Category — Arawa

Arovo Island was a super famous resort before the Bougainville crisis. Now  an old jetty and seawalls are the only reminders that their was a resort here.
But its still beautiful, with white, super sandy beach, jungle, a ton of birds and more. [Read more →]

“ When you are travelling in the canoe at night, you have to slap the side of the canoe with the paddle every time you bring it out of the water, so the dugongs know that you are approaching,” the young man explained to me.

Mother & Child at Pidia Village

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If you ever get to Arawa, the market in the dead center of town is the first place you should go to have a ‘taste’ of Bougainville.

Big bunches of banana that you would buy for K5 ot K10 in Port Moresby are 50t!!!!! Awesome!!!!! Sweet potatoes, sweet Bougainville taro’s, ‘choko’ greens, beans and other leafy vegetables, smoked fish and jungle protein, so much food here. [Read more →]

(Continued from previous post, the Panguna Mine Experience Part1)

Before the crisis, the Panguna town supported 3,500 people, married and single that worked at the mine.

Facilities included supermarkets, post office, banks, schools, medical center, chemist, schools, cinemas, gymnasium and sports equipments, taverns and more.

Staff was housed in either the married quarters or the single quarters depending on their status. [Read more →]

At the end of November 2010, I was waiting for a PMV at Arawa to head up to Panguna.

Steps Up to Old Residence at Panguna. More picture at bottom of the post.

I was a bit worried about getting past the much talked about No Go Zone at the Morgan Junction a few kilometers outside of Arawa town. [Read more →]