DeCEMBER 1-14, 2013 BARBADOS, Southern Caribbean

FRIDAY N0VEMBER 29, 2013 BARBADOS HERE WE COME!

The day started around 4am at the Vancouver Airport Fairmont when I couldn't sleep! So I was up and ready in lots of time to check in for our 8:55am flight to Miami with American Airlines via Dallas, the first flight was 4+ hours and the flight from Dallas to Miami just over 2 hours. The service with American Airlines was excellent - thanks to using points and sitting in Business Class!

We left Vancouver under grey skies, arrived in Dallas to sunshine and of course it was after 7pm and warm when we arrived in Miami. We stayed overnight at the Hotel Mia - right inside the airport at the entrance to Concourse E where we would depart on Saturday morning for the short flight to Barbados.

Terry started his holiday off by arriving in Miami without his luggage. But not to worry - it eventually arrived at midnight.

BARBADOS

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2013 - ARRIVING PAYNES BAY, WEST COAST - BARBADOS

We started with breakfast in the 7th floor Top of the Deck Restaurant in the Hotel Mia before heading down to the lobby to check out and head over to checkin with American Airlines - much less painful and hassle than December 2012 when everything seemed to go wrong with all the checkin machines! It still was unbelievably busy and we were all very glad to finally be through security and in the departure gates where we took the skytrain to our departure gate. We purchased 1 bottle of duty free gin (a huge mistake we should definitely have purchased more!) and were soon aboard and enjoying a cold drink before taking off somewhat late due to not all the baggage being loaded.

The flight was smooth and we were soon looking down at the multi coloured blues of the Caribbean Sea and Barbados - quite a large island and lots of homes, mostly around the Coastlines, but also through the centre where there are hundreds of acres of sugar cane - the original mainstay of the island and the reason that the British brought all the slaves to Barbados - to work in the sugar cane fields.

We arrived at the Barbados Grantley Adams airport on Saturday afternoon around 230pm and all the luggage arrived - what a good start!  There is a small Duty Free store in the baggage claim area where including rum and Ruby Red vodka available!  Straight through customs and immigration outside into the warmth where we picked up our rental van from STOUT's car rental and were soon off to the West Coast via the 10 or so roundabouts (traffic islands) on the Tom Adams Highway.  Today was a major celebration in Barbados for 47 years of Independence with their national blue yellow black bunting and flags everywhere.  Barbados has had a Parliament since 1639, the oldest in the British Commonwealth and Nelson's Statue in downtown Barbados is 30 years older than Nelson's statue in Trafalgar Square London!

We had good directions from the Bora Bora and were soon at the rental villa right on the Payne's Bay Beach - well actually we missed it by one turning and then had to get turned around with Antoinette (housekeeper) and Bruno (general handyman and gardener) running into the road to ensure we turned into the right driveway!  

BORA BORA BEACH DECK - LOWER UNIT

PAYNES BAY BARBADOS FROM THE TOP UNIT BORA BORA

The Bora Bora is perfect and I mean perfect!  Two bedrooms upstairs and 2 bedrooms downstairs (both rented individually) - we will start upstairs and change to downstairs.  Both have advantages - an amazing deck on top and a wonderful beach level deck and walkout downstairs.  We were installed and bags unloaded in time for G&T's on the deck watching a fabulous sunset - it just doesn't get better than this!

Bruce told us that for dinner we should go to the Grill on the Coast Hwy - a 2 minute walk away!  The chef there (who used to be a chef at the Sandy Lane exclusive resort just up the road) cooks meat and fish on several large grills.  Between us we ordered marlin & tuna with cole slaw (about $15 US$ for a huge portion) - also available were large skewered prawns and mac cheese pie- a local favourite here.

PAYNE'S BAY ROADSIDE GRILL, BARBADOS

SUNDAY DECEMBER 1, 2013 - ISLAND TIME ON THE BEACH with a STEEL BAND FOR LUNCH

SUNSET AT THE BORA BORA ,BARBADOS

BORA BORA TOP UNIT

We slept reasonably well but woke up a little late - Barbados is 4 hours ahead of our time clocks from the Pacific Coast. We soon were sitting on our upstairs deck sipping our coffee and enjoying the incredible views over the white sandy beach of Payne's bay and the calm turquoise waters.

We went for our first swim in the aquamarine waters - heaven!  In front of our villa is a reef where lots of turtles hang out so several times during the day there are catamarans arriving for a short time to take folks snorkelling with the turtles - so lots of activities  to watch although it's very quiet in the early mornings and late afternoons.  We took a long walk down the beach to check out the neighbourhood.

Around noon we headed out to The St Lawrence Gap to enjoy the steel band who play every Sunday at the Southern Palms - it's fun to watch so many older folks enjoying the Sunday tradition.  Barbados has a huge number of UK visitors and several of them were up and dancing to the music, ballroom style, and while we watched we enjoyed an appie plate of beef sliders, samosas, fish cakes, and green salad along with a Bank's beer - the Barbados favourite.

After a quick shop in the local interior decorating store (fabulous things tropical) we drove back to Payne's Bay stopping to pick up our Roti for dinner which we ate a short time later on our deck with an ice cold G&T in hand!  We had planned to

go to the live band sunset happy hour up the coast road at Mullin's Bay Beach but the clouds moved in and we had a rain storm with lightning off in the clouds over the Caribbean Sea.  We managed to stay awake until nearly 10pm before crashing (time zone is 4 hours ahead of Pacific Coast BC).

MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2013- PAYNE BAY FISH MARKET

It's now 9am on Monday morning so our work day here is already underway (HA HA HA).  There must be a cruise ship coming in today because the Blue Parrot Restaurant & Bar to the one side of us is putting out sun cots and umbrellas for rent, and the same on the other side of us although we haven't found out the name of that bar yet, although our handyman Bruce did tell us they sell a mean rum punch!

We are definitely getting our clocks on to"island time" enjoying a slow start to every morning with coffee on the deck and enjoying watching the Caribbean Sea in all its' expanse in front of us!
PAYNE'S BAY FISH MARKET, BARBADOS

This morning we walked along the beach to the Payne Bay Fish Market and decided to buy fresh marlin for dinner. Young (that is her name and on her Apron front is written "Forever Young") expertly cut us a large piece of marlin, sliced into 4 fillets and deboned them - total $24BDs ($12 USD). We walked back along the beach and in our villa our housekeeper Antoinette told us the best way to prepare them - first put them in a bowl covered in water - thenadd salt and squeeze fresh lemon juice on them. Let them soak for 10 minutes then rinse in clear water and leave in the bowl in the fridge. Tonight we will grill the fish on charcoal and mahogany wood which Bruce the gardener has for us.

LOVELY  - FILLETING OUR MARLIN  

Next was a trip to the Super Centre supermarket in the West Gate Mall just up the Coast Rd for our major shopping for the week - bread, butter, New Zealand and English cheddar cheese, tonic & soda water, diet coke, lettuce, cucumber, bananas - the main staples along with brickettes for the BBQ! and the best mango marmalade! Oh and of course red and white wine! There is lots of very expensive wine available but by looking hard you can get a decent wine for around $10 - $12 USD a bottle. The rum is really cheap (Barbados Mt Gay for $9 USD) but everything else is very expensive Bombay Sapphire gin for example is $62USD for a 750ml bottle.

We unloaded all the shopping into our kitchen which is full sized with everything you could ever need including a full size fridge, 6 burner natural gas stove, microwave, toaster, blender etc. Then it was back to the hard work of enjoying the beach! The sun is very hot so lots of sun block and enjoying every moment in the water!
After a glorious sunset, Doug cooked the marlin on the BBQ and mahogany fire and we smothered the marlin in local Bajan seasoning spices that we had purchased - it was an excellent dinner under the stars of grilled marlin and green salad with copious amounts of wine, listening to the waves gently washing on to the beach - our own private beach since we didn't see another soul on the beach all evening!

TUESDAY DECEMBER 3, 2013 - TURTLES? CARLISLE BAY & THE BOATYARD
Of course we started with coffee (and cookies for some) on the beach deck - we will never tire of these views every morning - the Caribbean Sea changing progressively to a myriad colours of blue, aqua and turquoise as the sun rises! Our beach is facing West so the sun rises behind us and for an hour or so it is pleasantly cool on our beach deck, quickly becoming very hot as the sun glides over the deck.

The morning was spent sitting on the beach deck and snorkelling out to see the turtles a couple of hundred yards offshore. We waited until the catamarans with their snorkellers and swimmers had left the area but that was probably a mistake, we should go earlier with better chances of seeing the turtles we think. The water was a little cloudier with more floating sand particles than we expected, and very few corals around - mostly sandy rocks and just a few small fish - box fish, and flying fish. We know there are quite a few fish around since we periodically see schools of them jumping out of the water - obviously being chased by something bigger! Each morning we have two fishermen walk along the beach at the water's edge with a large white fishing net over his shoulder which he periodically throws into the water to try to catch these small fish - not sure whether he intends to use them for a whole fish fry or for bait. We didn't see any turtles
this morning but over a few days we have seen their heads popping up for air as they swim around and feed so we know they are in the area.

PAYNE'S BAY ROTI DEN

We wandered down the beach later and then back along the Coast Rd which allowed us to stop in at the ROTI SHACK and try the lamb and potato roti (which Terry said was excellent) and the all chicken roti, which I know was excellent, washed down with a local Barbados Banks beer! ($14 BDS each $7USD for the roti). We also called in to a couple of small local stores along the highway with a few items for sale, one of which was due to open on December 14. The young man who owned the store (along with his assistant and guard) was very welcoming and told us that his father had brought the idea of opening shops in the chattel houses to Barbados and the chattel house that he was opening his store in was over 100 years old. His father was in the haute couture business and now he was doing the same.

TERRY ENJOYING LAMB & POTATO ROTI

Back at the Bora Bora it was a lazy evening on the beach deck - this is so enjoyable, we can never get enough! It can be very hard to drag yourself away at any time!


WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 4, 2013 - ST NICHOLAS ABBEY, CHERRY TREE HILL

Today we had decided to tour a little of Barbados, starting by heading North through
Holetown, Speightstown past the concrete plant and over to Archers' Bay to the Mt Gay Rum Factory. Then back over Cherry Tree Hill to St Nicholas Abbey before heading back to Bridgetown about 5 hours later. It was a great tour - stopping first to take a look inside The Fish Pot Restaurant in Speightstown - a beautiful restaurant all along the water with fabulous views - open for breakfast lunch and dinner - we made plans to return and sample their menu another day! As we headed around the top of the island - we followed the map very carefully but as we wandered along narrow coral roads it was almost impossible to not get lost! We walked out to the point at Archers Bay and were enthralled with the rocky coastline on the North West of the Island with the massive swells washing in from the Atlantic - smashing into the cliffs and rocks - the cliffs went straight down and there would be no way out if you fell over!

A little further along was the Animal Flower caves - famous for their stalactites and stalagmites in the caves and the tide pools - an area frequented by many tourists and with a couple of small stalls and a bar on top of the cliff with lots of seats under the casuarina trees for folks to sit in the shade and enjoy the views - and a famous Barbados Banks beer as well!

Afterwards we headed for the Mt Gay Rum factory which we found without too much trouble, but it was very quiet there and they apparently no longer do rum tours here, they are all done closer to Bridgetown. No problem, we were soon climbing to about the highest spot on the island up Cherry Tree Hill looking over the Scotland District - a beautiful view of the valley and the East Coast. Our next stop (without too many wrong turns on the very small and winding roads) was the St Nicholas Abbey - this is a beautiful old plantation surrounded by huge trees and vegetation - so cool and enjoyable. The entry fee was $18BDS each but we just wanted to go into the gift store and cafe under the trees, so the guard let us park the car and wander around outside of the house. I was so surprised when Simon (the son of the family) appeared around the corner and of course I recognised him - so after cheek kissing we were soon in the store tasting the excellent sipping rum 10 years old and buying both 10 and 15 year old rum along with several other lovely gift items.
We shared Bajan fish balls for lunch under the massive silk cotton trees with a glass of rum punch to wash them down - all the while enjoying the cooling breezes rustling through the foliage. It was so pleasant it took us quite awhile to get going again, but we did and the trip back to the Bora Bora was easy. 

By the way - as you get turned around in rural Barbados - the huge buses are always racing past. The Bus stops sat "into town" or OUT OF TOWN" so you can always tell whether you are generally heading away from, or into, Bridgetown!

Back at the Bora Bora it was time for a cool swim in the Caribbean Seas - we had earned it and soon we were relaxing with a cold libation and enjoying the fabulous sunset from our very own beach deck! Tonight Darcy and Doug wanted to make curry for dinner with the chicken Doug had BBQ's on the charcoal and mahogany brazier a couple of nights ago. It was excellent! The chicken had an amazing taste from the mahogany and by 7:30 we were eating salad and chicken under the stars washed down with red and white wine.

Again we were early to bed, it seems that we seldom are still outside after 9pm! But R&R is what vacations are all about - even if we manage to get just a page or two read when we make it into bed before we crash!

THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2013 LIQUID REPLENISHMENT

After coffee on the beach deck watching the day unfold, we started our day with a shopping trip to replenish our "liquids" at the Super Centre at the West Coast Mall about 1 1/2 miles further North on the H1B Coast highway. Inside the mall we took the opportunity to check out a few of the stores but very high prices, lots of garments over $400BDS. Although at one of the stalls I found fabulous evening bags or clutch purses for $360 BDS (about $180 USD). All prices here include 17.5% VAT.

Our grocery cart was full of liquids - soda water, diet coke, white and red wine and a few healthy greens for our salads, along with English and New Zealand cheddar cheeses - both of which are excellent here and one of the only things that are reasonably priced! We gave up buying TRISCUIT crackers when we realised they were $20BDS or $10 USD per box! The large bags of potato chips are at least $8 USD so it's good that they are too expensive to buy better for our waistlines!

Back at Bora Bora Terry and I headed into Bridgetown for a couple of hours - wandering the downtown and enjoying the hustle and bustle of all the locals shopping for Christmas and visiting with each other. Parking can be pretty tough but there is Public Parking close to town for abut $1 BDS per hour. It was hot and sticky but fun - I managed to restrain myself form buying more fabric (to add to the 1,00 + yards I must have at home)! For the first time we tried out the Chefette - the Barbados Fast Food franchise seen everywhere all over the island - Terry had a chicken roti and really enjoyed it - very hot chicken in curry sauce tucked up in a wrap and nice and hot as well as spicy. The only purchase we took home was a bag of limes - just $2.25BDS for 5 of them - they should go down well in the Gin & Tonic one night!

At Bora Bora we changed into swimsuits and coverups and then we all headed back to Carlisle Bay on the far side of downtown Bridgetown - about 30 to 40 minutes depending on the traffic which can get quite busy on the main Coast roads in and out of the capital Bridgetown. There we searched unsuccessfully for the Carlisle Bay Rum and Fish Fry - so ended up at the beach for very enjoyable swimming from the beautiful beach and turquoise waters for an hour or so. Then we did a quick change on the beach into dry clothes so that we could enjoy the fabulous sunset at the Boatyard during Happy Hour for $6 BDS 2 for 1 rum and diet cokes! That means each drink costs $1.50 USD - dangerous! We sat on the beach and wriggled our toes in the powdery soft pink sands sipping on our cool drinks and enjoyed every second of the sunset - yellow, orange, red, deep red, pinks and purples - an ever changing kaleidoscope of colours reflected on the clouds above the several boats and catamarans anchored off the beach in Carlisle Bay.

Then Stephanie brought us our dinners - coconut chicken and fries (excellent) $24BDS,
Caesar salad $24 BDS (awesome Darcy said) with coconut shrimp (huge and tasty) $46 BDS - a wonderful evening before the 30 minute drive back to Bora Bora where we sat outside on the beach deck enjoying the quiet after everyone had left the beach and gone home to their vacation places or back to the cruise ship. Thomas, our night guard, joined us for a chat and a cup of coffee under the stars on our beach deck before we trundled off to bed - another great day over already!

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 FISH FRY AT MOON TOWN

UPPER DECK BORA BORA PAYNE'S BAY

SUNSET PAYNE'S BAY FROM BORA BORA

BORA BORA UPPER MASTER BEDROOM

BORA BORA UPPER KITCHEN

Another day in Paradise! This was a glorious day on the beach in Payne Bay - there were 4 cruise ships in Port so lots of day tourists on the beach, swimming out to the turtles, renting the seadoos and many catamarans sailing in off shore to see the turtles. The Jolly Roger Pirate ship also came in with lots of passengers having fun walking the gangplank, jumping off the sides and swinging out on the ropes hanging down from the masts.

There are sun cot wars every day out front on the beach, as to which suncot renter can get all their suncots out on the beach, especially at the front, so our own suncots were out early along the beach in front of the Bora Bora. We lazed in the cots, we floated on our air mattresses, we swam, we enjoyed sitting on our deck right on the beach and watching all the activities. We also took a walk heading North this time as far as Sandy Lane the expensive resort further up the road. It was a very "pink" beach full of pink sun cots, pink umbrellas, pink towels and a few pink tourists! The sun is very strong here and you have to be really careful with the sunscreen and apply regularly!
Late afternoon we headed over to the Chattel houses about a mile away. These are a group of small wooden buildings, all painted in different pastel colours, with front decks built like the original Barbados Chattel houses - but these are set up as exclusive stores with some beautiful clothes and souvenirs - many of the clothes being $400 to $600 Barbados BDS (divide by 2 for US$) the official exchange rate being 1.98.

We also checked out the beautiful JENNY BLANC interior design home decor store next to the Chattel Houses - oh my gosh - talk about fabulous things! Such beautiful items and so beautifully displayed - I could have bought lots of things but the prices! The napkin rings I loved were $75BDS each and were about the cheapest items she had. I especially loved the table lamps with clear glass bases full of tiny white shells, the mirror behind the lamps was about 3 feet wide by 4 feet high with the frame smothered in tiny white shells of all sorts - just $895 BDS. So I will not be shipping anything home from Jenny Blanc until I win the lottery!

The clouds were looking quite threatening and sure enough just after 4pm it started to shower but very lightly and quite briefly. Then we checked out the TIDES waterfront restaurant - beautiful - and made a reservation for Saturday at 6pm. Next to it we thought about a sunset cocktail at The Beach but they were setting up for dinner and the bar itself was set a little ways back so we passed on that and instead drove up to Mullins Beach Bar further North for sunset cocktails. Terry had "Sex with the Bartender" and I had "Mullins Beach" both quite fruity but a glorious location right on Mullins Beach - a lovely soft white sandy beach.

Our target for dinner was MOONTOWN (North Coast) where there is a Friday night fish fry, similar to the event at OISTINS (South Coast) every Friday but apparently more local and much smaller. Sure enough it was so small we drove through without realising that was it! We checked with a local lady just heading home eating her fish "I just came from there" she said eating her fish from her hands and licking her lips, "just park at the Church and you're right there!" We never did see the Church but we did find the Funeral Home and parked there!

We walked back and there was a bar with music playing and then a large Bajan walked across and asked us if we were looking for the fish fry, and then he took us across the street next to the beach where another Bajan gentleman was busy setting fire to lots of mahogany wood in 3 large braziers and getting ready to cook. We sat down and beautiful young Katrina came and took our orders ($35 BDS for full dinner) and between us we ordered marlin, tuna (the best), chicken and pork with macaroni pie, fries (excellent), string green beans and green salad. There was also a bar here so we enjoyed a libation while the fairly strong breezes kept us quite cool. A few other folks arrived during our meal but it was by no means busy. We do know that here in Barbados everything seems to start late at night, seldom before 9pm so I think we are just not in sync with the local action since almost every night we have been in bed by 9pm!


The drive back to the Bora Bora (maybe 6 or 7 miles) was quite hairy in the dark - the road is extremely narrow with no lights - the local buses are big and fast, and even two normal cars have to pass each other somewhat considerately! But we did arrive safely and enjoyed a glass of wine on the beach deck without another soul or any sounds whatsoever!


SATURDAY DECEMBER 7, 2013 THE IPAD GETS OVERHEATED!

Brighton Market and Crane Beach - Barbados
Another beautiful morning with a few clouds around and a large cruiseship on the horizon at 6am as we sit on the beach deck with our morning coffee in hand. It rained again overnight- a perfect time to keep the plants watered and everywhere looking fresh!

This morning we are heading off to the Brighton Farmers' Market in the centre of the island, St George Parish. Well we're back now! A great morning, leaving at 8am to get to the Brighton market around 8:30am - they sell all sorts of handicrafts, cards, jewellery and food: samosas, bacon and eggs, bread, quiche - you name it along with fresh fruits and vegetables. Several of the vendors were packing up to head to Lime Grove - the shopping centre right by where we stay where there is an annual Christmas Craft Fair. So after British sausage and egg on a bun with a mocha latte we headed further East to Sam Lords Castle which appears to have completely disappeared into ruins and overgrown with vegetation - too bad but his legend lives on... "on this little island lives a buccanneero, Sam Lord was his name...." So we drove back to The Crane beach hotel overlooking the beautiful Crane Beach where it is nearly always body surfing water but the colours are amazing: turquoise, azure, aquamarine, and every other blue you could imagine. The Crane shopping centre is almost deserted - this really is not where I would be wishing to stay - there are just too many beautiful beaches on the West and South of the island.

We then drove back across the island to the Lime Grove and spent a good couple of hours enjoying looking at everything for sale, but for me especially the custom hand made jewellery by Azizah & Ras Sipho Onifa empress_azizah@hotmail.com shop 11 Pelican Village Bridgetown St Michael Barbados (246) 424-0817 Cell (246) 267-1100.
One local artist Vary Vanita had beautiful colourful pieces - from large canvasses to prints on aprons, purses and mousepads. We also ran into Simon again with his St Nicholas Abbey goods for sale - he recognised me immediately and lots more kisses again - he is such a sweetie, and his wife Camilla was there helping him. He is very good with PR for St Nicholas Abbey in spite of his difficulties with speech due to the car accident he was in several years ago. We then relaxed in the shade (it's 29C today feels like 41C due to humidity) and enjoyed a wonderful latte at Relish Epicurea sitting outside in a breezeway $8BDS. Given that this is the mall with Burberry, Cartier, Michael Kors, Luis Vuitton, Breitling, Longchamps, Bulgari, - I was really impressed that the coffee was only $4 USD ($8BDS).

On the way back to Bora Bora we picked up a bottle of Barbados Mount Gay rum 750ml for $9USD - why did we bother to bring in Duty Free rum? Mind you, we will tell you that to buy anything that is not rum - like gin and vodka - the prices are very high - the Bombay Sapphire is $123 BDS (about $62 USD). So we were back at the Bora Bora around 130pm and ready for a cold drink and the beach. It was so hot today on our beach deck that we sat under the umbrella in the shade! For the first time ever I suddenly got this yellow triangle on my IPad with an exclamation mark in the middle saying Warning: the IPAD is too hot and needs to cool down before it can be used!!! Me too!!! I put it in the fridge for a few minutes to cool it down (did I really do that? Yes!!) and the yellow triangle disappeared just before I thought to take a photo of it! The beach was very quiet this afternoon - very few tourists around although we did see 1 large white cruise ship arriving on the horizon this morning.

Just before 6pm we all showered and changed into our fancy duds ready for a wonderful evening at The Tides just 1 1/2 miles up the Coast road. We all looked very smart! The Tides was set up so well, blue sparkling Christmas trees right at the waters edge of the restaurant, twinkling white lights everywhere and each table with crisp white linens and sparkling crystal glasses. All the wait staff in black and white, formal presentation but very friendly staff. It was an amazing dinner - we were there for almost 3 hours. An extensive wine list (we had Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc) and a varied menu. Terry and I shared a seafood tower - 2 crayfish, 2 Alaska King Crab legs, 6oz smoked salmon, 6 mussels 6 scallops and 6 large prawns - just an amazing dish - all in a large bowl sitting on ice cubes. Then for our main course (which we didn't need) it was roasted spicy scallops with mango and fruit salsa and rice , and I had Thai curried shrimp served in a coconut shell with rice on the side. An amazing dinner and evening! No, there wasn't any room for dessert!
Back on our beach deck we relaxed and chatted with Bruce the gardener for 30 minutes before heading off to bed.


SUNDAY DECEMBER 8, 2013 - BARBADOS MARATHON
Back on our beach deck by 6am with a coffee in hand, clear blue skies with a few

white clouds dotted around. The ocean has lots of energy this morning and a few rollers are breaking quite high on the beach - quite different than how quiet it has been for the last week. The moon is also starting to get fuller each night and Bruce was telling us last night how high the waves come up the beach in December each year with the full moon.

Bruce came strolling by at 7am and reminded us that we had missed the turn around point of the Barbados Marathon earlier that morning - a big event here each year. The turnaround is just down the Coast Highway and as expected, it was won by a Kenyan! Bruce was laughing saying that the Kenyan runs 900 miles practically without breaking a sweat and Barbados is only 166 square miles and a coastline of 97km so the Kenyan could barely get started!

It was an easy enjoyable morning, reading and relaxing on the beach deck- several folks wandering up and down the beach but only 1 catamaran this morning bringing tourists to swim with the turtles.

20130323 KITAVA, TROBRIAND ISLANDS, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Saturday March 23, 2013 KITAVA, the TROBRIAND ISLANDS - PAPUA NEW GUINEA

We continued our steady cruise overnight heading South to the Trobriand Islands which are an archipelago of coral atolls off the Eastern Coast of the large island of New Guinea (the other half of the island is INDONESIAN IRIAN JAYA). The Trobriands are situated in Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of KIRIWINA, which is where the Papua government station LOSUIA is located. Other major islands in the Trobriands are KAILEUNA, VAKUTA, and KITAVA and are considered to be an important tropical rainforest ecoregion in need of conservation.

KULA RING tradition.
In the Trobriands most people are subsistence horticulturalists who live in traditional settlements, within a social structure based on matrilinealclans (the women own the land) who control the land and resources. There is an important culture here called KULA - where the folks sail in their dugout outrigger canoes from one island to another to visit their trade partners. The KULA ring spans 18 island communities of the Massim archipelago including the Trobriand islands and involves thousands of individuals. Participants sometimes travel hundreds of miles in their canoes to exchange KULA valuables which include:
shell disc necklaces (BAGIS) that are traded to the North, circling the ring in a counter clockwise direction, and
shell armbands (MWALI) that are traded in the Southern direction, circling the ring in a clockwise direction.
If the opening gift was an armshell or MWALI, then the closing gift must be a necklace or BAGIS, and vice versa.
The terms of participation in the KULA ring varies from region to region, for example in the Trobriand Islands the exchange is by Chiefs only, whereas in DOBU all the men can participate. The KULA valuables are non-use items traded purely for the purpose of enhancing one's social status and prestige. The ceremonies and traditions that accompany the exchanges follow carefully prescribed customs and traditions which establish strong and life long relationships between the exchange parties, and results in exchange members being welcomed as family everywhere within the KULA ring.

In the late 20th century, anti-colonial and cultural autonomy movements gained followers from the Trobriand societies. When inter-group warfare was forbidden by colonial rulers,the islanders developed a unique and very aggressive form of cricket!

We had a weather forecast for light showers during the morning and a high of 28 degrees - it looked like another great day! Captain Vincent Taillard had made great time overnight with the calm seas and so we arrived early which is what the Expedition Team was hoping for - we looked across to the beach on KIATAVA island, and we could see a large area set up with palm fronds all around denoting the performance area for the cultural dances. Again, we all needed to arrive together for the welcome, so after breakfast we were soon boarded onto the first zodiac and heading to KITAVA. Being first we managed to get photos before anyone arrived from the ORION and we could see that this was going to be very special event - there were already well over 100 villagers with lots of kids sitting around the dance area, all veery excited with a real hum from everyone talking together. There are 5 villages on KITAVA and they all come to this event for ORION. Interestingly, and in some ways a real shame, oter ships are planning to visit this village and a couple of smaller ships have already visited. Due to Justn's relationship within the village (he is an adopted brother of Abraham) the performance is done right on the beautiful white sandy beach on the shoreline. A couple of other ships have visited and they have to walk up to the village (a good 30 to 45 minutes) they are not allowed to have the performance on the beach, only ORION can have the performance on the beach.

We were welcomed by 6 beautiful young girls, all dressed in colourful shells, flowers and feathers - and they placed a flower and leaf lei over our heads as we walked through the ceremonial palm fronds into the dance area - were we were not allowed to cross the central area where the dances would be performed but we had to walk around the outside and could then sit on the narrow wooden benches, or the woven straw mats, on the sandy floor. As the zodiacs unloaded the Orion passengers who entered the arena, more and more villagers arrived and the noise level increased - the villagers love these events and are as enthralled with them as we are!

One point to note is that when we entered the dance area, over top of the palm fronds was a beautifully painted white and red yam house replica - each home has a yam house where the villagers store their yams. The Chief of the village died ? and was an Aussie called King Cameron who arrived during WWI and never left because he loved the island so much, and became a member of the Coastwatchers for Australia. Later in the morning when we walked up the track to the village, we stopped at the gravestone for King Cameron and on it is a beautiful white and red cared and painted boat prow from his boat. It is at this point that we were welcomed into the village and could wander through and visit with the villagers. The village previously presented the ORION with a replica of King Cameron's boat prow which holds position of pride in the Galaxy lounge onboard the ORION today. When the Chief (King Cameron) died, a Lindblad ship was scheduled to visit for a cultural event but they were turned way since the village was in mourning. However, Orion also visited at this time and they were received and welcomed into the village because of Justin's relationship with his adopted brother Abraham, and Orion had sent 2 pigs to the village paying their respect when the Chief died.

The villagers were ready to start their ceremonial dances and soon they came onto the sandy dance area in front of us - starting with about 50 young boys wearing a small tapa loin cloth with decorated faces painted with many white spots, some even had half of their face painted black with the white spots on top - this is called the Tapioca dance and involves lots of pelvic thrusting! Justin had told us about how in the Tobriand Islands there is lots of pelvic motions in their dances - it was something the London Missionaries had tried to eliminate by making them give up their dancing when they arrived, and they taught them to play cricket! But as mentioned above, the Tobriand Islanders just transferred their fierceness and pelvic thrusting on to the cricket pitch and completely changed all the cricket rules to meet their needs!
After the young boys came the older male youths, dressed the same way but with palm strings tied around their heads elbows and knees and chanting - again some pelvic thrusting and the KUNDU drums being beaten. The youths necklaces also had large round slices of shells or pig tusks hanging - we have seen such a huge number of pif tusks used in necklaces throughout our South Pacific travels.

Again we had a large number of young boys and some of their dance movements mimic what they saw the soldiers do during the war - so they are using sticks as rifles, and at the end of the dance they all fall flat on their backs in long lines - I think as if they are dead. but it certainly gets a good laugh from all the villagers watching and from us! About 40 small girls come in wearing multi layered multi coloured short straw skirts - nothing on top but they are 10 and younger, shells, straw ribbons and feathers in their hair, and some have the painting on their faces and rows of white dots under their eyes. One really pretty little girl (well they try were ALL pretty! had a black and white dot fish painted around her one eye. Their singing was so harmonious and pleasant, just lovely to watch and listen to. This was followed by the bare breasted teenage girls coming in and dancing - we were just entranced by them all. The last performance was a tug of war between the bare breasted women of the village against volunteers from ORION!! As you can imagine - the village ladies have never lost! They had their technique down and soon the ladies at the end (versus) the centre lay down on the sand pulling the rope which provided an anchor and then overcame the Orion guests who still did an awesome job!

The tug-o-war completed the cultural performance, and time for photos and to take a look at the huge artifacts market - I'll bet there must have been over 100 folks sitting down with a wide variety of items from wooden bowls (ebony, kwila, coconut) inlaid with shells and/or fabulous carving, ebony walking sticks, and of course lots of shells and shell necklaces. After seeing only 10% of the market we headed up to ? village with Justin, about a 30 to 45 minute walk depending on your energy in the humid heat. We talked t folks living along the trail up admiring the lovely yam houses (straw roofed small building on stilts) where they keep all their yams. The school at the start of the village was empty - all the kids enjoying their day off for the cultural performances. The village was well laid out with lots of grass in the centre and the homes on each side (very similar to Madang) and many had their wares laid out in front hoping we would buy. One lady was offering everyone a fresh coconut with water for whatever you wished to donate, while I spotted another lady busy weaving a new dried palm leaf matfor sleeping on - very dean precise work - she told me would take her about 2 days to complete (after all the palm leaves have been gathered and dried).

When we walked back down, many of the vendors from the beach market were heading back up the track to their homes - we managed to buy a small bowl and wooden knife (which we lost the same day) and give the two different men one 50 kina note to share since none had change - a perennial problem when travelling in the islands. You also can only ever pay in the local currency because these folks never go into a larger town with a bank which would allow them to change any currency from another country. We were almost the last to get on the zodiac and head over to the island opposite with the beautiful beach, along with many from the market who also headed over in their outrigger canoes, where we would spend all afternoon swimming and snorkelling and enjoy a wonderful beach BBQ that the galley and serving staff had spent all morning setting up and cooking. We enjoyed "drift snorkelling" where the Expedition staff dropped us off at the start of the reef up current and we drifted down checking everything and then swam back to the beach - lots of healthy corals, a huge number of smaller fish, some larger Napoleon wrasse, crown of thorns, anemones and clown fish, tons of ? stars - just fabulous and wonderfully clear with great visibility. There was also an open bar so we thoroughly enjoyed a glass of white wine with our choice of salads, grilled fish, beef, chicken, sausage with ice cream and fruits for dessert!

Again we were in the last zodiac back to the ship at 430pm after a truly great day and simply wonderful village experience and cultural performances from the Trobriand Islanders. We were joined in the zodiac by Nyree from Australia who had purchased the most wonderful ebony seahorse with inlaid shells - she had been back to Orion to get more Kina to complete her purchase!

To finish the day perfectly, after a refreshing shower, we watched the photo slideshow recap for the day in the Constellation Lounge - such a brilliant day and the photos were wonderful for a quick visit all over again! The day was completed with a tasty dinner downstairs in the Constellation Restaurant before we fell into bed!





Cheers ..... Jan Umbach
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MARCH 22, 2013 TUFI village , PAPUA NEW GUINEA

20130322 TUFI VILLAGE, Papua New Guinea

We awoke just before 5am to a huge black cloud outside the window, but the sea was flat calm - we were cruising alongside the TUFI islands, and by 6 we were on deck taking photos of these beautiful volcanic islands - it was easy to see where the volcano had erupted, blown out the sid eof the mountain and the long lava flow down to the sea - it must have been amazing to see! The black clouds stayed to the side of us and as the sky brightened we had fingers crossed for a beautiful day to go snorkelling, enjoy the beach, and visit a village and cruise the fjords this afternoon - another busy day ahead!

The TUFI area on the South East coast of ORO Province is one of PNG's best kept secrets and a spectacular place to visit situated on Cape Nelson. Jutting out into the Solomon Sea it was formed by 3 volcanoes whose fast flowing lava created the rias (or fjords) but unlike the fjords of Scandinavia, here the water is always warm and the bays are home to stunning coral formations and tropical marine life - that's why we'll love the snorkelling this morning! They are over 90 metres deep and rise vertically out of the water to over 150 metres - so different than the flat sandy TAMI islands that we visited yesterday. Orion does a great job of an itinerary here with so much variety.

The wide entrances are protected by reefs and funnel into the mountainside where the mangroves form a canopy over the narrow waterways. The vertical faces of the gorges are covered with moss and orchids, and the waterfalls cascade directly into the sea. ORO Province is also home to the largest butterfly in the world - the Queen Alexandra Birdwing which has a wingspan of 30cm (12 inches) but is unfortunately fast becoming extinct as the rain forest diminishes. ORO Province has a dramatc history from the early gold rush days to WWII.

The northern end of the WWII Kokoda Trail terminates at Kokoda Village and from here to the cast and around the beaches of Buna and Gona, some of the most violent and bitter fighting in the Pacific Campaign took place here between the Japanese and the the Allies and it is estimated that over 15,000 Japanese Soldiers died on the Kokoda Track. This area of PNG is still littered with war relics and there is a Japanese plaque commemorating their dead at the Jiropa Plantation on the Buna Rd.

Shortly after the war Mt Lamington erupted wiping out the district headquarters at Higaturu and killing nearly 3,000 peopel. Today the ORO provincial Capital is located a safe distance form the volcano at Popondetta.



At the village we saw printed Tapa cloth, still made here in the traditional way, beating the mulberry bark which is from the hibiscus family. The bark is beaten until all the sap has been milked out and then the cloth is dried in the sun. After drying it is died and coloured by hand and worn by the women as a cloth (sarong) around their skirts - the men wear it as a loin cloth known as a MALO.

AN AMAZING DAY MORE TO COME FOR TODAY!!!!!


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MARCH 21, 2013 TAMI ISLANDS PAPUA NEW GUINEA

THURSDAY MARCH 21, 2013 TAMI ISLANDS, Papua New Guinea

After a very good and long night's sleep, I woke up at 630am - the coffee was already on, so we were soon sitting in the Galaxy Lounge watching the islands come into view - and the very heavy clouds look like they were going to be raining heavily very shortly!
Chcking email with a latte in hand was the first order of the day, and watching a small boat with a large square sail slowly making its' way towards the Tami islands.

MORE TO COME


Cheers ..... Jan Umbach
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MARCH 20, 2013 MADANG & BILBIL VILLAGE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Wednesday March 20, 2013 MADANG PROVINCE, Papua New Guinea

What a fabulous day this was - the time just flew by! The sky dawned sunny and blue - such a treat - as we slowly entered the Madang harbour passing the tall white Coastwatchers Memorial at the entrance. It is just beautiful here - very flat with lush growth, and rising after the plains into the very steep ridge of the Bismarck Ranges containing PNG's highest Mountain Mt Wilhelm 4509 metres. The Bismarck Sea laps the Northern Coast and the whole area is drained by the Ramu, Sogeram, Gogol and Malas Rivers. The mountains are timber rich, which accounts for the Chinese logging ship that we saw anchored yesterday at the mouth of the Sepik River - the Chinese are logging the interior and using the Sepik River to float the timber back down to the mouth for export to China. As I heard someone say yesterday, "the Chinese are beating the Europeans at their own game" referring to the European colonies who raped many parts of the world of their resources starting 4 centuries ago, and still continue to do so.

The Russian Explorer Nicolai Miklouho-Maclay was the first Western explorer here in 1871, and he introduced new fruits and vegetables including pineapples, mangoes, beans and pumpkins. This was followed by the German New Guinea Kompagnie in 1884 who started to develop the region building tobacco, cotton and coffee plantations at Bogia and around Astrolobe Bay where we docked today. The city of Madang was destroyed in heavy fighting after being occupied by the Japanese on May 1, 1942 with much loss of life on both sides, but was recaptured by the Allies 2 years later on April 24, 1944. Since the war there have been few developments in the area and restricted mainly to the coast and Madang Town where we docked. We spent time on the outside decks watching the residents precariously balanced in long shore boats (at least 2 or 3 times the maximum recommended I'm sure!) crossing from across the harbour and river mouth to get to the town of Madang.

Shortly after 8am our first PNG tribe arrived at the docks and treated us to an amazing song, drums, and dance show right at the gangway to the ship! They were all brightly dressed and their skins are all oiled to a beautiful sheen with coconut oil coloured with the fruit from the BEM plant (oliska oriana) nut which is a deep red. They have feathers in their hair and strings of small shells around their chest and back, sometimes with large oyster shells added as well - really stunning to look at all and all such beautiful people. They performed for over an hour, sometimes in circles, lines and weaving in and out of each other - they really enjoy participating in their cultural songs and dances and it shows. Needless to say my camera was very busy! Once they start they really like to keep going but eventually they were convinced to stop and then we all boarded 5 different buses to head to the village of Bilbil for another welcome and SING SING - this village is right on the coast and about an hour away on a side road.

Before we headed to BilBil we stopped at the cultural centre and museum - interestingly enough a large part of the items inside (and some were fabulous artifacts) had been confiscated from a Danish? man who had bought them in the highlands and was trying to export them - the Cultural employees are now trying to teach the PG residents how important their history, culture and artifacts are. Joan bought a lovely 4 foot long carving here that is used by women who are selecting a husband - the carving was lovely and Joan felt it was too long to get home - but the carver showed her how to take it into 2 pieces and then put it back together again when she got back to Canada - very slick!

The people of Bilbil Village that we then went to visit used to live on an island offshore from Madang (on the mainland) trading clay pots all along the coast from Kar Kar island to Western Morobe. The island could not produce enough food for everyone so trading their pots was essential, and eventually they moved their village to the mainland close to Madang to improve their subsistence levels. They make their pots the traditional way by collecting clay from the bush, mix it with sand and water then let it dry. A few days later it is mixed with water again and left to dry, after which the ladies pull off enough clay and shape the lip of the pot. Then they hollow out the inside with a stone and beat the outside with a flat board. It must then be left to dry again before the final smoothing takes place. Before the pots are fired, red clay is painted on the pots. The firing turns them a glossy red and black when they are pulled out of the fire. - the demonstration was superb and these ladies are skilled masters at making these beautiful clay pots very quickly. They are used for many purposes including bartering for food the way they have always been, but a major use is for bride price ceremonies! Other people come down from the mountains to meet the Bilbil at a previously arranged place and are then exchanged for taro and yams from the mountains, and no money is used in these exchanges.

The Bilbil are great seamen and over the centuries have sailed their large 2 masted canoes hundreds of km along the coast trading their clay pots with the villages along the way for food, wooden bowls, pigs and other goods. We felt so fortunate to be visiting them - as we drove along the road in to the village everyone was waving and saying hello, the children (there are lots of children ) jumping up and down and screaming hello, or shyly running behind their parents and peeping around their legs as we passed by.

In the centre of the village we were seated on wooden benches in the shade to watch the Sing Sing. The performers came from the end of town, with the ? drums beating, singing and dancing in time to the drum beat. Again their skins were oiled and they were highly decorated with shells and lots of plants and leaves - the women all wearing the traditional grass skirts. They danced for a long time, the sun was out and it was a lovely ceremony - we had lots of smaller and older kids and villagers watching with us, as we do at every ceremony, they love these ceremonies as much as we do, sometimes the kids sing along, drum along, move their feet in time, or just watch in awe without moving! Needless to say we took LOTS of photos and movie!

Afterwards we checked out the bags, shell necklaces and pots for sale (Joan bought a beautiful pot with a pouring spout as well as the opening on top to fill it) and then continued on the 100 yards until we reached the beach with incredible views. There was a fisherman just rowing in on an outrigger - we spoke to him and he told us he had been out fishing but hadn't been lucky enough to catch any fish today. He was also the Lutheran Minister so told us that was why he only had two children, the first born was a girl and the second born was a son.

All too soon we had to say our goodbyes and headed off in the coaches for the next stop which was hot springs - the smell of sulphur was very strong when we pulled in to stop! The local lady came out with bacon rinds from the resort nearby to feed the eels and terrapins (small turtles) in the crystal clear water - there were also amazing red dragon flies in the grasses!

By now we were all soaking wet as if we had just stood under the shower - it was very hot and humid, and our bus was not air conditioned! We drove through town and along the shore and arrived back at the Orion to a very welcome cold towel and glass of ice cold tea and Clinton, the Maitre'd advising us lunch was on downstairs for another 30 minutes - we were about 60 minutes late back to the ship.

We had a quick lunch and were ready for the 2pm walking departure to the market in town and the Madang Resort where a shuttle would be running to and fro all afternoon to get us back to the Orion. The afternoon went so fast we couldn't believe it! First off there were carvers, weavers and artists right outside the port gates - and one of these knew Justin through his father. The artist was Winston Kuauge Jnr - and his father had started painting in this very vibrant contemporary style and Justin Friend had bought one of his paintings many years ago. We loved the paintings and purchased one showing the masks from 6 different tribes. Winston explained each mask, and his friends who were there with him were from some of the other tribes and everyone was so proud showing us which mask was from their tribe. There was also an old gentleman selling hand carved bows and arrows - beautiful.

Then we scooted to catch up with the other 30 folks chatting with everyone that we passed along the way (and continuously wiping the sweat running down my face!). In the large general market we admired the huge number of benches with fruit and veggies for sale including such items as broccoli, carrots, potatoes. There were several artifacts for sale including shell necklaces, amazing headdresses with chicken and cassowary feathers (which are on the endangered list), wooden carvings, all sorts of wonderful items!

Later we took photos of all sorts of folks along the streets who wanted us to take their photo, and then show the photo to them. Along the shoreline we came to the "Lean Down" market - this is where ladies are sitting low down with food for sale, cooked fish, bananas, squid and other items - you always have to lean down to look at the goods, so this is known as the lean Down market! And of course, many folks selling the inevitable betel nuts, peppers and lime - a major part of the PNG economy. Just outside the Madang Resort we came across an old fellow selling incredible sturdy baskets and trays, all absolutely beautifully woven. The large trays (around 30" wide were 100 Kina (about $50) they were stunning and I only wish that on this trip we could have bought all of the amazing things that we have seen - both for the benefit of the carvers, artists and sellers, and also for the ability to bring home these amazing items.
There is also a Carver's Market inside the Madang Resort grounds with many ladies all sitting under a straw roof with their items for sale - everything you could imagine. But one lady had something we had not seen before - fabulous pots with the most amazing faces on the front! I had Terry pick one up (I would have loved 3 for the garden) but he said no way, just way too heavy and too big! he did buy one interesting item which we shall proudly display for each of you who comes to visit us when we get home!

Well, the last shuttle bus back to the Orion was due to leave at 4:30pm and it was now just a few minutes before 4 - we couldn't believe it, the afternoon had flown by! We took a couple of minutes and shared an ice cold local beer - PNG South Pacific Export - with Justin in a very cold air conditioned little bar that looked very Colonial. The small part of the resort that we saw looked very nice, I think the rates were $350USD + per night, and there were lovely units along the shore where we would pass by shortly as we left Madang.

As we pulled out of the harbour, everyone was waving and calling to us, the ferries were now overloaded returning everyone back from the town to their villages - they had all been so friendly to us and really helped us enjoy our day in Madang. Meanwhile Justin was giving a talk in the LEDA lounge, all about speaking PIDGIN - the local language. As always Justin has a great way of teaching you so that you understand and laugh at the same time. I wish you could hear and see his entire presentation, it was priceless. Apparently there are only 1500 words in the PIDGIN language, so you have to be very careful how you use the words since many words have more than one meaning, and many of these words have come from English originally.
BRATA - a relative of the same generation of the same sex
SUSA - a relative of the same generation of the opposite sex.
So my sister would be my BRATA, my brother would be my SUSA

Then Justin showed this Australian cartoon making fun of Pidgin - which I know will not translate but here goes - the picture first then the explanation in PIDGIN
1. picture of:
MOM, DAD, AND SEVERAL KIDS: If your papamama bin doing their work yous got enough for making socateam.
2. TWO WOMEN - If you wears a dress an she wears a dress; in town she's call susa, in the village she's your brata.
3. One WOMAN One MAN - if you wears the trausas and she's in a dress: in town she's call susa, an in your village she's your susa.
4. TWO MEN: If you wear the trausas and he's in a dress; in town he's call geligeli an in the village he's in big trabel!

Then we enjoyed a wonderful slide show of the days activities presented by Mark - what a busy and exciting day it had been! Afterwards Joan, terry and I had a wonderful dinner outdoors on the back deck in the Delphinus Cafe. We could see a few lights on the shore as we sailed away, there was some sheet lightning in the mountains, the warm breezes were smooth on the skin and the white wine was ice cold under all the stars! A perfect end to a perfect day and we had just finished eating when we had a few drops of rain and headed off to bed!

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March 19, WATAM VILLAGE & SEPIK RIVER

TUESDAY MARCH 19 2013 WATAM VILLAGE and SEPIK RIVER, Papua New Guinea

We are so excited this morning as we arrive at the famous SEPIK River mouth - this is the largest river in PNG at 1126 km and is one of the world's greatest rivers from its' origin in the mountains out to the sea. This area is an immense grassland reserve and the people along the river depend heavily on the Sepik for transportation, water and food. Their links with the Sepik are symbolized in many of their ancient and spiritual rituals such as the painful manhood initiation which requires painful carving of flesh on the backs of the young men with razor blades in patterns are that of a crocodile lying on the banks of the Sepik.

This will be a major celebration this morning as we anchor off the shore and take the zodiacs into the beach at WATAM Village for a SINGSING (cultural celebration). It is important that all the zodiacs arrived together for the official welcome, and as we closed in to the shore the arrival boat came out to greet us! It was full of men and bare breasted women in their traditional costumes (mostly loin cloth and various leaves and shells) with bright yellow and pink feather headdress waving huge palm fronds to and fro and beating their kudo ? drums! There was even a small naked little boy being held on the back of the boat by Dad just in awe of what was happening. Many faces were painted various designs with the white coral lime. There were huge numbers of villagers waiting on the shores for us as we pulled in and jumped into the water (quite shallow here) - where we were welcomed and then all walked into the very pretty village which was long with homes on either side and a large grassy area through the centre. Our first stop was at the school (which was the closest building to the shore) where all the children were in straight lines facing us - their teacher had them all space themselves apart by touching each other's shoulders, and then stand to attention - just as if they were in the army! They sang to us to welcome us and then their national PNG anthem - it was lovely.

Afterwards, with the children and villagers all around us we walked up the trail and stopped outside the men's hut - this is where the men all gather and women are not allowed to enter. It is here that they keep their spiritual & ceremonial items which are brought out only for special events - when they are getting ready for this they stand large palm fronds in front of the building to hide the interior which is on stilts and has open sides. Today it was covered in palm fronds - so we had to wait and our entrance into the village has to be behind these men. The palm fronds parted and the men walk out but we don't see the men - what we see is a huge dragon head mask and its' body behind covered in long straw with drummers walking along with them. The drums start beating and we walk into the main village behind the dragon being welcomed - it was very special and absolutely required following their correct procedure for being invited into, and being welcomed, into WATAM Village.

The procession probably took 30 minutes - about halfway into the village we were invited to sit on benches behind palm fronds in the shade to wait while the dragon procession completed its' journey to the end of the village and then returned towards us.
At no time are we allowed to walk in front of the Dragon mask - but when it turns around and walks back to us there was lots of opportunity to take photos of the mask and procession.

On both sides of the central grassy area there were villagers, many sitting under sun umbrellas to protect themselves from the heat. In front of them they had their wares for sale: amazing carvings, bowls, masks, shell necklaces, bags, you name it and it was there. It was amazing to look at and ask the villagers how much the items were. As Justin has told us several times the prices bear no relation to what the goods are worth - sometimes very high and sometimes not. It is all about how much they need at the moment - if they need 600 KINA for school fees they might ask 600, the man next to him might ask 200 but should you come back the next week the price could be higher or lower, all depending on what that person needs at that point in time. There were many kinds of masks, but one that I thought really striking had black hair (or hat) decorated with tiny shells, back eye sockets, nose and beard (or mouth and chin) and natural coloured forehead and cheeks - so striking. We fell in love with an amazing carving that we would have loved to bring home, and give the carver what he was asking for it but it was at least 4 feet high and 18 inches across - no way that would fit in our carryon luggage! This market was put on especially for ORION and the carvers come from all over - some of them are from way up the river - in fact the carver of the piece that we so admired (Connie May) had travelled a day and a half to be at the village for our arrival.

The time just flew by - we talked to so many people about where they came from and the stories behind the carvings that they were selling, it was quite fascinating. They all talk to you easily but most quite quietly and even shy. There was also some traditional dancing in the centre of the village by the men and ladies, and we saw demonstrations of sago being made. Sago is a main staple in their diet and is essentially a carbohydrate which is made by pounding out the centre of the Sago palm tree trunk so that the wood is shredded. Then this shredded wood is put into a bowl with a sieve in the bottom - water is poured over the wood and a lady (or man) stand and keep squeezing and wringing the wood until the starch comes out into the water and drips through into a bowl below. Then you can actually scoop the sago out from the bowl and semi dry it and cook into pancake like items mixed with coconut. Justin assures us that it has little appeal but is a major part of the PNG diet especially because so many areas have access to very little protein.

By now we realised that there are only about 8 of us left in the village - everyone else has already headed back to the Orion for lunch! So we start to walk back to the shore and Connie May comes up and offers us a lower price for his large carving which we simply have to decline - this is too big to take home. Getting on the zodiac at the shore he was standing just a short way away from us hoping we would change our minds - but we simply couldn't. There was nothing aggressive or even assertive about Connie, or any other villager at any market in PNG, but we would have so loved for his sake even more than ours to have bought this carving from him. Although now as I look at the photos I regret not buying the carving and the two wonderful masks! As the zodiac left the beach, the small kids, mostly naked, were all swimming and jumping in the water - what a wonderful place they live in with nature's own playground for them to enjoy.

After a quick lunch on the ship, while Captain Vincent Taillard moved the ship along the shore closer to the SEPIK river mouth, we boarded the zodiacs and headed over to the river mouth to enjoy a cruise along the lower reaches of the SEPIK River. (There were 2 departures for the Sepik river cruise 1pm and 3pm since this puts only 8 passengers on each zodiac - more comfortable for looking around at the sights). Anchored in the mouth of the river was a huge logging ship from China - they are logging way up the river and bringing the trees down the river to load on to the ship then taking them back to China.

While the ORION had been anchored during the morning during our WATAM Village tour and when we left it after lunch, there were really large swells on the ocean - gentle and smooth, but it sure made the ORION roll from side to side. Our zodiac driver Mark assured us that at times when they have visited the rolling can be significantly bigger! Since this is such a huge fresh water river, the outflow is massive and strong - apparently the fresh water goes out as far as 20 miles and to the island on the horizon where the villagers can still get fresh water on their beach from the SEPIK river water still sitting on top of the salt water (salt water and fresh water take awhile to mix). As we crossed into the river from the ocean we went through lots of waves as the outflow of the SEPIK hit the waves coming in from the ocean - lots of fun - and be sure to have your camera in its' ziplock bag!

It was sunny and hot as we sat on the zodiac pontoons while Mark identified many palms for us along the banks - we saw an egret and heron but other than blackbirds not much else. Mick Fogg on another zodiac ( a bird lover) had his huge telephoto camera with him and showed us amazing photos of what he had seen during the same 1 1/2 hours that we were on the Sepik! The best part of the SEPIK river cruise for us was when we cruised past the village located on the opposite shore to the Sepik to WATAM village where we had spent the morning - all the villagers were doing their own thing. The ladies were making sago, the men cutting wood and fishing in outrigger canoes, but the children, all naked, were having an amazing time splashing, screaming and playing on the shore of the river. They yelled and waved at us so happy and loving every moment of their lives. Given that there are 2 types of crocodiles in the SEPIK it wasn't worrying them one bit!

Back on board it was time to shower and be clean once again after a fabulous day at WATAM Village and on the SEPIK river. We even enjoyed a glass of champagne as we downloaded and watched our photos of the day!

On the horizon from Sepik river mouth and WATAM village are 3 volcanoes - MADEM, Blup Blup and Bam. Apparently over the last couple of weeks MADEM had been very active and we were all hoping that we would see red lava flows as we cruised by that evening and red spirals shooting out of the top but during the day we didn't see any action, just a white cloud over the top. As we ate dinner that night, just as the main course was to be served, David Silverberg comes over the loudspeaker in the Constellation dining room and says "if you haven't seen Madem tonight you need to come out on deck right now and see all the brilliant glowing red action from lava flow and out of the top of the volcano" so we all shot up and headed outside and up on to the deck - as Chef Lothar came out from the kitchen in disgust and watched us leave!! It was wonderful to see but certainly we were far enough away that the photos didn't do any justice to what was happening with MADEM!



Cheers ..... Jan Umbach
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