Today was our last full day on the cruise. We took a 2-hour cruise with just 8 passengers in one tender boat, allowing us the chance to visit more villages meeting smaller, more intimate groups. Although the main needs of the people in this area are better education and health services our small gifts were gratefully received. One village councillor explained to me in Pigin that teachers sign a 5-year contract to teach in remote areas but commonly at the end of their first year they go on leave and don’t return.
A farming couple with their 6-month old baby and a new mosquito net
Spot the frightened child hiding from the strange white people
Here she is
Even the smallest gifts were received with excitement
After lunch we climbed into the helicopter and flew for an hour up the Sepic, past the stilt village that we saw yesterday.
It’s difficult to imagine living here. The small separate huts are toilets.
The crowd that gathered around us yesterday, taken from a drone
At a village beside the Sepic we walked amongst the locals providing another opportunity to talk, take photos and and admire the beautiful scenery.
How can anyone resist photo opportunities like this?
A short walk brought us to a Spirit House where several young men where nearing the closing stages of their initiation ceremony. To demonstrate their manhood they undertook a painful scarification process during which their skin was cut with a razor blade and treated with mud so that when it healed after about 6 weeks their skin resembled the skin of a crocodile. Luckily the healing process was almost finished when we saw it.
The whole torso is covered with crocodile markings
It’s an incredibly painful process
Several young men and boys wore their traditional costumes in support of the initiates and possibly to welcome us.
A 20 minute ride in a dugout canoe was not luxurious but it certainly was a talking point over a few drinks that night.
Comfortably seated and ready to go
At the next village young people performed a ceremonial dance that included a large cassowary. Much of the PNG wildlife is similar to northern Queensland, not surprisingly because PNG and Australia were once joined.
A cassowary surrounded by hunters
Did they think our life jackets were our traditional dress?
Back on board True North we cruised for several hours to the River mouth, again with people paddling out to meet us along the way. We still had some basketballs left and there was much excitement when they were tossed into the water.
Kids 200m from the shore in the middle of crocodile territory, paddling in a race to get a ball
After another great dinner and a good night’s sleep we arrived at Madang for a relaxing couple of hours on board, a 30 minute drive to the airport, a lengthy passport checking and check in process and a 2-hour flight to Cairns.
The full group on the last morning
Before completing this final blog here a a few photos taken by others that are worth showing.
Jo, 2nd from left, relaxing on a tropical island while Ted was snorkeling nearby
Snorkeling in pristine waters
Sights like this were everywhere
Coral Trout. Most fish caught were either released or given to villagers, but not this one
Spanish Mackerel? We kept only enough fish for the chefs to use on board
Ted and Jo 