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.