Tufi Islands 15th April

TUFI – April 15th

OVERVIEW
The Tufi area on the South east coast of Oro Province is one of PNG’s best kept secrets, and that is an understatement!!! Situated on Cape Nelson, Tufi is a spectacular place to visit. Cape Nelson, jutting out into the Solomon Sea, was formed by the eruption of three volcanoes, whose fast flowing lava created rias, or fjords . Unlike the fjords of Scandinavia, the water is always warm and the bays are home to stunning coral formations and tropical marine life. The fjords are over 90 meters deep and rise vertically out of the water to over 150 meters. Wide entrances are protected by reefs and they funnel into the mountainside where mangroves form a canopy over narrow waterways. The vertical faces of the gorges are covered with moss and orchids and waterfalls cascade directly into the sea. The province is also the home of the largest butterfly in the world, the Queen Alexandra Birdwing, which was spotted by the guests that participated in the Suicide Point walk early in the morning. Oro province has a history of drama, from the early gold rush days to the devastating Pacific campaign of World War 2. The northern end of the Kokoda train terminates at the village of Kokoda and from here to the coast, and around the beaches of Buna and Gona, some of the most violent and bitter fighting of World War 2 littered with war relics and at Jiropa Plantation on the Buna road, there is a Japanese plaque commemorating their dead. Not long after the way Mt Lamington erupted, wiping out the district headquarters at Higatura and killing nearly 3,000 people. Today the provincial capital is located a safe distance from the volcano at Popendetta.

OUR VISIT We arrived just off the beach at Tufi at 7:00am with a view of white sandy beaches and stunning Fjords. Optional tours included Scuba Diving, the Suicide Point Walk that our new friends Gary, Jan and Paul had decided to take on and the Tufi Village Experience which over 90 guests had signed up for and with good reason, it was AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE, STUNNING, you get the picture.

Due to numbers the Tufi Village Experience group was divided into two groups, this means that different clans have the opportunity to perform and the wealth is shared among the village. I guess that this has created rather a competitive environment among the Clans and they try and outdo each other.

Barbara and I were on the afternoon Tufi tour so we headed to the beach to do some snorkeling and relaxing. Once again we spent nearly our entire allotted time in the water. The reef goes on forever and we found ourselves about 150m off the beach exploring coral and chasing fish. The reef at Tufi is more hard coral so there were not as many Clown Fish but there were large numbers of blue starfish and large schools of tropical fish.

The beach is stunning with white sand and large trees leaning over the water. As always there was a blue Orion Umbrella with fresh towels, cold drinks and sunscreen. Behind the beach were mangroves and a small creek and steep hills leading up to sago covered huts overlooking the blue waters… paradise found!

We also walked along the beach and chatted with some of the Tufi Villagers who were arriving for the afternoon Sing Sing. Their canoes were loaded down with bananas, pineapples and Tapa cloth for the markets.

At 12:00 we made our way back to Orion for lunch (did I mention yet that the food is superb and never ending and that my plans of hitting the gym each day are still just that, a plan). After lunch we boarded local boats from the Tufi Resort and met our local guide a young Australian guy who was born in Papua New Guinea, schooled in Queensland and now back for the lifestyle and diving.

We headed up one of the Fjords to join our local hosts and were loaded in small groups 2 – 4 onto very small outrigger canoes festooned with tropical flowers. This took place in the middle of the Fjord and it was just as much fun watching us all scramble onto the outriggers with camera gear, backpacks and shoes in hand. The hint for this is balance and doing what you are told, no sudden movements. From here we were taken upstream under spreading mangrove trees, through the PNG rainforest. All you could hear was the sound of paddles in the water and the screeching of local parrots and birds.

As the creek became shallow we disembarked the outrigger canoes and walked up into the jungle past sago palms, strangler figs and lush tropical rainforest. This area is utilized by Tufi village as a garden area for crops such as sago and banana. These are not like our western gardening plots, at first glance you don’t even realize you are standing next to a garden as it appears as overgrown as the rest of your surroundings, however, as you become more accustomed to the region you start to pick out cultivated areas.

Our hosts provided us with a demonstration of Sago harvesting and production. This includes the shredding of the Sago palm with an axe, the washing of the Sago in a specifically designed palm sluice, which captures the sago, a cornstarch type of product, and then the cooking of the Sago loaf in a very hot fire. Imagine bubble gum with a mild smoked flavor and grit, that is Sago. This was all carried out under the bluest skies, on the edge of stream surrounded by the greenest jungle I have ever seen……I know I am running out of words to use…. TUFI VILLAGE At the beach we were greeted by Tufi Warriors who then escorted us up the hill over white sandy steps to be greeted again by a corridor of Warriors and villagers in full traditional outfits, including stunning Bird of Paradise head dresses. It was actually overwhelming, the colors, sounds and sights. We were extremely lucky to view reenactments of village life and traditional dancing followed by demonstrations of Tapa Cloth production and weaving. Many of the Tufi women still go through a painful week long face tattooing process and we actually had an opportunity to view two younger girls who had just started the process.
Many of the local villagers had set up small stalls beneath the trees featuring shells, tapa cloth and carvings. I have two wonderful examples of Tapa cloth I will be bringing back to the US. Once again, I think I was the last person on the Zodiac as I was much too busy chatting with the local children and the Head Man, it is hard to tear yourself away from these wonderfully friendly and sharing people.

TAPA CLOTH Tapa cloth is made out of the bark of a tree from the hibiscus family. The bark is beaten until all the sap has been milked out and then sun dried. It is then dyed and colored by hand. The women wear the cloth as a wrap around skirt and the men wear it in the fashion of a loin cloth know as a malo.