Monday, April 21, 2008

Umbrellas


Travellers to Papua New Guinea are reminded to pack a collapsible umbrella. It will be appreciated as shade from the hot sun in the Sepik and Karawari areas and from the intense rays in the Southern and Western Highlands. And of course, it will protect from the regular afternoon rains in the highlands and the occasional tropical storms in the lowlands. Sun, rain and sometimes even wind, the collapsible umbrella is handy.

My collapsible umbrella is beige. I chose it because most travellers' umbrellas are black and I don't want my umbrella to get mixed up with all the other black umbrellas leaning inside the lodge door at dinner time.

Black is the standard colour of travellers' collapsible umbrellas. Papua New Guineans' umbrellas are brilliantly multi-hued and they don't collapse. They are big and bright and strong and they decorate the lush landscape as perfectly as the flowers that embellish a Sing Sing dancer's head dress. They are much more photogenic than basic black or bland beige.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Baggage Weight - a PNG Practical Matter

A highlight of many trips to Papua New Guinea is flying in a small aircraft over green covered mountains, rocky outcroppings and meandering rivers. There are few roads in Papua New Guinea.

On most flights between the remote lodges, each passenger is allowed one duffel-type bag weighing up to 22 pounds or 10 kilograms plus one small camera bag type carry-on weighing up to 11 pounds or 5 kilograms. With a little planning and paring down this baggage weight allocation is more than adequate for most travellers.

Travellers who do not pack within the guidelines may find themselves in the embarrassing situation of needing to unpack and scale back at the side of a grassy airstrip as a pilot waits to start the plane's engine.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Leap Day


New Year's Day 2008 has passed. The arrival of the Chinese Year of the Rat has passed.

Having missed those two significant days for new beginnings, I've settled on "Leap Day" as the day to renew my commitment to this blog.

Since the last entry, I've been to Papua New Guinea with thirteen other travelers. Our itinerary was PNG Travel's 2007 Mount Hagen Cultural Show Tour. I was the escort. It was a memorable trip on many levels and is sure to be an inspiration for future blog entries.

For now, I'm struggling to find a way to thematically link Leap Day with a blog entitled "Explore Papua New Guinea".

Here's to the seductive bounces of the displaying male Birds of Paradise.

Here's to the athletic jumps of the Sing Sing dancers.

And here's to the great leap taken by travelers to Papua New Guinea as they push off from a place of Cuisinart mixing and touch screen messaging to land in a place where sago is pounded for meals and garamuts are drummed for news.

copyright (c) 2007 - 2011 Mary Jane Murray