One week in Papua New Guinea

December 16, 2023

Papua New Guinea is a small island nation to the east of Indonesia, and north of Australia. The indigenous people of PNG trace themselves to 50,000 years ago, during the migration of humans out of Africa.

PNG has 850 different languages spread across as many tribes in a population less than 10 million (as many people as my city of Hyderabad).

Poverty is very high, and it has one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Just like my local city of Hyderabad, street vendors can be seen in the middle of traffic at junctions, trying to sell their wares to make a living.

Except for the locals, the expatriates are even scared to roll down their windows to ask the price.

The rich are in cars on roads, while the poor are on the dividers separating lanes, gathering the scraps of the rich, rather like seagulls surrounding ships.

Streets are mostly deserted in Port Moresby, the capital of Papa New Guinea. The population density even in the capital is barely 1,500/sq. km compared to Hyderabad (India), about 18,500/sq.km

This is the entrance to the National Museum of PNG:

The gods seem to be holding their member for some divine reason, perhaps to show their power!

Inside the museum, undated artefects that could be 50,000 years old to 100 years old!

Iron Pestles shaped in the form of birds

A scary doll, reminiscent of voodoo dolls

These are finial carvings of two sisters probably protected by birds, part of some divine myth.

Face Masks are a major part of the ritual ceremonies of each tribe, and masks are handed down through generations. They were used by priestly people to cure diseases, ward off evil spirits, go to war, celebrate a wedding, and carried a lot of power.

Each Headdress called a Bilas took several Birds of Paradise or Pasquet's Parrot to prepare. This one is a Cassowary Headdress made from flightless birds' feathers. Several birds are on the verge of extinction due to indiscriminate hunting for rituals, and the government is trying to give people plastic feathers to make headdresses that last longer, in an effort to conserve birds!

This poster details the effort to conserve endangered birds by giving people artificial feathers to make headdresses.

These are complicated fish traps, each meant for specific species of fish based on their sizes and habits of swimming and being attracted to bait. I have never seen such complex fish traps adapted to particular species.

A map of the migration of humanity out of Africa and across the world as mapped out by the Human Genome Project.

These are the kind of boats that humanity most probably used during their transoceanic migration out of Africa to populate the world including Papua New Guinea 100-50,000 years ago.

Australian Vickers .303 Heavy Machine Gun. PNG was captured by the Japanese during WWII, and fought back with the help of Australians. It was part of Australia till 1975 when it finally gained independence.

Japanese Type 92 'Juki' Machine Gun

Port Moresby Nature Park that includes a mini - Zoo with a few aviaries, some species of snakes and a few assorted animals (kangaroos, lizards and frogs).

Pesquet Parrot. Several birds are on the verge of extinction, and the government is trying to give people plastic feathers to make headdresses (called Bilas) that last longer, in an effort to conserve birds!

Walking through Port Moresby's Nature Park.

Kingfisher

Papuan Lorikeet

Sulphur Crested Cuckatoo

Papuan Olive Python

Scrub Python

Southern White Lipped Python

Green Tree Python

White Lipped Tree Frog

Holiday Inn Express - This is the separate security gate for walking out or inn, while there is another separate one for vehicles. This is because of the high crime rate, especially against ex-pats who are dollar money bags.

Scenes from a market near Holiday Inn, Port Moresby