For those seeking the ultimate adventure in natural surroundings, a recommended place that has captured the imagination of many travellers is the Sepik River Region, located on the north coast of Papua New Guinea.

Here you will find everything from ancient cultures and traditional arts and crafts to exotic birds and wildlife including crocodiles. A popular tourist activity is river canoeing, using motor-powered traditional canoes. The region is world-renowned for the 1,100-kilometre long Sepik River, its ancient and primitive arts and is considered Papua New Guinea’s equivalent to the Amazon and the Congo rivers.

The mere mention of the word the Sepik also conjures up images of the secret men’s house, the haus tambaran but its best-kept secret is the Sepik Blue (Dendrobium lasianthera), a species of orchid that is endemic to this region.

But the Sepik is much more than just the river, its people and arts. It’s about magnificent coastlines with white sandy beaches, beautiful volcanic islands, tropical rainforests, grassy plains, high plateaus and plenty of war history.

The region’s provincial capital and centre for commerce and an international airport is Wewak, a coastal town littered with remnants from World War 2 and the only major town in PNG with a white-sandy beachfront, perfect for swimming, light surf and as a perfect anchorage for visiting yachts.

The Sepik River region’s fame and importance is largely due its richness in art and the river itself serves as a source of inspiration and influence for its people, their lifestyle, traditional beliefs, customs and art forms, reflected in statues, masks, neck-rests, stalls, hooks, shields, baskets, pottery and skin cutting.

Sepik art is known to be richer and having more variety than any other region in the Oceania Region. The main area that is rich in art is the middle river region, a densely populated area with nearly 30 large villages of the Iatmul language group people. Tucked away in this corner of Papua New Guinea is the small river village of Aibom that has captured the attention of the ceramic world with their masterpieces of pottery. Many potters and researchers from around the world visit the Aibom pottery village every year.

From the air, the Sepik River and its many tributaries and estuaries looks more like a collection of brown snakes of numerous sizes, meandering over the forests floor for 1,100 km on its way to the Bismark Sea.

The Upper Sepik is mountainous and known for its insect cults while the Lower Sepik is primarily swampland and its people’s life and culture is based around their relationship with and reverence for the crocodile.

The Middle and Lower Sepik experience seasonal floods that come as a blessing because they sweep hard wood logs down-stream that are collected and used as material for building houses and carvings. Up and down the river, people make use of the rising river levels to move between villages, attend to their clan and tribal obligations and trade fish, sago and clay pots.

Wewak is a spread-out town and is clogged in places by swamps and mangroves and has an extensive mountain range as its backdrop. For the holidaymaker, this is a scenic town and has its fair share of war history to tell. The town and surrounding hills are littered with remnants from the war. A must-see is Mission Hill that houses Japanese AA guns, the look-out at Boys Town and Wom War Memorial Park, the site of the Japanese surrender in WWII.

Further out of town, a recommended stop is Maprik, south of Wewak and known for the haus tambaran and yam ceremonies and masks while Angoram is the best place to pick up Kambot storyboards.

For those wanting a feel of PNG’s own version of the sun, sand and the surf, there are many off-shore islands close to Wewak that are perfect for this activity, among them, Mushu Island which has some of the most pristine blue waters, high pounding waves and unexplored coral reefs in PNG.

North of Wewak, the volcanic island of Kairuru is worth exploring. The main area of focus is the Catholic mission station and school and there is enormous potential for nature-based and adventure activities. You can trek following traditional gardening routes or if you would rather stay close to the sea, there is snorkelling or you can choose to observe thermal springs or take a hike to a beautiful natural lake in the island’s mountainous interior.

The author, Steven Mago is a journalist, travel writer and tourism promoter. He was born in Papua New Guinea but for the time being is living in Sydney. Steven can be contacted on: stevenmago@hotmail.com

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