Circling the coastal plain of PNG there is a range of almost vertical mountains that were considered impassable until the scent of gold lead explorers to find a way over them in the nineteen thirties. It is the scent of adventure that leads us to make the same journey, albeit in a slightly more comfortable manner.
The Leahy brothers were the first to make the journey. They started in and expected to find continuous ranges of impassable mountains, but instead after three long years, they came across an incredibly fertile highland expanse. The highlands were lush and green and incredibly beautiful, completely surrounded by mountains and inaccessible from any direction. It was their Shangri La. But even more surprising to the Leahy brothers was the fact that these unknown highlands were populated by thousands of people.
These were the tribes of Papua New Guinea who had remained hidden from the outside world until that moment. The tribes were living a stoneage lifestyle. They had never seen a white man. They had never seen a wheel. They had never seen metal. And yet, what the Leahy Brothers discovered was a valley covered in a patchwork of immaculately tended fields planted with an amazing array of fruit and vegetables. The five of us are about to discover the very same beautiful land and the amazing tribes that live there.
At this point I should probably introduce you to the other three people. Roger, a portly pepperpot, short and stout and hot for a good life, is an Australian in his early forties living in England. At present he is spending fifteen months in the Solomon Islands trying to get eco tourism started and encouraging the locals with micro loans. He is a great travel companion with a terrific sense of humour. We have voted him tour leader because of his ability to understand what is going on around us, while we are all are clueless.
He has a wife in England. He phones her daily, but I am still digging for dirt as I type. Colette and Nellie, the passion fruit and the grapefruit of our group, are old school friends. Colette is a widow, slim and vivacious and ready for the next love in her life. Nellie cannot be taken if you are on blood pressure medication. She has verbal diarrhea and a constipation of humility. They travel together from time to time.
