Papua New Guinea (PNG)
The Highlands
Parts of the Highlands remain untouched just as they were when first 'discovered' in 1933. In fact, some remote villagers have yet to see a white man.

The people are hardy and village life depends on subsistence farming. Visitors will be fascinated by the bright ochre colours and two metre high head-dresses swathed in plumes of the Bird of Paradise worn by the tribal elders. Dancing is proud and fierce at traditional sing-sings, with drums beating long into the night.

The Eastern Highland Province is a one hour flight north from Port Moresby or half an hour from Lae or Mt Hagen. Once there, you are surrounded by steep, rugged mountains covered in dense rainforest graduating to subalpine vegetation.

The valleys are blanketed in grass and the panoramic views contain every imaginable shade of green. Altitude varies from 600 metres in the south to Mt Michael's 2,750 metre summit.

Goroka, the largest town and capital lies at 1,600 metres or 5,000 feet above sea level.

Papua New Guinea
New Guinea (Mainland)

New Guinea is the second largest island in the world, after Greenland. The western half of the island consists of the province of Irian Jaya of Indonesia, and the eastern portion contains the bulk of the independent state of Papua New Guinea.
The island is generally long and narrow and is crossed by a long mountain range. The coasts are swampy, and much of the interior is covered with dense rainforests. The plains in the interior are fertile, and minerals such as gold, silver, platinum, and copper are found there, but transport is difficult. The island also has petroleum and natural-gas deposits.

Lying immediately south of the Equator, New Guinea has a tropical, humid climate. The fauna is similar to that of Australia, with only a few varieties of mammals, but the island is notable for the many varieties of magnificently coloured birds, particularly birds of paradise. The indigenous people belong to three principal groups: the Negritos, Melanesians, and Papuans.

The great majority of people subsist by hunting, fishing, and cultivating bananas, maize, cassava, sago, yams, and other crops.