It is done to honor and resemble the crocodile’s back.Īs fate or perhaps our guide’s influence would have it, we encountered a singsing in a village up a small tributary of the river. The youths are then sat near a smoky fire to infect the cuts that soon turn into hard knobby bumps.
Apparently cuts are made then covered with white clay. Also evident was the ritual scarring on the backs of males. While some western clothing was worn, naked and natural was the norm.
TRIBAL BODY PAINT PNG SKIN
Ritual scarring is intended to resemble the skin of a crocodile. Several families shared the stilted house and the only signs of Western Civilization were metal pots and utensils. It became apparent over the course of my visit that women do much of the work.Īfter our interaction, we were invited to their village and into a longhouse. Net fishing in Papua New GuineaĪs we headed further up the river we passed numerous stilt villages and locals gathering the things needed to survive.Ī primary food staple in the area is fish, and we happened upon a group of women in their small dugouts doing just that, fishing, plumed and feathered and using various methods such as nets and poles.Įach boat had a small fire going to ward off mosquitoes and in some cases to cure the catch. That certainly was the case in every village entered. While you may not be the first outsider, it is obvious that you are a curiosity to the villagers as much as they are to you. Warm smiles prevailed as we went to watch the preparation of the sago palms in making a flour-like staple used throughout the area, not an easy job. Soon the painted face of a grass skirted elder approved our entry. Soon we approached our first village, Amboin, greeted by cheering naked children and bare-breasted women approaching after. A guide is certainly needed in this part of the world. Literally a village a few miles down the river would have its own language and customs. In PNG there are more than 800 different languages spoken and numerous clans and villages all with their own. The croc carvings were perhaps the one thing that the villages we visited had in common. Indeed, our guide informed us, salt-water crocs were local residents. The bow of the dugout was carved into the face of a crocodile. Out of the mist a dugout silently approached, standing in it was a man bare-chested below him sat two children. The fog lifted slowly on our first early morning departure via a steel pontoon type boat. I wrapped the netting and listened to the latest jungle combo playing.
TRIBAL BODY PAINT PNG GENERATOR
During normal hours the generators push the lights and power.Īfter the generator is shut down, lights are provided by limited fluorescent spots. The cottages on the property are built of local materials and have two twins beds each with necessary mosquito netting. The first building we came upon was the Spirit House “haus tambaran.” Every village has one to hold the treasures and skulls, a place where male village residents meet to decide events.Īt the Karawari, the main lodge is filled with artwork, a small bar and a place to meet and eat. Everything is flown in there are no roads to the lodge. Both the boat and Range Rover were helicoptered in. Karawari Lodge is 300 feet above the river and an ancient Rover does the lifting of guests and gear uphill. Soon our gear was stacked in a small boat and we pushed off into the muddy waters, villagers waving as we chugged upriver. As we touched down locals approached from the bush. After passing some steep peaks the panorama below turned to deep shades of green sliced with brown rivers.Īn hour and a half later we approached a dirt landing strip. Hagen we boarded the little prop for our trip to Karawari the only other way was a many day trips by boat up the Sepik River. High Above the Papua New Guinea JungleĪt Mt. Out of all my explorations in Papua New Guinea, this visit to the tribes and clans of the region was the most powerful, a National Geo trip of my own. On the Karawari part of the river, life is unchanged for centuries, except for the Karawari Lodge. The Sepik River Basin in PNG is a visit to a world far away, hard to do these days, authentic and true, things unfound elsewhere. You are just starting out.” That certainly was a promising beginning. The prow of a crocodile boatĪs I sipped a cup of coffee I watched the fog follow the ribbon of the river and the staff busily prepared breakfast for our small group, the Finnish gent sipping a cup of Joe turned to me and said, “I envy you.
The thick air stirred a bit under my netting, the sounds of jungle echoing through the grounds of the Karawari Lodge on the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. The Sepik River Basin, Papua New Guinea Jungle, A World Away Villagers in Papua New Guinea return from a hunt.