Papua New Guinea – The Final Frontier

Tell people you are planning a trip to Papua New Guinea and there are likely to be two initial reactions; a blank stare followed by “is that in Africa?” & “don’t they eat people there?”. “No” and “no” should be the response. The mystery and misunderstanding surrounding this fascinating country is exactly what prompted me to explore it.

The final frontier

Papua New Guinea is about as close as you can get to frontier travel nowadays. Forming one half of the second largest island in the world (after Greenland) to the north of Australia and stretching from Indonesia in the West out into the Pacific in the East, this vast country has a huge amount to offer travellers in quest of an exotic adventure.

A divers paradise

Lucky for me, Papua New Guinea is a marine playground for world-class diving – both from the mainland and its island provinces – and these undiscovered waters offer some of the most diverse and pristine diving environments we have come across.

The Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle, in which the country is located, has both the highest coral and reef fish diversity in the world. Regardless of what you are looking for as a diver, you’ll find it here; from the dazzling coral reefs of Walindi in West New Britain, to the strong current dives and big fish at Kavieng in New Ireland or the WWII wrecks of Rabaul in East New Britain. But it’s not just the diving that draws visitors. Its people, culture and wildlife have equal allure.

Rich in culture

From the Huli Wigmen of the Southern Highlands to the Karawari People of Sepik, this is a country rich in culture where 800 active languages are still spoken today and each part of the country carries different traditions, preserved largely because it remained unexplored by outsiders until relatively recently. The mountainous Highlands were miraculously untouched by colonial powers who presumed it was uninhabited due to its terrain. It wasn’t until the 1930s when three Australian brothers went looking for gold, that one million people were discovered to be living here; an expedition that was later documented in the film, First Contact. Other areas remained untouched until as late as the 1960s.

Bird lover’s paradise

Home to 38 of the 43 known species of the stunning Bird of Paradise, Papua New Guinea is also a haven for bird lovers and new species of plants and animals continue to be discovered in its remote interior.