A Rumble in the Jungle

I’ve decided to change the approach on tinnitus for this newsletter and write a travel article instead. We received a lot of positive comments on the one that I wrote on my trip to Europe. so I’m going to follow up with an insight into travel with a hearing impairment in an entirely different part of the world. Please appreciate the heading because it does give an insight into the approach you must take when travelling anywhere in Papua New Guinea – slowly, patiently, with lots of helpful, laughing locals giving directions and advice.

Jack and I had decided to make a nostalgic return to the country where we had worked thirty years ago. We had been told it wasn’t safe to go back to the Highlands (but later into our trip, we met several young European back- packers who had walked through these areas and had a wonderful time so we will “do” that area next time.)

My daughter had been to the Milne Bay area previously, so we decided to follow suit as we were assured of reasonable accommodation and safety. We based ourselves in the town of Alotau right at the southern tip of the Owen Stanley Ranges.

The trip to Port Moresby was uneventful and we made a hurried dash for our connection to Alatou. It was a short 45 minute flight and we were soon descending over the lush palm plantations surrounding the airstrip. The dash to catch the connection in Port Moresby resulted in temporarily losing all our luggage, including the emergency bag. Happily I was still clutching my “don’t leave home without kit” which included spare hearing aid batteries, safely tucked up in silica gel, and my old hearing aid and spare tubing. The eco-tourism lodge where we were staying for the fortnight was run by several couples, including some who were Australian. It was clean and comfortable and the local staff were really friendly. I found the soft voices a bit of a problem, particularly as they didn’t look you right in the eye, but I explained my hearing loss and we all had good empathy by the end of our visit.

The owners of Napatana Lodge were keen for the local staff to set up their own local tours and we were only too happy to act as their guinea pigs. The results were some wonderful experiences with the most hospitable of hosts. Our first trip was in a 19 foot open boat to visit the island of Samurai. It took two hours each way and we were drenched most of the time but they also stopped off in little coves to let us wander among the sad remains of WW2 PT boats and landing barges. I was hard pressed to keep my hearing aid dry but I pulled my hat down over it and hoped for the best.

All over the region there are very old burial sites called skull caves. Some of the staff at Napatana came from a village around the south east coast of Milne Bay and they wanted us to take a lot of digital photos which could be used for tourist brochures. An excursion was planned and we found ourselves loaded into uncle’s large ute, along with a lot of the staff who were only too happy to come for the ride. After a two hour drive along a solid but rough road along the shores of palm tree lined Milne Bay, we arrived at a remote beachside village and transferred into another open boat. The trip to the caves over the warm turquoise tropical ocean was a magical lead-up to the walk through the jungle to the mouth of the cave. It was dark in the cave and the eerie sight of 30 odd ancient skulls still lying where they were placed years ago was a little disconcerting. A young man came and stood beside me holding a jute bag containing half a dozen skulls so I decided to grab a great photo opportunity.

We placed a couple of skulls at the cave opening and the result was quite a spectacular shot. The local lads sheepishly admitted that the skulls were those of ancient enemies and not the family relo’s as most tourists were told.

Another wonderful experience was a visit to a combined schools Education Week dance exhibition across the Bay. The beat of the drums and the local costumes of the children gave this a really ancient cultural atmosphere.

A truly magical trip and I didn’t worry about the tinnitus at all (far too busy hanging on).