Our flight to Port Moresby was at 9 AM so we headed out of the hotel at 6 AM in an Uber. Everything went pretty smoothly until we got to the immigration line. My passport did not work in the automated gate and I got pulled aside to meet with a live agent. My passport was then scanned, looked at with a bright light and finally inspected with a magnifying glass. I was free to go after that. Things did not go any smoother at the security gates. I had already checked in my roller bag and the backpack that I had was stuffed with my toiletries, the bungie cord that I used to attach the backpack to my roller bag, my cameras and all the lithium battery powered devices that I was bringing. On the first pass through the x-ray the bungie was identified and confiscated, it could be used as a restraining device. The second run through the x-ray machine was no better. I don't know what they were looking for but they completely unpacked my backpack and ran all the contents through on two different trays. After that, once again, I was now free to go. That was easier said than done, as now I had to repack everything and it was all a jumble. Now we were ready to head out. We were flying coach so we had to stand around a bit before we could board. But finally we were on our way to Papua New Guinea!
Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play
Play the why cant I feel my legs game
Waving to Leslie down under
A trio of local outfits
Jun is our main bird guide
The hotel's van
Lots of folks out on this fine sunny day
Ken got excited when he saw this plane
It is the same model that his dad flew in while they lived in Kenya
Street corner market
Mostly fruit and veg
Buai is an addictive narcotic product of the betel nut that people chew for its stimulant effect. They do not swallow and instead spit out this thick red goo that dries out and looks like a bloody crime scene
The stacks of green nuts are the betel nuts
Cute cranes at the reception
Pictures of the birds on our list
Lovely wooden walls
Our room is on the ground level
Pappa bear's bed and baby bears bed. Ken graciously gave me the bigger bed
Look Ma, no mold!
An AC unit to cool you off whilst shaving
Ken getting settled
All areas are under cover to stay out of the rain
Who da Buddha?
A garden area too
Nicely decorated
Rock shrooms
This is the Raggiana Bird of Paradise, which will end up being the first BoP that we see
Each morning we were greeted with a new floral display
