Seniors Seek Adventure in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is usually not rated highly on the “bucket lists” of senior tourists.  However, it has recently become a “hot spot” for adventure tourism.  If adventure is high on your list, seniors, then you will find it here.

Not very large, but on the 300 islands there are over 850 different languages spoken. The capital and largest city is Port Moresby. Look over this Survival Guide to Port Moresby to answer your FAQs. Spread out into the Solomon Sea, New Guinea is just north of Australia. An interesting fact for me was that New Guinea is the second largest island after Greenland.

The People and Regions

The people are mostly descendants of the Papuans – Melanesians closely related to the islanders of Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. There are just over 5 million people living in Papua New Guinea – more than a third of them in the rugged Highlands.

The traditional Melanesian cultures are kept alive in elaborate rituals that accompany deaths, feasts, marriages, compensation ceremonies and initiation rites.  Human remains have been traced back as far as 50,000 years ago.  The history of New Guinea is fascinating. Nearly 85 percent of the main island is carpeted with tropical rain forest, containing vegetation that is a combination of Asian and Australian species.

Seniors Learn About Papau New Guinea

Your one-stop comprehensive URL is here with Things to Know, Tour Packages along with Cultural Festivals. Get to know the regions and discover a wealth of tropical scenery not to be missed. Officially named the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, it is a country in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. The western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

It is richly endowed with natural resources, including mineral and renewable resources. Yes, this is PNG. There is a lot of additional information on this URL but I do like the map. Senior travelers might be interested in some of the cultural events in PNG that includes a Crocodile Festival.

For the Serious Senior Adventure Traveler

I knew that I had hit it right when I mentioned above the term “adventure.”  By golly, I found a website with that name.  Find out about the location, geography and climate. Lonely Planet is always a resource with tons of information.  They list 322 Things to Do on PNG and these 26 views provide a nice overview of PNG.

Maybe senior visitors will be fortunate enough to encounter a Huli Wigman or two. These peoples have lived in their region for 1,000 years and recount lengthy oral histories relating to individuals and their clans. PNG is one exciting and arousing environment.  Enjoy your adventure. jeb