Visit to Nobonob

We also went back to Nobonob, the site of our orientation. It brought back lots of memories of our 14 weeks spent there.

This was Farrar, our waspapa during orientation, where we spent our first overnight in his house.

Climbing buai trees.

Leif and Tia still remembered how to climb buai trees.

A first van ride for Alan and Alberto!

Alan and Alberto(brothers) were excited to take a ride in the van.
We were happy to hear that Fransiska had been able to start school. She is about 9 or 10, and just started grade one. Often, children start school later, until the family can afford the school fees.
Somal was always such a big help to us when we were living in the village. She helped us wash laundry, collect firewood, and wash dishes.
It didn't take long to get a game of UNO going.

More pictures from Tokain!

Samuel had started to walk, since the last time we had seen him.

Walking back from the garden.
Charles and Stella drying their cocoa beans.

Drinking Kulau.

We forgot just how hot it is on the coast. By the time we walked to their garden, we were so hot and thirsty. Robert immediately climbed a coconut tree, and brought us all down Kulau to drink.

Working in their Gardens

When we first arrived in Tokain, Donna took us to their garden, where all the men were working at pruning the cocoa trees. Everything had grown so much in the past 7 months that we had a hard time recognizing it.
Tia, next to a pineapple plant she had planted before we left.
Clemens, pruning a cocoa tree.
Cole and Robert

Visit to Tokain!

We were able to visit the village of Tokain, where we had spent 5 weeks living during our orientation. It was so fun to surprise them, and reconnect with them again.
Our special friend Alan, with Tia.
Robert, Donna and Samuel. In Donna's right hand she's holding tapiok, a root food, that they eat from their garden, and her left hand she's holding "Oreo" cookies we brought with us.
Samuel, was taking a nap in his bilum in the garden, when we first arrived.

Close Quarters!

The first 2 nights we stayed in this rustic cabin next to the ocean. It was a beautiful spot to snorkel. We didn't sleep great at night due to a leaking roof, and coconuts falling a few times on a copper roof, but the kids had a great time.

Pit Stop

The one pit stop we made in our five our drive, was at Jacob's lumber yard. He was used to travelers stopping by to use his 'Lik lik haus.'

Driving in PNG

When you drive in PNG, anything can happen. Parts of the road were in decent shape, but parts had so many potholes, that the going was pretty slow, and parts had been washed out. There were 12 of us in the van (8 kids), so it was pretty interesting to say the least.

Trip to Madang!

Two weeks ago, we drove with another family, back to the coastal lowlands, near Madang. The scenery was beautiful. We drove from Highlands, through a mountain pass.