We flew out of Port Moresby around 3:30 in the afternoon.
If you’ve never flown into a regional airport in a developing country, you might be surprised that all the landing, taxiing, turning, and takoffs are made on a single runway.
It’s also typical to see old broken-down planes parked just off of the tarmac as you land.
We had great visibility for the first 20 minutes of the 50-minute flight to Alotau. I got a few nice shots of the coast from my window seat. One of them shows the natural course of an ocean-bound river.
In the picture you can see many, many “false rivers” (lakes that have been left behind when the river changes course), islands cut into the middle of the river. The different-colored patches of vegetation reflect both the age and the diversity of the plants. Near the center of this same picture, you can also see a wisp of smoke, a common sight in PNG. People use fire to clear fields for cultivation and frequently burn their trash (even on city streets).
False rivers–there is something poetic about that; I wonder if the term was coined by some lost explorers. The aerial of the river area is beautiful ….
Kathy C.
Susan–
The blog is fantastic…thank you. Love the shot of the river. Looking forward to hearing about what comes next.
Best,
PC
Will list your blog in the next PNG Gossip Newsletter due out on the 26th of January. Online since 1998.
Enjoy your PNG adventures especially Alotau and Milne Bay.
Susan, this has been a great adventure for us at home following your trip. The pictures are great and the updates take us on a trip of a lifetime. Hopefully your knee is on the mend and looking forward to visiting with you this spring at the garden. Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.
There are actually quite a few false rivers in Louisiana from the Mississippi River and its many tributaries. When you are on them, it’s really hard to tell you are on a lake and not a river – especially in wetland areas where the water may be flowing.