PNG Tourism News Update

National Mask Festival on again

2009-07-02T11:57:00.017+10:00

National Mask festival will be staged in Kokopo, East New Britain from 15th Jul 2009.

This is one of the most unique Festivals in Papua New Guinea with different mask culture of the country, especially in New Guinea Islands Region get together.

When I visited Sepik River earlier this year, Middle Sepik dancers from Palimbe village- "Mai Mask" - were planning to visit all the way to Kokopo to participate in the Festival. It will be interesting if Sepik & Tolai Mask collaborate and dance together.

One of the main attractions of the Festival, apart from stunning Fire Dance Performance by Baining Tribe is the Kinavai Ceremony by Tolais, main ethnic group of Rabaul/Kokopo.

When the sun rises, Group of cone-shaped spirit figure called "Tubuan" are emerging from the sea. This will be followed by series of sacred ceremonies; Tubuans sit down in line and are whipped by the tabu (shell money), and the ceremony goes on... The real meaning of the ceremonies can not be disclosed outside the secret society members.....

What makes me more interested is that East New Britain , with early contact with European settlers, is one of the most civilized provinces in the country, yet those highly educated people still believe in the secret society and keep the tradition.

If you miss this year's festival, please do not forget to book the fabulous festival in 2010.

Real "Paradise" for Nature

2009-07-01T14:09:00.003+10:00

The word "Paradise" is often used to express Papua New Guinea, but I think sometimes the meaning of the "Paradise "is misinterpreted.

There is no well-maintained walking track to see "Bird of Paradise". There is no Aquarium to see the underwater world easily without hustle & bustle of carrying tank and odd equipment.

When I am walking in the jungle to see the rare species of birds, sweating and getting dirty, I sometimes question myself, is it a Paradise ??

However, as for the nature, much of the them are protected without being disturbed.

Coral Reefs are intact & healthy, much of the Rainforest remains and become breeding ground for many species of animals, plants & insects.

And when I finally encounter the rare spieces and find out that they enjoy the life without human disturbance, I also feel that, "Yes, this is the Real Paradise on Earth."

So the real meaning of "Paradise" in PNG should be something like that---- Papua New Guinea is one of the last Paradise on earth where human being and nature still live in harmony.

Sudden change of Flight schedule

2009-06-26T16:19:00.003+10:00

Air Niugini has announced its New schedule on 23rd Jun, and effective on 02Jul, only less-than -10 days notice, in the middle of tourist season.

It is almost impssoible to connect any destination in the morning because of the late arrival of Internatioanal flights, and the reason is because of the bad weather & morning fog ???

Many tourists have to change their itinerary, tours & hotels with very short notice......

While Air Niugini has its operational reasons (if not political reasons) , more consideration should have given to the international tourists who are affected by a very short notice.

Is there any way to do such a drastic change with ample notice, and maybe early in the year so that peak tourist season - with Summer Holidaymaker from North hemisphere & Winter Holiday Tourist from Down South - are less affected with sudden changes ??

New Schedule 108A can be downloaded from Air Niugini website.

http://www.airniugini.com.pg/pxmisc/SCH108A.pdf

Weed in Papua New Guinea

2009-06-22T13:26:00.002+10:00

When we order flower, beautiful and rare orchids are used in many occasions.

One day, I asked "Why do you use such an expensive flower ?"

The answer was "Oh, they are many of them in here, so for us, they are no difference from weeds." While Orchids are sold as expensive exotic flowers in many countries, they are sometimes regarded as "weeds" here in Papua New Guinea !!Papua New Guinea has more than 3,000 spices of Orchid, which accounts for more than 60% of all the orchid species in the world.

PAU Birding site - Port Moresby

2009-06-12T09:18:00.000+10:00

PAU is one of the Universities in Papua New Guinea run by Adventist Church, but is also known as a Birdwatcher's heaven outside of Port Moresby.

With its peaceful environment, birds enjoy their life without being killed or chased away. There are lots of waterbirds, including endemic species as well as migrant species, all the way from Alaska, on the way to Australia and Antarctica maybe.

Photographed are common species, Pied Heron, Purple Swamphen & Wandering Ducks.

Other species frequent in the area are Comb-Crested Jacana, Spotted Whistling Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Rufous Night Heron, Egrets & Cormorants, Masked Lapwing, Sacred Kingfisher, etc...

My favorite is giant Papuan Frog Mouth, most of the time camoflouged and sleep on one of the trees.

Never too old to..

2009-06-06T17:35:00.001+10:00

On my last visit to Porebada village outside of Port Moresby, we have made a surprise visit to Bubu (Grandmother) Morea. After the visit, we have realized that the tape has been damaged and we have decided to visit her again in the afternoon.

Maybe she was not happy in the morning because she was not prepared to be in the film.

On our second visit in the afternoon, she had a shower and changed to a new meri-brouse to be on a film. Look at the nice smile ! Yes, you are never too old to look for a new ..... ?

Craft Market

2009-06-03T16:49:00.000+10:00

Ela Beach Craft Market is held on last Saturdays of the months (Feb-Nov). It was originally started for the expatriate residents of Port Moresby using the school yard of the International School. There is no market in Dec & Jan, because many expatriate residents go home for Christmas, and also the school is closed during the period.

There are lots of tribal arts & crafts for sale in a safe environment, where tourists/expatiate residents negotiate for a better deal with the local seller.

Traditional Sing Sing performance is regularly organized.

This is one of the Port Moresby's best tourist attractions, and if you happen to be here on last Saturday of the month, it is worth visiting.

Tribal Festival Season to come soon

2009-05-26T13:11:00.010+10:00

Tribal Festival Season is starting soon in Papua New Guinea; the major ones are

Mask Festival (July), Mt Hagen show (August), Goroka Show (September), Morobe Show (October) and Kundu & Kanu Festivals (November).

Off course there are other festivals in the country which are less promoted than the above major ones. This does not mean that they are less interesting, but they may not be promoted because the show dates are unreliable, or due to communication difficulty, they are not known to the outside world, etc... The culture is still intact in Papua New Guinea but has been changing bit by bit. Some traditions are dying away and you may not see some of the traditions next year.

If you have not booked this year's festival, there are several Festival tours still open for booking.

Please check with your nearest travel agent for detail.

Here is just an example of many, many tribal performances you can watch Live in Papua New Guinea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LGY72oWKpU

Landmark ? Pinapple Building

2009-05-25T09:49:00.007+10:00

In September 1975, Port Moresby became capital city of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. New government buildings were constructed at Waigani area to house government departments, including a spectacular National Parliament Building, which was opened in 1984 by Prince Charles of United Kingdom. Other important national buildings such as Supreme Court, National Museum, National Library are also located in the same area. Before those government buildings were constructed - according to the early settlers to Port Moresby - Waigani area was grassland all over and many wallabies were seen hopping around.

Among the buildings, there is a strange-shaped building opposite Sir John Guise Stadium.

This was originally one of the government buildings called "Marea Haus", but now everybody calls it as the "Pineapple Building" because of its shape resembles the tropical fruit.

Pineapple building has been long abandoned but become one of the landmark in Port Moresby, just like the "Leaning Tower of Pisa". Don't you think that "Pisa" & "Pineapple" are also look alike ??

Round-the-World Journalists from Germany

2009-05-21T08:43:00.005+10:00

We had a surprise visit by young travel journalists from Germany.

Felix & Christina were on their 5 months Round-the-World trip, getting reports from different parts of the world to post them on the Travel page of F.A.Z. - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung http://www.faz.net/s/homepage.html - one of the major Newspapers in Germany.

As part of their report, Noel took them to his "secret spot", although I believe entire PNG is "secret spot" in world standards. They have spent approx 2 weeks in Papua New Guinea and left for Thailand yesterday.

"Vielen Dank" for your visit and hope to see a nice report and have a safe trip back home !!

School Visit

2009-05-18T14:05:00.004+10:00

During the filming work on Friday, we have dropped in at Porebada primary school outside of Port Moresby. School children were so excited about the team visit and even after the school bell rang, they kept posing for the camera. (Sorry for the disturbance...)

During the visit to the village, we have found out the shocking fact that the global warming has already affected the life of Papua New Guineans, not only at the remote Carteret Islands, but at the very shoreline of the capital Port Moresby as well !!

If this is caused by human being, we have to act now to stop this.

If the global warming is accelerated and further push the sea level up in an alarming speed, these innocent children - next generation of this planet- may not have a land to live.

French Guidebook for Papua New Guinea

2009-05-09T11:07:00.003+10:00

We had a workshop in Port Moresby to meet with a French journalist who is making a country wide trip to write a guidebook of Papua New Guinea in French language for the first time.

For quite a long time, only Lonely Planet (in English) was available as a comprehensive tourist guide book for Papua New Guinea. We are grateful for the Lonely Planet for its publication, however, I believe a guide book in other language in which report is also done by their own country men will be much better.

I hope he will get good report & photos of Papua New Guinea and make a nice guidebook.

Phillipe, je vous souhaite un bon voyage!

Another Memorial visit

2009-05-06T12:01:00.000+10:00

Another memorial visit to PNG after many years, this time by the former diplomat of UK.
He has driven up the Highlands Highway from Lae and visited Mt Hagen show in 1970 - most of us were never born at that time !!
This time, he has covered most parts of the country during his 20 Nights trip in Papua New Guinea, namely Alotau, Misima, Losuia, Mt Hagen, Goroka, Madang, Kavieng, Rabaul, Hoskins & Port Moresby. Thank you Tom for your visit, we enjoyed your story and will all miss you !!

Red Sensation from PNG- Will Genia

2009-05-04T11:05:00.010+10:00

Last Saturday, I have watched Super 14 game on TV- Queensland Reds vs. ACT Brambles.

While Brambles have hammered the Reds by 52-13 , we were stunned by dynamic attack of chocolate-skin, solid body scrum half of the Reds. He has scored all the 2 tries of Reds.

He is Will Genia, Australian-educated Papua New Guinean. He has represented Australia Under 20 in 2008 for IRB Junior World Cup in Wales.

Although he was injured on this game and will be away for next 5 months, hope one day he will play for Wallabies. It is a loss for Pukpuks (Rugby Union National Team of Papua New Guinea),

but I want to see first Papua New Guinean to win Webb Ellis Cup !!, even as part of Wallabies.

Will's profile on Reds Official site as follows.

http://www.qru.com.au/library/reds_players/genia,_will,67244.html/section/40810

Memorial Visit

2009-05-02T17:26:00.000+10:00

We have done a tour to Sogeri outside of Port Moresby with Australian guests who have brought up in PNG but left the country in 1970's before independence. We have dropped in at Sogeri Primary school where they have attended, probably 50+years ago. Teaches were surprised to hear the story of the past which they have never heard of !!
We were also delighted to see that they have made a memorial visit.
Thank you for your visit to PNG, and we are always waiting for you to come back again.

Morobe show, the oldest Festival in PNG

2009-04-30T22:18:00.000+10:00

While Mt Hagen Show, Goroka show have been commercially promoted over the years, Morobe Show is the oldest organized Festival in the country which started in 1959.
It was started as Agricultural show, and still now it plays a major role in public awareness of the cultivations, crops, diseases which are important for agriculture.

Apart from being the oldest, with more industry support, Morobe Show is one of the most organized festivals and Tourists can enjoy the various attractions including the traditional Sing Sing groups which come from all over the country.

For more image of traditional Sing Sing at Morobe Show, please check the following Morobe Show society site. http://www.morobeshow.org.pg/gallery/gallery-dancing.htm

The show is held on Saturday, 31st October & Sunday, 1st November.

Effect of Global Warming in Papua New Guinea

2009-04-25T15:23:00.001+10:00

Carteret Atoll (Islands) have attracted much attentions from all over the world for their rising water level problem related to Global Warming.
In Nov 2005, news have spread the world that the Atoll will gradually become uninhabitable, with an estimate of their total submersion by 2015 and the islander will become the world's first refugees from the effects of global warming, although the No-Electricity/No-Gas/No-Vehicle islanders have not contributed to the World Carbon emission at all.
World TV News/Documentary crew flocked to the remote islands ever since.

Thanks to the media coverages, the name "Carteret Atoll" has become quite common among the environmentalists, NGOs and government officers in charge of environment in the world.

At the same time, it is also a fact that the majority of the Papua New Guineans have never heard of the islands or their problem, partly because of the isolated location of the Atoll, partly because the world media has not reached to most parts of the country, and of course, negligence by the succesive government.

So What is happening to the rest of the Papua New Guinea ?

Photo is one of the Motuan Villages in Central Province near Port Moresby.

Motuan used to live on the post house on the water but many have decided to live on the land due to many reasons, some obviously related to water level/high tide problem.

A house was built at the far end of the village but later most of the other houses were relocated to the land side and only one was left. Now with the fear of the high water level and isolation, the owner left the house.... villages are gradually moving towards the shore and further to inland.

Effect of Global Warming has not yet realized as a big threat in a daily life for most of Papua New Guineans but is steadily coming to the shore of Papua New Guinea.

Cuscus the shy Forest Animal of New Guinea

2009-04-16T16:05:00.006+10:00

Papua New Guinea has slightly fewer species of Mammals than Australia, which is more than 10 times in land mass.
Among all, I believe Cuscus is one of the cutest ones, but for local people, it is one of the tastiest meat...
Cuscus is marsupials family (family related to Kangaroo & Koalas), slow moving animal which lives high in the jungle of New Guinea.
It is a shy nocturnal (moving in the night) animal so difficult to spot in the nature, but there is a chance if you walk the trek or stay in the village.

Sad News

2009-04-09T15:23:00.002+10:00

We have received very sad news that Maggie Wilson has passed away.
She was a prominent business woman in a male-dominated Highlands society of Papua New Guinea, particularly known as an owner of Haus Poroman Lodge.
Born as a daughter of Gold miner from Australia, she was a living-history of "First-Contact Era" of New Guinea Highlands, business woman, politician & owner of arguably one of the Best Lodges in the country.
Personally, I have stayed about 3 weeks and learnt Tok Pidgin at Haus Poroman when I first came to Papua New Guinea in 1995. Even now, many people tell me that my Tok Pidgin is Kange (Mt Hagen) style, mainly owe to the people of Kunguma village. After 14 years, I vividly remember the friendly smile of Maggie, family & staff who made me at home.
Apart from language, I have also learnt a lot from Maggie and staffs of Haus Poroman (name itself means "house of friends"), how best we can treat international visitor with a true Melanesian hospitality in a professional manner.

Maggie, please be assured that your initiative has been inherited to many people and passed onto next generation.

Haus Poroman Lodge has been closed since 2007 but hope one day re-opened, so that we can visit our “home away home.”
May her soul rest in peace...

Note : As an alternative, "Hotel Poroman" in Mt Hagen town is run by her family member.

Palm Sunday PNG Style

2009-04-05T13:23:00.002+10:00

This is Palm Sunday and we have seen many people walking on a street of Port Moresby with Palm Leaves. In Papua New Guinea, 95% of population is Christian in different denominations.
Our boy was dressed and face-painted with Sepik-style and photographed in front of the Palm Tree, Palm Sunday PNG Style !!

Eco Tourism in Papua New Guinea

2009-03-31T18:25:00.002+10:00

The word "Eco Tourism" is often used as commercial advertisement, political propaganda, community meeting agenda, etc... Yet many people don't really understand what it really is.
If you ask "what is Eco-Tourism ?" in Papua New Guinea, some people may say "it is a 5-star hotel !", while some say "no, it is guest house." , or "we hear the word every 5 years (at the election campaign) but never seen the real ones..............

If definition of Eco Tourism is something like this - a small scale sustainable tourism which enhances the conservation of natural environment, preservation of indigenous culture, beneficial to the local community and educational to the visitors, what Papua New Guinea offers at this moment is all Eco Tourism as it is.

There is no well-established Museum or Zoo in Papua New Guinea, but if you would like to visit a living culture, un-spoilt natural environment, we have them all here, existing well before the word "Eco-Tourism" was created.

In Helsinki

2009-03-26T10:16:00.002+10:00

We had 1 day PNG Tourism Seminar in Helsinki, Finland last week.

More than 30 eager people came from travel industry & media.

Look at the serious faces on the photo ! oh no, they are not "drunk", bit of "cool water" after a heated discussion !!

"Kiitos paljon" , ladies and now I know that Finnish are not always quiet !

Back Home

2009-03-21T13:18:00.003+10:00

Finally back home from Europe yesterday.

After 2 weeks of clod weather, warm & humid weather of PNG welcomed us.

I always like the moment we land and smell the green leaves, and feel the warm air, and kids smiling for nothing.

Meri PNG in Germany ?

2009-03-14T12:13:00.003+10:00

At ITB Booth, 3 x German ladies changed into PNG woman dress - Meri Brouse.

Very nice, and why PNG ladies can not dress like that ??

Thanks Meike, Katrin & Judith for your help at ITB !!

Future Director

2009-03-13T13:36:00.002+10:00

Bert visited us at ITB Berlin show.

He was accompanied by his son Gunnar.

At grade 6, he is already taller than Emily !!

He must have learn a lot in a day at ITB show, and maybe one day succeed his father and become director of the tour operator...