Papua’s mystique piques the imagination of the explorer, naturalist, anthropologist, politician and traveller in you. What about Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya) would not intrigue? The diversity in lifestyle and culture of the indigenous people, who speak more than 250 languages, is matched only by Papua’s biodiversity and geography. The terrain covering half of New Guinea, the planet’s second-largest island, ranges from the misty peak of Puncak Jaya (5050m) – which features permanent snowfields and small glaciers – to the steamy island groups of Biak and Raja Ampat, just shy of the equator. Endemic wildlife gracing this vast expanse of jungle, mountain, swamp and sea include such weird and wonderful creatures as cassowaries, dugongs, showy cenderawasih (birds of paradise), egg-laying echidnas and tree-dwelling monitor lizards.
Category: Papua Irian Jaya
The Baliem Valley is the most accessible gateway to tribal Papua. It’s a place where koteka (penis gourds) are not yet out of fashion, pigs can buy love, sex or both, and the hills bloom with flowers and deep purple sweet-potato fields. Unless you land here during the August high season, when Wamena and nearby villages host a spectacular festival with pig feasts, mock wars and traditional dancing to attract the tourism buck, you will be outnumbered by Christian missionaries (a constant presence since the valley’s ‘discovery’ in 1938) and Javanese transmigrasi. You may also be startled by blatant evidence of Indonesia’s neocolonisation of Papua, but mostly you will marvel at the mountain views, roaring rivers, tribal villages and at the tough but sweet spirit of the warm Dani people (for more on visiting the tribal interior, see boxed text, below).