Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea
by Kira Salak
from National Geographic
Following the route taken by British explorer Ivan Champion in 1927, and amid breathtaking landscapes and wildlife, Salak traveled across this remote Pacific island-often called the last frontier of adventure travel-by dugout canoe and on foot. Along the way, she stayed in a village where cannibals m was still practiced behind the backs of the missionaries, met the leader of the OPM-the separatist guerrilla movement opposing the Indonesian occupation of Western New Guinea-and undertook an epic trek through the jungle. The New York Times said "Kira Salak is tough, a real-life Lara Croft." And Edward Marriott, proclaimed Four Corners to be "A travel book that transcends the genre¨It is, like all the best travel narratives, a resonant interior journey, and offers wisdom for our times."
Four Corners: Into the Heart of New Guinea-One Woman's Solo Journey
by Kira Salak
from Counterpoint
A story of extraordinary danger and adventure as a very young woman attempts, alone, a trip across Papua New Guinea.
After her first taste of the freedom found in travel at age nineteen, Kira Salak spent the next several years of her youth as a constant, impulsive traveler. Barely old enough to drink, she leaves her life behind-graduate school, a job, a boyfriend who loves her-to attempt the impossible, her dream of following in the footsteps of British explorer Ivan Champion, the first person to successfully cross the island of Papua New Guinea in 1927. She is motivated by something much deeper than simply wanting to be the first woman to make such a crossing, and as she composes this memoir she still searches for answers. Why would a lone traveler, a very young woman at that, want to embark on such a dangerous and mysterious trip? Where was her fear? Or was this all an attempt to court and indulge her fear for some larger purpose? No one, on the road or at home, could quite understand.
Kira Salak matches her adventures in these vivid landscapes with prose that is quite simply thrilling. More than a travel book or adventure story, Four Corners is a work of self-discovery in extreme, of being at great risk in places that are on the edge and being, most of the time, their equal.
Papua New Guinea Map by ITMB (Travel Reference Map) (Travel Reference Map)
by ITMB Publishing
from ITMB Publishing
Folded road and travel map. Scale 1:2,000,000. Distinguishes roads ranging from national highways to major roads. Legend includes lodges, lighthouses, reefs, shipwrecks, beaches, scuba diving ares, fishing, mangroves, swamps. Elevations in feet. Indexed.
Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling: Papua New Guinea (Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Guides)
by Bob Halstead
from Lonely Planet Publications
Smoking volcanoes, lush lowlands and over 600 islands rimmed with coral reefs support a marine biodiversity in Papua New Guinea (PNG) that is unequaled anywhere else in the world. The warm Solomon and Coral seas offer shallow snorkeling on fringing or patch reefs, and deeper dives along the sheer walls of submerged volcanoes. History buffs will marvel at WWII wreckage found above and below the sea. Populations in the swelling cities, remote villages and settlements along the Sepik River are as varied as the country's terrain. This guide describes PNG's best dive sites, with full-color photos throughout.
- dive site depth range and weather conditions
- common, unusual and hazardous marine life
- topside information, including cultural and natural attractions
- diving services and live-abroad information
- 15 easy-to-read maps
- includes top dives in the Solomon & Coral Seas
New Guinea Ceremonies (Photography)
by David Gillison
from Harry N. Abrams
When David Gillison first arrived in New Guinea in 1973, ceremonies marking birth, death, initiation, and marriage were still being conducted by the Gimi tribe as they had been for thousands of years. Today, many of the Gimi's indigenous traditions, like those depicted in Abrams' acclaimed African Ceremonies, are disappearing forever.
Gillison's brilliant photographs and intimate text capture the remarkable dramas enacted during what was probably the last-ever Hau, a two-week fertility festival. Ranging from creation myths to scenarios of affairs, clan jealousies, and family strife, these playlets, ultimately forbidden by Westerners, are no longer performed. Gillison movingly preserves them here for history. The only photographic record we have of the Gimi and their unique theater rituals, the book also depicts the major effort to save the spectacular rainforest home of the Gimi, which stands as a world model for indigenous conservation.
Papua New Guinea (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
by Adrian Lipscomb
from Lonely Planet Publications
Papua New Guinea seems like the last place on Earth. Its terrain is so rugged, its jungles so impenetrable, that even at the end of the 20th century it remains largely unknown by the West. As late as 1993, new tribes were still being discovered in this land of more than 700 languages and as many cultural and racial groups. Travel there is neither particularly easy nor particularly safe, yet--more and more--intrepid travelers are making their way to the island's shores. Lonely Planet has produced a guidebook to help visitors get the most out of their time and money. Papua New Guinea, by Tony Wheeler and Jon Murray, pulls no punches; it is up-front about the potential for trouble on the island--everything from crime to insurgency. But while the authors acknowledge the possibilities, they are hardly alarmists, noting that a lot of trouble can be avoided if you "listen to local advice, and above all, make friends with people who live in the area you are visiting." Good advice, no matter what your destination.
Color photographs; sidebars containing fascinating tidbits of history, culture, language, and more; and plenty of detailed maps make Lonely Planet's Papua New Guinea a good read and a great guidebook. So, if you're thinking of stepping off the beaten path on your next trip, consider Papua New Guinea--and Lonely Planet's excellent guide.
This down-to-earth guide is the essential resource to help you discover the real Papua New Guinea, one of the last frontiers for travellers. Whether you want to canoe down the Sepik, see Rabaul's smoking volcano or experience local hospitality in village communities, this guide will show you how.
- 46 fully revised maps, including a colour country map
- practical advice on health and safety
- the latest on where to stay and eat
- comprehensive historical, political and cultural background
- details on activities such as bush-walking, diving and bird-watching
- advice on getting around by plane, trade boat and PMV
- easy-to-learn guide to Pidgin
Three Worlds Gone Mad: Dangerous Journeys through the War Zones of Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific
by Robert Young Pelton
from The Lyons Press
In war-torn Sierra Leone, as he wanders through the world's most expensive peacekeeping mission, he meets an ex-mercenary who hunts pirates, a ragtag militia whose members believe they have supernatural powers, and white men with "diamond fever."
In Chechnya, Pelton enters the jihad with three traveling companions - an American muhjadin who wants to die, a young woman seeing her first war as a journalist, and a grumpy cameraman. Pelton brings this motley crew down the secret muj trail from Georgia and into terrorist-filled bunkers, suicide squad-manned front lines, and SCUD missile attacks.
Finally, Pelton chronicles his two-year odyssey to meet one of the most elusive rebel leaders in the world - Francis Ona - who has survived numerous assassination attempts and who threatens to kill any white man who sets foot on his tiny island, Bougainville.
Filled with tension and intrigue, THE HUNTER, THE HAMMER, AND HEAVEN offers a dramatic vision of war and humanity.
Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea
by Yvon Perusse
from Lonely Planet
Papua New Guinea is one of those destinations so far off the beaten path that good guidebooks for the region are few and far between. Trust Lonely Planet, however, to rectify that situation. In Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea, author Yvon Pérusse introduces you to this remote and rugged land. Because roads are a rarity in Papua New Guinea, walking is often the only way to get from one place to another; it's also a great way to really see the country, meet the people, and open yourself to myriad experiences often missed by those in cars.
There are 10 main walks detailed in Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea, plus many other suggested walks and some variations on the primary ones. They vary in length, difficulty, landscape, and culture, ranging from a fairly easy three-day stroll along the coast of Milne Bay to a strenuous six-day trek through the Owen Stanley mountain range. Maps, notes, and practical information are included in each chapter, and color photographs throughout the book provide plenty of inspiration to follow in Pérusse's footsteps.
39 Maps
Encounters With the Dani
from Steidl/International Center of Photography
In her most recent body of work, acclaimed photographer Susan Meiselas pieces together verbal and visual traces of encounters with the Dani--an indigenous people of the West Papuan highlands--from the nearly six decades since their "discovery" by the West. In this subjective, fragmentary history, Meiselas draws from the experiences of missionaries, colonists, anthropologists and modern-day ecotourists, all of whom have come to the Dani's Baliem Valley and transformed the conditions under which they live. The ambiguous relations between power and representation--whether in the form of Dutch colonial patrol notes from the 1930s, the sensationalized media accounts of the survivors of a downed U.S. army plane in "Shangri-La" from the 1940s or a tourist's snapshots from the 1990s--become visible in Meiselas's book, through both the contradictions and unexpected continuities of the gathered materials.
Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea
by Tobias Schneebaum
from Grove Press
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