Our flight to Mt. Hagen was only going to take an hour but that was just the flying time. We woke up at 5:15, had breakfast and piled into the hotel van to go to the airport. Security was easy and we were sitting in the gate area rather quickly. The boarding area was a shared area and the four gates were lined up in the front, we sat with Jun in the comfortable seats. Our flight was listed as on time, and we boarded the plane thinking we were about to fly to Mt. Hagen. We sat down strapped in and actually started backing up when the pilot announced that there might be a bit of a delay. A plane that was taking off had a flat tire and was stopped at the end of the runway and needed equipment to come and take it back to the gate area. At first they thought that would not take long but then he told us it would be taking two hours and we needed to get off the plane. As they say the waiting is the hardest part. This is why Jun booked us on the first flight so that if anything happened we would still be able to get to Mt. Hagen. 2.5 hours later we were back on the plane and taking off. I had the window seat and had nice scenery out the window to watch. The hour flight went fact and we were landing in the town of Mt Hagen before we knew it. It is the third largest city in PNG with 55,000 residents. Tanya was our driver to the Kumul Lodge which was an hour to the northwest and in the direction of the actual Mount Hagen. The lodge is at 8500 feet and it gets chilly there. We got into our rooms, put on another layer and headed out to the bird feeders to see some birds. I got 10 new lifebirds before it was time for dinner. We were the only folks there that night and so it was cozy if a bit chilly. We found out around this time that there was no heat in the rooms only electric blankets to keep us warm.
Getting on the plane
Way out there is the disabled plane
This is a private plane for the mining company OK Tedi
Heading back into the terminal
The propeller plant takes an hour and a half, the jet takes an hour
Other planes are taking off
Now it is our time
There is always a fire burning somewhere in PNG
New settlements
We fly out over the ocean first
See some islands
We turn back towards the west
Some reefs
Where is my snorkel?
A new building downtown, is it an aquarium?
Stiltsville
Heading inland we pass some large rivers
Some slow flowing and muddy
Some are fast whitewater rivers
Farms
Mountains
We have left the plane a second time, this time for good
A crowd at the exit
A big market
Big black kites flying all around
Tall mountains all around and we are already at 5600 feet
Nice spread on the hilltop
More mountains
Tall weeds on the side of the road
Very verdant soil
The creeks are wild
Mont Hagen itself
A traditional hut
Oh my some rain is in the forecast
The large roof in the lodge
Comfy chairs and a wood burning stove
Our lodge room #2
Very rustic settings
Our room is also sparce
Ken's bed
Our back porch
Flowers
More lodges
Looking for a small mammal seen on a tree
The jungle where the feeders are
Flowers everywhere
We walked behind the huts
Found some bugs
And berries
Flowers
I was cold in our hut without heat, but I don't think it was really -14 degrees F
Heading back into the main lodge
Passing more flowers
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We settled in with some hot tea and watcher the feeders. First lifebird is the Ribbon Tailed Astrapia LB#1
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Next is the Brem's Tiger Parrot LB#2
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The Belfords Melidectes LB#3
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This beautiful Brown Sicklebird is LB#4
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These Smokey Honeyeaters LB#5 have an interesting trait where the yellow patch seen above will turn red when the bird gets excited. We watched one and it went from bright red to yellow in only a minute or so.
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The Mountain Mouse Warbler LB#6 was hard to photograph and i inadvertently deleted the only photo that I took
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The Fantailed Berrypicker LB#7 came in for a quick bite
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We saw the Gray Streaked Honeyeater LB#8 behind our hut
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This immature White Winged Robin LB#9 was super cute
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The flashy Stella Lorikeet LB#10 was also just a brief visitor
A cute little fly
Time to warm up and eat dinner
