Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Perhaps this empty dugout outrigger canoe is a metaphor for the history of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.  Rabaul used to be the capitol of East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea until the town was destroyed yet again by a volcanic eruption in 1994.  It had been destroyed several times before, and they moved the capitol after the 1994 eruption.

Rabaul's location was a blessing and a curse.  It was located on the edge of a giant caldera at sea level that is partly filled with water.  It provides a spectacular harbor, which i why it became the capitol, but the volcano is active and has destroyed the town several times, burying it in ash.  The 1937 eruption killed more than 500 people.

Maybe this flower is a better metaphor for the Rabaul than the empty canoe.  Beauty emerges from the hot ash.  The history of Rabaul also includes it serving as the regional capitol for the Japanese occupation of Papua New Guinea during World War II, just a few years after the 1937 eruption.

This is a view of Tavururvur volcano.  It has been smoking and emitting ash frequently since its 1994 eruption.  We took a boat across the bay to walk on its slopes.  Our guide told us that not long before he had to run back to the boat and flee because the volcano was erupting rocks flying over their heads.

The volcano was smoking most of the time we were there.  We flew into Rabaul to meet a small cruise ship, as there is an airport across the bay.  Later our ship sailed past an erupting volcano at night.

Sepik RIver Villagers, Papua New Guinea

The villagers of Sepik River tribes wear colorful costumes made of shells, leaves, and boar tusks.

The long houses on stilts allow for occasional flooding of the river basin.  Leaving wetlands to accommodate river flooding is a much better form of flood control than building levees, which channel the water downstream at greater heights.  Also, the silt deposited during high water enriches the farmland.   The Sepik is 710 miles (1,126 km) long,  That must make it the longest river on an island.

The bird seemed quite content to stand on this villager's head, and vice versa.

The villagers do not get dressed up in full costumes every day, so I think our visit was a bit of a special occasion for them as well.

This boy looks like he is taking his tribal duties very seriously.

Sepik River Village, Papua New Guinea

The Sepik River is the longest river in Papua New Guinea.  The Sepik River tribes build long houses and spirit houses on stilts.  Only the men are allowed in the spirit houses, where ceremonies are performed.  These villagers watched our group as they welcomed our group to visit.

Upon arrival of our group, the villagers performed the dragon dance to welcome us.  Many of the villagers formed the dragon, with the elaborate mask and headdress, and others played drums and danced.  The etiquette upon arrival is to follow the dragon the length of the village before doing anything else.

This is one of the tribal members who accompanied the dragon dance. His mouth is red due to chewing betel nuts, a mild stimulant that leaves a red stain.  It is popular, although it is classified as a carcinogen.

The Sepik River tribes are known for their masks, and the villagers spread out their masks and other crafts for our group to admire and purchase.  My husband and I bought the one on the right.  It now hangs in the media room of our house, which is decorated with tribal art from Africa, Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand.

My husband and I brought a suitcase full of gifts for villagers in Papua New Guinea.  My husband took this photo as I was presenting gifts to the village chief.  I demonstrated how to use the items, as we gave things like Etch-A-Sketches and similar items that children can use to draw without needing pencils and paper.

Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Our first destination in Papua New Guinea during our trip there a little over a year ago was Rabaul, the former capitol.  The capitol was relocated to Port Moresby, as Rabaul was destroyed by volcanic eruptions in 1937 and again in 1994.  You can see blowing volcanic ash in this photo.

The friendly spirit of children throughout the world inspires me on our travels.  Europeans gave the name of New Guinea because they thought the Polynesian people of the area looked like people from Guinea in Africa.  They did this deliberately.  They were not mistaken like Columbus was when he named Native Americans Indians.

The Tavurvur volcano, shown in the to photo, has erupted periodically and has covered the surrounding area with ash.  Vegetation is returning, and a type of bird likes to lay their eggs in the warm ash because it incubates the eggs.  Villagers dig up the eggs, as they are apparently a delicacy, but they do not over-harvest them in order to maintain the population.

Rabaul has an excellent, sheltered harbor, as shown in the top photo, because it is located in a giant caldera that is half filled with the ocean.  The harbor caused the Japanese to make it their headquarters during World War II.  I liked the colors of some of the sea containers stacked by the town docks.  There was no loading or unloading of freight occurring.  The pace of life and commerce seemed slow for a port.

The volcano continues to smoke at its crater above Rabaul.  They relocated much of the town to a site 12 miles away after the 1994 eruption.  The volcanic eruptions covered the town in several feet of ash, which the rain causes to form a cement-like hardness, and the weight crushed the buildings.

Rabaul demonstrates that a caldera open to the sea makes a magnificent harbor, but a bad location for a city if the volcano is still active.

The People of Papua New Guinea

This man was dressed in his ceremonial clothes, headdress and jewelry as part of a ceremonial dance to welcome us to Tufi, a village on a fjord inCape Nelson in Southwestern Papua New Guinea.  He is wearing feathers from birds of paradise, highly colorful birds native exclusively to New Guinea.

I love to photograph children during our travels.  These children on Kitava, one of the Trobriand Islands in the Solomon Sea east of Papua NEw Guinea, were enjoying a tug of war match that included both indigenous people and people from our Orion Expedition Cruise.

As we left a village at Tufi, we were delighted with this spontaneous demonstration of the universality of children and the human spirit.  These children enjoyed playing in this inlet and chasing and waving goodbye to our small boat.

This is front of the villagers who led the dragon dance to welcome our tour group to Watan Village along the Sepik River.  The dance demonstrates that they are treating us a friends, not enemies.  Part of the culture is for all of the visitors to stay behind the dragon as it dances and parades through the length of the village and to wait before doing any shopping or interacting with the villagers until after the dragon dance was completed.

Tavurur Volcano next to Rabaul is still smoking, as it stopped erupting only 2 years ago.  It has devastated the city of Rabaul several times.  It might seem risky to locate a city next to an active volcano.  The giant caldera, with six volcanos around its rim, is at sea level and partially open to the sea so that it has formed a magnificent harbor.  The Japanese took advantage of the harbor to make this their regional headquarters even though a major eruption had buried much of the town in ash in 1937.

People and Sights of Papua New Guinea

When we arrived at a village along the Sepik River, the largest in Papua New Guinea, the villagers welcomed us with a dragon dance.  We had to stay behind the dragon dancers until they were done with the dance and we were deemed welcome to stay, walk around the village and shop. for crafts.

Some of the villagers were as curious about us as we were about them.

This is one of the men who earn a living by digging up the eggs of the magapode bird from the ashes on the slope of Tavuvur volcano.  The birds do not incubate their eggs, but dig holes and lay tem in the warm ash of the volcano.  This makes digging up the eggs hot, dusty work, as this man shows.,

This is a view of Tavuvur volcano from Simpson Bay, which is the locaiton of the town of Rabaul.  It was a windy day, and you can see the volcano dust blowing in this photo. Simpson Bay was formed by a giant caldera at sea level.  There are 6 other volcanos around the bay.  The natural harbor has caused the town of Rabaul to exist in this location, despite the fact that it has been destroyed several times by the volcano.

The snorkeling in Papua New Guinea is excellent, as this photo shows.

Photos: Papua New Guinea Volcanos and More

We returned from a trip to Papua Nw Guinea about a week ago.  One of the highlights was sailing past the erupting Manam Volcano, near Madang, Papua New Guinea.  It started erupting just 2 weeks before our visit.  In this photo you can see the spouting lava erupting at the crest of the volcano, and the lava flow down the mountain.

When we arrived at a village near the mouth of the Sepik River, the natives greeted us with a traditional Dragon Dance.  The people of Papua New Guinea were the friendliest we have encountered anywhere.  They were pleased to pose for photos, did not expect anything in return, smiled, and spoke English.

This is the smoldering ash spouting from the Tavurvur Volcano located next to Rabaul in New Britain, Papua New Guinea.  It has destroyed the town of Rabaul several times, including a catastrophic eruption in 1937.  It also erupted from 1994 until just two years ago.  The ash is a major problem, as it hardens like cement when it rains.  Several feet of ash covered the town and crushed the roofs of most buildings.  Rabaul is one of the major towns of Papua New Guinea because the large caldera at sea level makes an excellent harbor, but the surrounding volcanos threaten the towns.

We hiked on the ash covered slopes of Tavurvur volcano.  It is amazing that in the two years since it stopped erupting vegetation has already started to return, as reflected by these vines and flowers growing in the ash.

This is another view of the erupting Manam Volcano.  It was tricky to get these photos because we were on a moving ship, and obviously I had to have a slow shutter sped to take photos at night.  The red glow in this photo is the illumination of the cloud of ash reflecting the lava flowing down from the crater.

We went snorkeling 3 times in Papua New Guina during our cruise on the Orion Expedition ship.  We saw amazing marine life, including this and many other blue starfish.