Karawari-Fiji Sun - Air Niugini

Air Niugini wants more Fijians to see more of Papua New Guinea.
From March 27 Air Niugini will commence an additional service to its current twiceweekly
service. Flights to Papua New Guinea via Honiara will now operate out of Nadi
Airport on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
For those that cannot make the three flights each week, the airline will even take you
into the deep heart of Papua New Guinea from the comfort of your armchair.
Simply switch on your television to Fiji One on Tuesday night at 7pm.
There you will find a one hour television presentation featuring Karawari in the East
Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea.
Like most of the East Sepik province, life revolves around the river – in this case the
Karawari River which is just one of many tributaries of the mighty Sepik River.
This ancient landscape with its sparse population of river villages and its peoples has
remained unchanged over many millennia.
Our journey to Karawari commenced in Port Moresby, the capital of PNG with the
arrival of a special guest from the Royal Thai Orchid Society.
Chitti Ratanapeanchai arrived via Air Niugini’s direct service from Singapore. Mr Chitti
is one of Thailand’s leading orchid growers and has a huge orchid farm two hours drive
out of Bangkok. Many of his new hybrids are being developed using pure-form Papua
New Guinean orchids.
Mr Chitti was understandably very excited about going directly to the source of these
natural wonders. He had only read in books about the pristine environments and
habitats of the various species of Dendrobium orchids in Papua New Guinea.
After arriving at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby, we flew to Mt Hagen in
Papua New Guinea’s Western Highlands Province via Air Niugini’s domestic service.
In Mt Hagen we met with Bob Bates the proprietor of Trans Niugini Tours who would be
our host over the next five days as we set about exploring, learning, filming and
documenting the sights and sounds around us.
Trans Niugini Tours operates a number of very good eco-tourism lodges Papua New
Guinea which attract tourists who are prepared to venture into more remote areas to go
bird-watching, fishing, hiking, taking in the magnificent scenery or learning the unique
cultures and traditions of this fascinating country.
The lodges in Mt Hagen’s Rondon Ridge, Ambua in Tari, Southern Highlands Province
and Bensbach way over in Western Province near the Indonesian border are locations
which are truly beautiful. Each lodge offers its own unique experience of vastly differing
parts of the country, whether highlands or coastal wetlands.
Our destination on this trip was to be Karawari Lodge and to get there we flew by light
plane from Mt Hagen. The hour trip gave us chance to witness some amazing
geographical formations, from mountainous limestone cliff faces down to the low-lying
rivers and lakes upon which we would eventually commence our descent, before finally
touching down on the small grass airstrip at Karawari. On arriving we headed to the
Lodge that would be our base for the next few days.

The flight from Mt Hagen to Karawari showcases magnificent scenery of Papua New Guinea
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
The Karawari River witb Yimas Lakes in the background. Note the villages lining the river’s edge
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
Karawari Lodge is built on a lone ridge set among a vast expanse of tropical lowland
rainforest. The main building is in the style of a Haus Tambaran or “spirit house” and
contains many unique examples of Sepik art.
Go out to the verandah and you will be awestruck by the view over the Karawari River
and out towards Arambak country. It is literally as if you can see forever across the vast
and ancient landscape. Look down to the forest below and you are likely to see a giant
hornbill swooping down among the trees.

Karawari Lodge built in the style of a traditional Sepik spirit house.
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
A typically awe-inspiring sunset viewed from Karawari Lodge
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
On our trip we were joined by Papua New Guinea’s leading photographer Rocky Roe.
As you will see in the television program being able to combine still photography with
video footage gave us another perspective on capturing this timeless landscape and all
that lives within it.
In all Rocky produced about 1,500 images on the trip, giving myself and editor Tapusi
Kone the difficult job of trying to hand pick those for inclusion in the program.

The main purpose of our visit to Karawari was to explore Yimas Lakes in search of rare
orchids in their most pure form. So on the second day we headed out onto the river
where we travelled past villages many of which were flooded due to recent rains. The
houses are built well above the water and dugout canoes are always at the ready. The
river dominates life here. The swollen or flooded river is never an inconvenience; it is a
way of life.
Alongside the river villagers can be seen busy in the daily process of making sago –
pounding and washing the sago pulp in unison in the sapping heat and humidity of the
day. Further along the river mothers and their children are in canoes fishing for protein
to add to the sago diet.
On the Karawari River flooding is not an inconvenience. It is a way of life (Photo: Rocky Roe)
(Photo: Rocky Roe) (Photo: Rocky Roe)

(Photo: Rocky Roe)
Yimas Village is our final contact before we enter the vast expanse of the lakes. In the
village we are shown many traditional works of art as well as the skulls of huge
crocodiles that dwell within the lakes region.
The most menacing thing about crocodiles is that you will rarely see one. But ask any
of the local guides and they will tell you that, in certain parts of Yimas Lakes these
monsters are every where. They may even lurk beneath you. Swimming is not on the
list of things to do at Yimas Lakes.
Presenter Justin Tkatchenko at Yimas Village with a local and his “friend”
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
On Yimas Lake we spent the day in the safety of motorized dugout canoes in search of
what we had came for. The Holy Grail of orchids. An orchid so beautiful and pure in

form and color it is considered the queen of all orchids. The orchid is Dendrobium
lasianthera, popularly known as the Sepik Blue. Apart from the Sepik Blue which we
found in abundance, we found a number of other species, documented in the television
program.
God’s creation. The majestic Sepik Blue orchid
(Photo: Rocky Roe)

Mr Chitty from the Royal Thai Orchid Society inspects a sample with Justin Tkatchenko
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
PNG’s foremost authority on orchids Justin Tkatchenko with his most prized orchid
(Photo: Rocky Roe)
The presenter of our television program is Justin Tkatchenko. Justin is quite a celebrity
in Papua New Guinea and better known as the PNG Gardener or the Happy Gardener.
He is one of the foremost authorities on orchids in the region, which is matched by his
knowledge and passion for Papua New Guinea, its people and diverse cultures. In all
Justin and I have produced over twenty documentaries in Papua New Guinea and we
hope to share more of these with our friends in Fiji over coming months.
The stunning and ancient landscape of the region is further enhanced in our program
by a soundtrack provided by leading Papua New Guinea musician Pius Wasi who,

himself is from the East Sepik Province. Pius provides haunting traditional bamboo
flutes and his vocal talent to create a soundscape as timeless and ancient as the land
itself.
Karawari. A Journey into the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea premieres
on Fiji One on Tuesday March 22 at 7pm. Presented by Justin Tkatchenko.
Written and produced by Glenn Armstrong.
Useful links and contacts
Exclusive agent for Air Niugini in Fiji is Discount Flight Centre
For more information on Air Niugini and Papua New Guinea www.airniugini.com.pg
Trans Niugini Tours www.pngtours.com
About Air Niugini
Air Niugini was founded in 1973 and now employs over 1,700 people throughout Papua
New Guinea and the region. The airline has over 1,000,000 passenger movements
each year through a fleet of twenty aircraft comprising of 767s, a 757, Fokker 100s,
Dash 8s and two brand new Q400 Next Gen Dash-8 aircraft.
Air Niugini is the main provider of air transport in Papua New Guinea, servicing a
number of domestic routes and also offering cargo and charter services. The airline
also has a rapidly growing international operation with direct flights to Singapore,
Manila, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Brisbane, Cairns and Sydney.
Air Niugini will introduce a third service to Fiji via Honiara from March 27, 2011.
© Air Niugini 2011