Here in PNG, land rights issues are a bit different than they are in the U.S. If you have read my previous posts, you will notice that we ran into an access issue that threatened to shut down the expedition before it happened. Last night I got to sit down with the local man responsible for mediating and securing access for us. I learned a lot about how things work here and why there was an issue to begin with.
In PNG, there are multiple types of land: There are public lands (govt owned,) privately owned land and customary land. Structurally, it’s very similar to how things are set up in the States, but with one very major difference.
In the States, the westward explorers and the U.S. Govt. decided that it was totally in charge and that they had more right to customary land (land owned by the original inhabitants) than the locals did. So basically, the U.S. Govt., instead of respecting the fact that native people already lived on lands, they pushed through and just took it all. The customary land was taken by force by the U.S. Govt.
Things are different in PNG. There was an imperial presence here and as a result the govt does hold land. This happened on a much smaller scale here than in the U.S. though, so there are also huge tracts of land that is owned and controlled by the subsistence dwellers that have lived here since the beginning. Thus, when the govt wants to expand its holdings, whether it be for logging, mining or otherwise, it has to work it out with the customary owners. If they don’t want their land logged, it doesn’t get logged.
This applies to our expedition because the area we are exploring is on customary land. Lake Hargy and the Nakanai Mountains are rugged areas that have never been logged or farmed because the people, so far, haven’t wanted them to be. In many remote areas of PNG these practices seem very attractive because instead of simply living off of their land, they can make a living off of their land. The environmental consequences are often very serious though, and in many cases the locals are not aware of these consequences. They sign deals for Malaysian logging companies to come in and clear timber and, a year or so later, realize that a clearcut tract isn’t so sweet after all and maybe not worth the small amount of compensation they receive.
The man I sat down with last night explained to the local people that our team will provide very valuable services to them. The scientific side of the team is studying the amazing biodiversity of the area and the kayaking/film team is going to show the world what is here. Ideally, this will open doors for the Nakanai people to make money off their land without having irreversible damage. One proposal involves establishing a permanent research station and sustainable ecotourism destination. Whatever happens, I think the local people have come to understand that we’re here to educate ourselves and help them rather than take advantage of their customary land. So now, everyone’s happy!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Bush
Wow, what a week it’s been. Trip and I just returned from a 6-day exploratory mission to the bush and are nursing wounds caused by hiking all day, every day through dense rainforest.
Our mission had two parts. The first was to hike into Leli and discuss with the locals the waterfalls we had scouted from the air and see if they could take us to them. The second was to go to a cave outside of the town called Snake Cave and retrieve a frog for the scientists back at the Lake Hargy camp. Ralph Cutter is researching the effects of global warming on reptiles and wanted a sample from a cave – someplace less affected by global temperature change.
On Sunday, John G of Hargy Oil Palm drove us 3 hours to the end of the road at a town called Pago. Only in the last year has the road even gone that far – a result of the increasing presence of Malaysian logging companies. From Pago, we hiked all afternoon downhill to the Pandi River, across the river and then up the hill on the other side to the village of Leli. The vertical descent was about 800 ft almost strait down to the river level at about 400 ft above sea level and then about another 900 ft up to the top of the next plateau.
About 5 years ago, a group of U.S. and Canadian missionaries, representing a group called New Tribes, came to Leli to set up an operation. Their goal is to translate the entirety of the Bible to the local Pigeon language so that the people can be “saved.” Not being quite as hearty as the locals, the missionaries built an airstrip in the village so that they could fly in the necessary supplies to create a comfortable oasis in the midst of a very rugged bush community. Our first exposure to the village of Leli came when we emerged from the jungle onto this very out-of-place feature.
We walked down the neatly groomed grass airstrip until we came to the first house. We were greeted by an obviously surprised man who, in English (luckily,) welcomed us to put our bags down and rest. We asked about the missionaries and were told that they had gone back to their countries for a couple of months (somewhat of a disappointment to us, as we had hoped they would help us communicate with the local people.) Luckily, there is a primary school in the village that teaches English, so there were a few
“big men” who spoke English pretty well. After a quick wash and a tour of the village, we returned to the house that had been offered to us to cook dinner and relax. When we broke out the stove to make rice, we got our first taste of what would eventually drive us totally crazy.
Leli
Leli
Since the only way for the locals to get to the nearest town (Navo) is to spend most of a day hiking down to the Pandi, back up the canyon on the other side and down the road about 6 or 8 km, they are isolated from any practical form of trading. Thus, they are a subsistence culture – they live off of what they grow and produce and little else. They have little to no money because they have no practical way of getting goods to market and since there are no roads in to the village, very few people pass through. When Trip and I broke out our potable petrol-powered stove and started cooking, half of the village surrounded us and stared.
As night came, the village “big men” came to us and requested that they sit with us and “tell stories.” We were one of only a very small number of groups of westerners to visit the village and the first to, instead of staying with the missionaries, slept in the house of a local. Never had any outsiders sat with them and explained why they were there. We showed them the aerial photos we had taken of the waterfalls and they immediately knew where they were – a two days’ walk in the village of Tuke. They also knew immediately where Snake Cave was. They agreed to guide us to Tuke and show us the cave, but they wanted something in return. First, they told us that they wanted a DVD player and a screen to watch movies on, something we obviously were not going to be able to carry in or even afford to buy for them. Their next suggestion was clothes for everyone in the village, which again we explained we could not carry in to them. To this, they suggested we charter a plane and just fly in – something we were forced to explain was outside of our very small budget. Finally, after a long and awkward negotiating session we agreed to pay they guides who would take us to Tuke and to Snake Cave.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30 to begin the full days’ walk to Tuke. The very primitive trail was extremely steep, slippery and lined with thorns. Leli and Tuke are only 6.5 miles apart, yet we had a very full day of some of the most challenging hiking I have ever done. It rained on and off the whole day, making the already slippery trail very messy. Along the way we passed through a handful of small villages where very surprised and curious locals greeted us.
We arrived in Tuke in the late afternoon and were greeted by two German missionaries from a group called SSEC. The locals took us on a scouting mission where we not only found spectacular whitewater, but also an amazing cave. In Tuke, as in Leli, Trip and I could not go anywhere or do anything without being stared at by a crowd of very curious locals. We completely understood why we were being stared at, but it was starting to be a bit overwhelming. During a church service conducted by the Germans, we snuck off for a little time by ourselves.
The next morning we woke again at 5:30 to make the hike back to Leli in the rain.
Back in Leli, we cleaned up, had a conference with the local people, ate some dinner and went to bed around 9:00.
Wednesday morning, we ate a quick breakfast and set off to Snake Cave with three local men and a handful of local children. Most of the 2 km hike was very manageable, but as we got closer the trail went completely vertical and instead of hiking we found ourselves down climbing. All the rain made things muddy and extremely slippery, so sections of the “trail” were very very sketchy. We finally got to the bottom and to a huge rock archway that led into a dark cavern full of screeching bats. The local children led the way and Trip and I slogged through the ankle-deep mud after them in search of a frog to capture and take back to Ralph. While we were busy shooting video and hunting for a frog, the locals were busy killing bats with sticks and stuffing them in their pockets. It was strange and a little gross, but we let it slide because we were focused on our mission. After about an hour in the cave, we had our frog ad were ready to climb back up the very steep hill to the trail and walk back to the village.
Snake Cave
Back in Leli, everyone was curious to check out the frog that we had found and hear about how our visit to the cave was. After heading down to the creek to wash the bat crap off of ourselves, we returned to our house to find the children cooking the bats they had killed and eating them. They would take the whole bat and stick it onto hot embers, blow on the embers to generate more heat, cut them open and dig in. It was very gross but made for some pretty interesting photos and video.
Checking out the frog
The catch
Cooking bats
Girl enjoying some bat meat
Wednesday morning we lazily woke up around 6:00, packed our things and hit the trail. Our legs were shredded from so much hiking and our patience short from sliding down steep, slippery trails and being stared at constantly by the locals. We made it back to Pago just after noon and began walking down the road to hitch a ride. We were eventually picked up by a truck that took us to a logging camp, dropped off, then picked up again by another truck that took us to the house of the General Manager of one of Hargy’s other plantations. This morning, he gave us a ride back to our base at Hargy Oil Palm HQ.
And now, we rest and figure out the next plan. On Monday we are going to the local schools to give presentations on the scientific work that is being done and the social contributions we hope to make to the local towns and villages.
Trip shooting...with an audience.
Trip resting...with an audience.
Feet
As apparently, walking for days and days and days in the jungle with wet feet isn’t the best thing to do. Yesterday, when Trip and I were walking down the road with our packs we noticed that our feet were hurting. When we got a chance to stop and take off our shoes, we realized that we had both come down with a classic case of trenchfoot, which involves very painful sores on your feet caused by expended periods of heat, friction and moisture.
They’re getting better though, and a few days of r&r should clear things up nicely.
Just one of the things you have to deal with in the jungle…
They’re getting better though, and a few days of r&r should clear things up nicely.
Just one of the things you have to deal with in the jungle…
Friday, August 24, 2007
Gold in them hills
That's right folks, we've found the rediculously sweet whitewater that we came to find. Trip shot some photos of some epic drops when he flew over, but they're on his laptop that isn't currently connected to the Internet. For now, you'll have to make due with a high res Google Earth image.
For those interested in checking this out for yourselves, do a search for Leli in Google Earth.
This is the first kayak expedition to New Britain and it appears as if it is going to be all we hoped it would be. Trip and I are heading out in the next day or so to scout this particular spot out and make contact with the locals and missionaries that will be critical to our success.
For those interested in checking this out for yourselves, do a search for Leli in Google Earth.
This is the first kayak expedition to New Britain and it appears as if it is going to be all we hoped it would be. Trip and I are heading out in the next day or so to scout this particular spot out and make contact with the locals and missionaries that will be critical to our success.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Alive and well from PNG
The trip so far has been totally wild.
We flew from PDX to LAX to Nadi, Fiji to Port Moresby, PNG to Hoskins, PNG, where we were picked up by a guy named Bob who owns a “hostel” in Kimbe. The next day, Kyle and Trip went up in a fixed-wing to scout some rivers and give us an idea of where we need to concentrate our efforts. Luckily, the island of New Britain is LOADED with great-looking whitewater and we are stoked to explore.
The next day, we rode in the back of a truck to the trailhead leading to Lake Hargy. A four hour hike in led us to the basecamp established by John Lane and the scientific side of the expedition on the lake’s shore.
Due to spiritual reasons and croc infestation, the lake had very rarely been swum in before and never been boated on before. After a quick ceremony and a chat with the crocs by the resident familial head, Ben, we slid in and went for a paddle. The locals instantly look to the kayaks and began exploring and learning how to paddle and the next day decided to cut down a tree and build their own dugout canoe.
One of the expedition objectives is to explore new areas and discover new underground caves. Yesterday, four of us paddled across the lake, hiked up the first ridge from the lake and peered over the edge into country that has not been touched by man for thousands of years. The hike was super brutal and took us all day, but based on both geology and topography the chances of finding previously undiscovered caves is extremely high. It took us until dark to get back to the lake and we had a SUPER scary night paddle across the lake to basecamp. I was in the dugout canoe with PNG’s version of Rambo who kept spotting crocs and fortunately was able to speak to them in his native language and convince them to leave us alone.
Tomorrow, Trip and I are hitchhiking to the end of the road and then hiking 3 days into a village called Lei Lei. Trip and Kyle saw some clean, stout slides near the village and we are headed in to scout them out. It should be very interesting to head into a village 3 days away from any road. We plan to spend about a week on that mission before heading back to basecamp on Lake Hargy.
From the wilderness,
Andy
We flew from PDX to LAX to Nadi, Fiji to Port Moresby, PNG to Hoskins, PNG, where we were picked up by a guy named Bob who owns a “hostel” in Kimbe. The next day, Kyle and Trip went up in a fixed-wing to scout some rivers and give us an idea of where we need to concentrate our efforts. Luckily, the island of New Britain is LOADED with great-looking whitewater and we are stoked to explore.
The next day, we rode in the back of a truck to the trailhead leading to Lake Hargy. A four hour hike in led us to the basecamp established by John Lane and the scientific side of the expedition on the lake’s shore.
Due to spiritual reasons and croc infestation, the lake had very rarely been swum in before and never been boated on before. After a quick ceremony and a chat with the crocs by the resident familial head, Ben, we slid in and went for a paddle. The locals instantly look to the kayaks and began exploring and learning how to paddle and the next day decided to cut down a tree and build their own dugout canoe.
One of the expedition objectives is to explore new areas and discover new underground caves. Yesterday, four of us paddled across the lake, hiked up the first ridge from the lake and peered over the edge into country that has not been touched by man for thousands of years. The hike was super brutal and took us all day, but based on both geology and topography the chances of finding previously undiscovered caves is extremely high. It took us until dark to get back to the lake and we had a SUPER scary night paddle across the lake to basecamp. I was in the dugout canoe with PNG’s version of Rambo who kept spotting crocs and fortunately was able to speak to them in his native language and convince them to leave us alone.
Tomorrow, Trip and I are hitchhiking to the end of the road and then hiking 3 days into a village called Lei Lei. Trip and Kyle saw some clean, stout slides near the village and we are headed in to scout them out. It should be very interesting to head into a village 3 days away from any road. We plan to spend about a week on that mission before heading back to basecamp on Lake Hargy.
From the wilderness,
Andy
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Today's the day
Brian just got dropped off at PDX and Trip and I will be making it there in a couple of hours. The amount of gear we have is absolutely completely rediculous - each bag needed to be weighed to make sure it is within our allowance and extra bags will be checked.
I want to send a huge thanks to all of the expedition sponsors:
NRS
Confluence Watersports
Sweet Helmets
Gerber
Magellan
Nemo Tents
Clif Bar
Brunton
National Geographic
Pelican
Adventure Medical Kits
5.10
OTB Footwear
Kokatat
ACR Electronics
Jet Boil
Natural High
There may or may not be updates while we are on New Britain. Internet access is sketchy, but it may exist.
I return on October 7th and then fly to D.C. on October 9th to begin a new project. Updates on that soon...
Cheers.
A Maser
I want to send a huge thanks to all of the expedition sponsors:
NRS
Confluence Watersports
Sweet Helmets
Gerber
Magellan
Nemo Tents
Clif Bar
Brunton
National Geographic
Pelican
Adventure Medical Kits
5.10
OTB Footwear
Kokatat
ACR Electronics
Jet Boil
Natural High
There may or may not be updates while we are on New Britain. Internet access is sketchy, but it may exist.
I return on October 7th and then fly to D.C. on October 9th to begin a new project. Updates on that soon...
Cheers.
A Maser
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Last minute planning
The last weeks have been super busy with endless logistical problems that need to be resolved and arrangements that need to be made. Almost all of our equipment and gear has shown up in Portland and tomorrow I am packing and shipping the first kayak from PDX to LAX, where it will be picked up by Kyle en route to New Britain. It's finally setting in that this thing is actually happening!
This week I am sending out last minute proposals for equipment we still need and getting all of my personal gear organized. You take for granted all of the things you use on a daily basis when you plan to be self sufficient on the level necessary for this trip. The pile of meds alone is a bit impressive.
The final mission before taking off is Outdoor Retailer in SLC this coming weekend. The huge industry tradeshow is the site of yearly sponsorship meetings, pitches, schmoozing, picking up last minute supplies for the trip and partying with old friends. Maybe a little personal marketing in the employment department as well...
Check out this site with interesting PNG facts and info: http://www.bugbog.com/gallery/gallerypng/pngdoor.html
I've been savoring the last summer days in Hood River. This town is super cool and a prime location for those inclined to shred - whether it be on a board, bike or kayak; powered by wind or gravity. The last few days have been long and filled with great kayaking and downhill biking with plenty of partying at night to leave you exhausted at all times!
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