PAPUA NEW GUINEA has so many tribes, cultures and languages. Then there is the natural wonders, from tree kangaroos and cassowaries, the might Sepik River and the Highlands, to superb off shore diving.
And yet it only sees 180,000 tourists a year.
Some Australians are drawn to the Kokoda Track, and some visit on crise ships, but this incredible land does not get nearly the numbers that it should. For a great insight into this country, please read Tim Flannery’s “Throwim Way Leg”, which translates as “Make a journey.”
These photos are pretty ordinary. They are from 1987, and were taken with a cheap and nasty point and shoot instamatic camera, the kind of thing you may have bought at the chemist.
The mountains of New Guinea make its diversity incredible. It supports an incredible number of species of animals, birds, flora, and what is found in one valley may be found nowhere else. It is the same with languages and people.
School kids don their traditional attire. Although western hand-me-downs are the norm these days, traditions still run strong, and village life remains central.
I visited Papua New Guinea in 1987, so I am not too sure where most pictures were taken.
As part of the school trip I went on, I stayed in this village for a few nights. Each of us was sent to a different village on our own.
This baby was born the night before I arrived in the village. He would be 33 by now. However, infant mortality in PNG in 1987 was a shocking 70 per thousand births. It is still 40.
A little bit of gardening. A man scampers up to do some pruning and gather coconuts.
Walking to the village gardens. Most thing PNG people need, they hunt, grow or gather.
Town square, probably Popondetta, on the northern side of the island. The famous Kokoda track runs nearby.
This was a dorm room for borders at Martyr's Memorial School, near Popondetta, where I stayed for several days.
This fellow was my host.
Highlanders often study in bording schools in the lower lands. Students keep gardens for food and trade surplus.
Crossing into the village. Note the way he is standing in the canoe.
Crossing into the village. Note the way I am not calmly standing up.
A typical village house in PNG, the one I stayed in in the village.
Ella Beach, in Port Morseby. This is no cultural display. He is just making himself a canoe, on the beach of the capital city. As you do.
We spent two or so nights on a boat around the eastern tip of the country, stopping overnight in villages on the way.
Country around Popondetta. All land is owned, usually communal, and passing through often requires "tolls".
A typical village store on the coast. There is little manufacturing in PNG, and many goods are shipped from Australia, and expensive. After a day's hot hiking, four of us drank every can of Coke in the shop.
The "skirt" is made from bark, and is known as a "tapa".