PAPUA (APRIL 20th, 2010)

PAPUA (FORMERLY KNOWN AS IRIAN-JAYA), IN INDOSNEIA, NOT PAPPUA NEW GUNIEA (PNG)

 Carol had two weeks off for Easter, so we went to Papua.  The flight took about six hours (including a stop-over in Makkassar, Suluwesi for one hour, where we enjoyed a nice break in the business class lounge, as my ANZ MasterCard granted us free access to their lounge!!).  We landed in Sentani, a suburb of Jayapura, and hung out at Lake Sentani, while we waited for our next flight to Wamena, in the Baliem Valley. We took a public taxi to get to the lake, and all the passengers and driver were of Melanesian decent (same as Australian Aboriginals), and with the reggae music playing, I felt like I was in Jamaica, and not Indonesia!! When we landed in Wamena, we were greeted by a Dani Tribal Warrior, in the airport, wearing his traditional costume!!  A guide, named, Martinus, met us and helped show us around town, including stops at various hotels.  We settled in and ate dinner, while negotiating his fees for two separate one day trips, one to the South to see the Dani Tribe, and the other, to the South-East, to see the Yali Tribe.  The next morning, we set out to see the Dani Tribe, where we really enjoyed the hike over rivers, a mountain, and traditional villages.  We took many photos.  The next day, we went to see a cave and we also saw a 350 year old mummy.  The day after that, we flew to Biak Island, in the North.  We checked into a beach-side hotel, where we met Gregory from Greece and Zena, from England (via Somalia).  The next day, we went to the South to visit a nice beach, and did the same the next day; I snorkeled at each location.  Then on the third day there, we rented a car for the day with Pascal and Collette, from Paris.  We saw a nice waterfall, some beaches, and some very beautiful cliffs.  The next day, we rented a book with the French couple and set out for some bird watching.  Papua is famous for The Birds Of Paradise.  While on the way there, I worked on my tan and we also went to a water village to pick up our bird watching guide (THE MISSING LINK).  We slept over night in a very basic accommodation, and then at 6AM  went into the jungle to see The Birds Of Paradise.  Then we made our way to another beautiful deserted island, where we made camp and then went snorkeling.  We enjoyed dinner and then the next day, set off for more snorkeling and island hopping.  We saw some star fish, sword fish, a reef shark (safe), Barracudas, Merloo (French for a really big fish), box fish, shrimps, Nemo, and tuna.  After sleeping in very basic rooms, we checked into a nice three star hotel across from the airport.  The next day, we rented a motorcycle and went to the East, where I snorkeled at Bosnic, and enjoyed the scenery.  I got a flat tire on the way home, but luckily we found a cheap mechanic.  The day after that, we went on a two dive trip with Greg and Zena.  We dove through a cave, and saw some Spanish Mackerels.  The next dive was to see a wall.  Carol also did a discovery dive.  We were quite tired, so we spent the last day at our hotel.  Then we flew back, with a stop at Lake Sentani.