To the Jungle!

After another night spent at the Melanesian Hotel, we and our baggage went down to Lae's dock to set out for Bau. In past years, the group rode to Bau on the aptly named banana boats (so named for their shape- more on those later), so veterans were surprised when we found this largish vessel, Rainforest I, waiting for us at the harbor:



Here's the crew all aboard Rainforest I. The trip down the coast took about 10 hours, during which time we played 20 questions, watched dolphins (no photo, sorry), and gorged ourselves on tropical fruit as much as our land-lubberly sea-sick constitutions would allow.




We arrived at Bau late at night, and couldn't make out much of the village. The only light came from scattered lamps in various houses. We got under our mosquito netting and passed out.

When we awoke the next morning, the first thing we saw the tropical sunrise coming over the Sea of Solomon:



Little ghost crabs were scurrying hither and thither along the beach, disappearing into tiny burrows when approached. The best way to catch (and then photograph) one proved to be relentlessly harassing it until it lost the energy to keep running, at which point it quietly lay down in the sand and awaited its fate. I chose not to eat it, however, and after this photo was taken it burrowed back down under the sand.

(as always- click to enlarge- it's advisable on this one)



Here is a pic of the guesthouse, and of the village thereabouts. The guesthouse is right on the beach, and sits at the Eastern extremity of Bau village. The construction you see here is pretty typical throughout Bau, and indeed a number of the villages we went to.




This is looking out the back of the guest house, towards the rainwater-fed shower. The locals had planted a number of tropical plants (native and exotic) along the avenues of the village to spruce things up:



Coconuts! In a tree! Coconut palms were universal by the coast- stretching back towards the jungle as far as the eye could see. Coconuts are nifty because you can eat the meat, as well as drink the milk, which actually became a major source of hydration for us. Wild coconut milk is rich in just about everything your body needs, and has a vaguely soda-water tang overtop of the coconut taste. It might be my favorite taste in the world.

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One of the local men noticed me wondering around taking pictures, and volunteered to show me the proper way to retrieve and eat coconuts. First you climb a coconut tree, aided by a palm-fiber band around the feet, and arms massively stronger than mine.



Then you drive a sharp stick into the soil, and gouge off the husk, like so:



This was my first experience with wild coconut milk, and like I mentioned before, it made an impression. The "meat" was good as well.

We only had one full day in Bau, much of which we spent playing in the surf with the village children. Foreigners are a huge novelty here, and the kids were a lot of fun to play frisbee and swim with.



Finally, here are some pretty flowers that I thought looked an awful lot like morning glories, but as far as I could tell from looking at the vines, weren't.



That's all for Bau, next is the trip up the river and into the jungle proper, if you will.