Problems in Paradise...Alotau Papau New Guinea

Papau New Guinea looks really pretty in photos - a rainforest, seemingly untouched and so so green. But this is a facade for the town of Alotau where we arrived today.

I actually decided to write this blog tonight after our day there because I wanted to remember how I felt all day while the feelings were fresh in my mind. I can still smell the musky smells, feel the mud under my feet and the faces of locals covered in red lips from well.. read on.

It was raining cats and dogs and that should have been a sign. Granted it is a rainforest...but I felt it in the air that this was going to be a very unique stop on our itinerary.

We walked off the ship today with no tenders and no shuttles but directly off and were greeted by a traditional local dance of men, women (sans tops) and children in a dark musky almost "airplane hanger" area before we walked outside the Port.

I had planned the trip with Aioni Tours where we were SUPPOSED to see a traditional village life, Skull carving, learn about the history of Cannibalism, Eastscape drive (tip of the island), a visit to a local market, craft market and lunch.

We met our tour operator Shane who then took us to our driver whose name I never got but he was definitely a Rastafarian and our guide Wendy. We started our tour with a long drive to Eastscape the tip of the island and stopped at a very very local food market. The rain didn't help make things feel "light" but rather a darkness I cannot explain but may be more understandable later in this post. Unable to see the skull caves due to the rain - we turned around returning to a Tribal Village and met the Chief and saw women who were making roofs from leaves for homes and a traditional dance and the most adorable children in basically a fig leaf freezing from the rain. Erik was brave and went out on a boat while we started to learn about Betel Nuts. I fell in love with the children and their beautiful faces but that innocent face has a doomed future and it is a combination of drug abuse and there's nothing for them in Alotau.

Betel Nut mixed with lime can create a sense of euphoria and alertness. It may also function as an antidepressant. Prolonged use creates addiction and the World Health Organization classifies the betel nut as a carcinogen.

Regular, heavy use of betel nut may eventually cause: Discoloration of teeth and gums, sometimes turning them reddish-brown. Mouth ulcers and gum disease. Oral cancers or sub mucous fibrosis (a pre-cancer condition). It also turns your mouth red when you use it.

Let's just say the tribal home visit was the most normal part of the day!

We made our way back to town and hit major road flooding where at times we weren't sure if we were going to be able to pass. The water was high, moving fast and coming very fast. A little unnerving combined with the fact that our driver was sucking on Beter Nut powder the entire tour. We ended up a decent place for lunch and I was shocked when the guide who I have bought lunch for (and the driver) said the driver had requested for me to buy him 2 beers to drink before our next stop - a 30 minute drive to the top of a mountain for a view of the island. HUH? Our driver who already looked high as a kite was now asking for beer - 2 of them to drink before we left lunch. I went back to our table and informed the group that I had made the executive decision that we were not driving up the mountain with him but rather cutting the tour short with a stop at the market and back to the Port.

The highlight of my day was watching 4 small kids in a little wooden row boat paddle past us at lunch and pull their boat to the beach to collect wood for fires to keep them warm. They were just beautiful, smiling, happy to see us and enjoying a simple childhood moment of joy.

If I thought it couldn't get worse - well I was in for a surprise.

The market was a combination of food, fish, fruit a handful of souvenirs and tons and tons and tons of white powder - Betel Nut powder everywhere. Kids as young as 4 or 5 to old men and women were sitting around their produce high as hell and all red mouths everywhere. Signs everywhere telling people not to "spit" because apparently when you use this powder you suck on it then spit it out. Bags I thought were recycled as "handbags" were actually hung around the necks of the locals so they could "spit" into them as they were using this "drug".

None of us knew whether to laugh or cry - it was a combination of sad, helplessness and hopelessness. PNG was the one Port where there was no "nice" area. It was a place where there were no homes, no businesses, no hotels, barely any bare necessity shopping - it was dark, muddy, blank faces of anyone and almost everyone.

At the market I bought a small pig and stingray made of wood and we all made our way back to the car.

Our last stop was an open market with hand carved wood items decorated with shells. I saw a beautiful black hand carved cane with small shells that look like little pearls that the seller wanted 200 Kina (local currency) for and after some serious bargaining and walking away - he took the 100 Kina I was offering him - about $30.00. In this market too were locals selling truly beautiful things hand carved and very special but you just knew every dollar you spent was going towards the purchase of Betel Nut powder. Bags and bags of this white powder were everywhere. even babies get it to sooth tooth aches and colic.

As we drove back to the ship we passed what must have been 500+ locals in what was a bus terminal apparently who were going to wait until tomorrow because the cruise line had taken over all local transportation for their excursions.

We returned to the ship all a little disheveled. It was an island or town that filled me personally with sadness. Like they are born there - get by life and die there. No one is investing in the local economy. No foreign investors or infrastructure being built. Nothing but this stupid powder and blank stares. Homes with no electricity. Cell phones that get "topped up".

My heart hurt for the children who eventually would be addicted to this "powder" sucking on sticks and spitting into bags. I guess one could argue that since the country is less explored and exploited than other regions, it still retains much of its diversity. But I would find that argument hard to swallow after what I saw.

I am actually surprised the ship even stopped there. Because asides from the tribal dancing and the ability to see how they live in their villages - it was depressing and dark.

Not a place I will ever return to but will forever leave a lasting impact on my heart. Especially the children who we saw and my thinking of what will happen to them as they grow up.