New Guinea is the world’s second largest island, after Greenland. The human presence on the island dates back at least 40,000 years to the oldest human migrations out of Africa. Because of the time depth of its inhabitation and its highly fractured landscape, an unusually high number of languages are spoken on the island, with some 1,000 languages, more than most continents, having been catalogued.
Today started earlier than any civilized human would expect with a wake-up call at 5 fricking 30. Someone with some authority thought it would be a good idea to do the zodiac cruise at dawn, before breakfast. I dutifully went to bed by 10 pm but was wide awake at 1:30 until about 3:30 am, so I wasn’t my at my best when I stepped in the zodiac. Ralph, one of our photo gurus, took one look at me and let me sit in the front, probably thinking that I wouldn’t be able to focus all that well with only one eye open!
Today we were looking for birds instead of fish, and we found more than I expected - Herons, Sea Eagles, Yellow Bellied Sunbirds, Hornbills, Osprey, Parrots, and Terns. I managed to get a decent photo of a Tern as it was coming off the water with a tiny fish in its beak. These birds are amazing in that they fly all the way from the Arctic to the South Pacific and back again each year!
I guess that made my early morning worth it! And now I must run because our guest speaker, is giving a talk on "Pirates, Head-Hunters, Cannibals and Michael Rockefeller: The Story of the Asmat”. How can I possibly resist a talk with a title like that. We will be visiting the Asmat people tomorrow - and here I was worried about Great White Sharks. But I understand that they only eat the brain, hands, and testicles of a victim, so I guess two out of three ain’t bad!