Trip to Lae, and up to today

Our time in Ukarumpa is fast coming to an end. Since I last posted, we’ve been on a trip to Lae, out on the coast of PNG. While there, we spent one day doing work, and another half day sightseeing at The Rainforest Habitat, which is near the campus of the University of Lae. There was a large aviary under a net outside, and I saw all kinds of birds – beautiful blue Victorian Crowned Pigeons, a Toucan (it was perched on the sidewalk railings, and one in our group stood there petting it!), lorikeets, a parrot, and a bird of paradise (he apparently sheds his long, beautiful feathers some times of the year, and this, unfortunately, was one of those times). Aside from the aviary, there was also an outdoor habitat with a few more birds (cockatoo, cuckoo, and a few others not coming to mind at this point which were in cages), cassowaries, a couple of tree kangaroos, and a big fat crocodile. It just laid in its habitat with its mouth wide open. In the indoor facility, aside from lots of local crafts, there were 3 pythons (2 adults and a young one) in glass cages; some in our group had the “pleasure” of observing the feeding of little chicks to these snakes, although I declined. They also had a large python, probably about 7 feet or so long, which they brought out to their store counter and allowed to curl up around one of the posts. I was brave enough to touch it for about a second. Another girl in our group, who had previously had a pet python, stood next to it and petted it for awhile longer. She eventually held the snake; I was satisfied with the level of bravery my one touch had required.

In all, it was a great trip out there. We picked up some crocodile meat at the supermarket (an experience unto itself; wall-to-wall people, security guards, and more employees than we could count!) to bring back to Ukarumpa, and a few supplies for our stay. I made breakfast for us in the mornings, and was relatively pleased with the banana pancakes I “invented” (not having the benefit of any kind of recipe, I was just relieved that what I made had resembled pancakes!). I also made a beef stew for our dinner on Saturday night, the leftovers from which we stuffed into a juice container and froze to preserve for our road trip back.

Since returning, we’ve been able to largely wrap up the audit work and enjoy a few more days with our new friends. I spent an evening with a college friend who’s recently moved over here, and it was so nice to hang out with a friend! We convinced the couple that manages the guest house to join us for a game of Apples to Apples last night (we’ve played a lot of Phase 10 on this trip, and the change of game alone was a treat :) which was also a lot of fun. I will attempt to post photos at some point in the future, but internet here is limited so it may have to wait until I’m back in the swing of things in Australia.