain, Kimbe, which boasted an array of road side huts selling fruit, beer, and who knows what else. Everyone seems genuinely happy to have us arrive on their amazing little island. Upon arrival to Walindi, I was greeted with the most genuine wishes I could imagine. As I have mentioned before, I have traveled to many dive locations, but the sense of grace, sincerity, and welcome I received from the beautiful people of PNG was so much more authentic. You can usually tell that most resorts are just "being nice" because that is "their job" and they can be very professional. In PNG, I felt I was being welcomed into someone's home, and into their family! When I checked into the resort (which I would only being staying in for two nights before boarding the Febrina live-aboard dive boat) I was pleasantly surprised to
learn that my room in the hotel section of the resort had been upgraded (at not extra cost, mind you) to a bure' or private hut. This was simply due to have availability for a hut on a slightly slower week. I rememver thinking "Who does that?", but quickly understood that this is all part of the charm and magic of PNG.
My adventure aboard the Febrina went well beyond my expectations in terms of the diving experiences, the crew, and the wonderful fellow divers I met. Allan Raabe was the captain (and owner) of the Febrina and what a funny and entertaining guy he was. He is also an extremely concerned and capable captain, which is reflected in the 100's of dive sites he has personally found and established off of New Britain. Our primary dive masters wee Digger and Josie, who were beyond amazing in leading us to incredible "finds", in very thourough dive briefingm, and their warm and fun personalities.
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