Trips into the PNG Highlands were branded in my mind for all time.
Trout Permaculture
It was, I think, our second visit to the Highlands when we went to visit a friend of my father who was building a trout farm on the outskirts of Mt. Hagen. High in the hills, about an hour from town, was this high-tech fishery. The climate and the soils of the region are perfect for all agriculture. This gentleman was risking all to set up permaculture, especially in these wild parts. It was admirable what he made.
Large ponds for breeding, channels for diverting water from the chilly, fresh river nearby and all the stuff needed to spawn and breed table trout was there. It was fascinating. In one tank the fingerlings were blooming. Several thousand fresh water trout were loving the cool, clean water and the great climate. I recall he had a channel formed in the ground so the fish could swim, “upstream,” mimicking nature. Unfortunately, it was just next to the road to the nearby village, the, “Meris,” or local woman, would jump the fence and pluck a few of the trouts out for dinner. I think they were eating into the profits.
Image via Wikipedia
Travelling Down to Lae
It was on that second trip, after we visited the trout farm, saw a coffee and cocoa plantation and a few other great things, we jumped on a bus for the trip of a lifetime down the Highlands Highway to Lae on the coast. The Highway, carved from precipices and cliffs, was open for traffic to bring trade to the remote Highlands. Recently, though, ambushes have been common, with fewer tourists venturing along its’ winding stretches. We saw it during peaceful times, with few dangers, except for the highly enthusiastic driver who drove like the clappers. You held onto your seat taking those bends!
Our host on the bus was an amiable Highlander who loved chatting about his dreams for the Highway. He told us how he dreamt of a, “Super-bus,” for the route. “It will have a restaurant and shower,” he bragged. Our bus just fitted us five, so his ambitions for the coming years were touching. I imagined a futuristic, double-decker, atomic bus with accommodation for several hundred. I am sure it was just my boy-mind running away with me. I cheered his ambition as we almost died on that trip.
I felt let down upon arrival on the coast, so giddying was my adventure to the Highlands of PNG.
Image via Wikipedia
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