Under The Spell of Papua New Guinea

After just 3 nights here in PNG I am convinced that the bounty of cultural and natural diversity would take a life time to discover. I knew that would be the case when I read facts such as, PNG has 25% of the world’s know languages. There is 700 species of birds and a whopping 37 different varieties of the Bird of Paradise and the world’s largest and smallest butterfly.
The real beauty is in the faces of the people here and not just the face painted variety, the villagers waving at our van as we pass is astounding. The servers at our lodges want us here and show it. Mix in some fantastic diving and treking and I feel a bit like I entered a place not of this earth.

My very first day was spent looking through a mask at colors I will never be able to name, much less the kinds of fish displaying the hues. Afternoon PNG kept giving as I sat in a small river that was heated the temp of a hot tub, the jungle sounds filled the air.

Today I will fly by small charter prop into the highlands far away from anything of my normal world. It will include stops in villages living by rules that have nothing to do with every day life in the modern world. Tribal conflicts still happen out there and the concepts we live by will fall away. The most important thing PNG has done for me so far is to feel like such a lucky man. The magic spell I am in will last a very long time.