Giluwe 2022

On November 20, our Belarusian friends Anastasia and Konstantin Lapko made a successful ascent on the top of the Giluve volcano. In Papua New Guinea, they traveled according to the 7 Summits Club tour program with local guides. For the first time, representatives of the Republic of Belarus climbed the highest volcano on the Australian continent. Congratulations to our friends and we wish them a successful completion of the Seven Volcanoes program!

The 7 Summits Club Guide Svetlana Kotlyar from Papua New Guinea:

Greetings to all from Papua New Guinea from the group "SPAPUANATY"!  Yesterday we continued the excursion program and together with our local partner Mr. Pym visited his native village — Paiya Village. Here we spent almost the whole day watching the life of the locals.

A traditional dish "mumu" was prepared especially for us — a pig cooked underground, lined with hot stones and banana leaves, as well as potatoes and sweet potatoes.  It turned out delicious!  There is a large pigsty on the territory of the village. Pigs are literally worth their weight in gold here. Pork is cooked extremely rarely - on big holidays, weddings, Christmas, it is very expensive. But pork can be exchanged for something more useful and necessary for the villagers.

There are also two huge flightless cassowary birds and a marsupial animal couscous. Mr. Pym showed us a small collection of artifacts: carvings, stone gods, shields.  While waiting for the preparation of mumu, the locals showed us a little performance, dressing up in bright costumes, decorating their faces and decorating themselves with colored feathers and shell necklaces. And after that, we joined their dances, which amused the local kids a lot!

Our program has come to an end, and today it's time to say goodbye to the mysterious and exotic Papua New Guinea! See you in March!

The 7 Summits Club Guide Svetlana Kotlyar from Papua New Guinea:

Greetings to all from Papua New Guinea from the SPAPUANATY team!  Yesterday (November 16) our excursion program started!  After breakfast we drove to the town of Mount Hagen. First we visited the local market where vegetables and fruits are sold — a very colorful place! We bought watermelon and the ripest mangoes.

Today we got acquainted with three local tribes. They moved from one village to another through gardens and coffee plantations.

The first tribe we visited is called the Mud People. Their bodies were decorated with clay, and on their heads were huge clay masks weighing at least 10 kg. They showed a small performance, after which our local guide Raphael told about their culture and lifestyle. According to legend, they were defeated by an enemy tribe and had to flee to the Asaro River. They waited until dusk before trying to escape. The enemies saw them rising from the muddy banks, covered with mud, thought they were spirits and fled in fear.

 The next village is a 30-minute drive away. Here, to the beat of the drums, we were given a performance by the famous Huli Wig tribe. They decorate their faces with traditional Papua flowers and wear headdresses made from their own hair and feathers of the bird of paradise.

The last tribe that we managed to get acquainted with is a Man from Cimbu. Here the aborigines decorated their bodies with charcoal and clay, copying spirits with skeletal bodies.  It is believed that these spirits are deceased people from their tribe who have returned to help and heal them from diseases.  

And in the evening we had a festive dinner, presentation of certificates and medals for climbing.

The 7 Summits Club Guide Svetlana Kotlyar from Papua New Guinea:

 Day one: transfer to the Base camp at an altitude of 3700. After an early breakfast, we got into the car and went to meet our volcano Giluwe. We drove from the lodge for about an hour. Here we met with a team of our porters and guides. The main guide of them Stanley is a man of 40 years old with a fairly good English, which he learned while communicating with tourists.

 The first part of the route passed through a dense rainforest. It is almost always wet and rainy in Papua, the day before the downpour went until 2 a.m., so rubber boots, capes on backpacks and raincoats are a very important element of the outfit. Stanley deftly cut a path for us with a machete, freeing the path from unnecessary overhanging branches, at the same time telling about the culture of the locals.

 — Wet leaves of this plant can be washed, they are very refreshing. There are a lot of useful plants growing in our forests and we know how and for what they can be used.

 He showed trees whose leaves are used to build roofs of houses. We saw a beautiful Bird of paradise, which is a symbol of the country. We are as much a curiosity to Papuans as they are to us. The locals are watching us with great interest, looking at clothes and various little things that are familiar to us, but unfamiliar to them.

 After a couple of hours of trekking, we left the forest and got into a meadow area, walking parallel to the river. The ground under our feet is quite swampy, but on the first day we did not use rubber boots, we managed with trekking shoes. The entire track took about 6 hours, about 13 km long with a climb drop of 1000 m. Closer to three o'clock in the afternoon, the rain began and continued until 2 a.m., forcing us to worry about tomorrow's exit to the mountain.

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Svetlana Kotlyar reports from Papua New Guinea:

Hello to the 7 Summits Club from Papua New Guinea! Today at 9 am our team "SPAPUANATY" in full force stood on top of the highest volcano in Australia and Oceania — GILUVE (4368 m)! From the base camp at an altitude of 3700 we reached the summit in 3.5 hours. The last 150 meters of a fairly steep climb we went using a rope for belay, which undoubtedly added extreme for the participants! The mountain turned out to be not so trekking!

We decided today to go down to the bottom and move to the lodge. We were insanely tired during this busy day, we were on our feet for more than 12 hours today.

We are resting now, all the details are tomorrow!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Svetlana Kotlyar reports from Papua New Guinea:

The stars have come together! Today, all the Papuan gods were kind to us and our team members finally came to Mount Hagen, passing the longest queues at Mort Moresby airport!

After lunch, we stopped at the supermarket, bought everything we needed and went to our Magic Mountain Lodge. In 40 minutes we reached the place by a scenic road. The team members are pleasantly surprised by our proximity to nature, abundance of greenery and beautiful views.

We settled into the lodge, drink coffee, chat about the mountains, travel, laugh a lot and discuss plans for tomorrow. By brainstorming, the name of our group was born: "SPAPUANATS".

Tomorrow, early in the morning, the "SPAPUANATS" are moving into the mountains to climb the highest volcano of Australia and Oceania – Mount Giluve!

We will be out of touch for at least 2 days, wait for messages from the satellite!

The guide of the 7 Summits Club Svetlana Kotlyar reports from Papua New Guinea:

Less than two days have passed since I got to Papua New Guinea!  The route to the country of exotics is far from the easiest:  Moscow 🇷🇺- Abu Dhabi 🇦🇪 - Manila 🇵🇭 - Port Moresby 🇬🇳 - Mount Hagen ..

I haven't gotten this far yet, and I found out about the existence of the names of some cities from the list just a month ago. The last weeks of preparation have been stressful.  Sheets of correspondence with a partner, detailed discussion of the program, communication with participants, booking tickets, constant monitoring of covid rules at the docking points, waiting for a visa...

 It seemed that a little more and my eye would start twitching! Before the trip, I slept for three hours and, having finished collecting a 35-kg bag, moved to Sheremetyevo.  I remember the face of a nice girl Tatiana at the reception and her sincere surprise in her eyes: "Where is this?!"

Manila caused the most concern, which did not completely cancel the covid restrictions. I had to get my luggage, change the terminal, walk across the street and check in for the next flight. All these actions equated to a visit to the Philippines.  What happened in fact: at the exit of the plane, I was met by two nice girls with a sign with my name on it. They found my luggage themselves, helped me carry it, put me on a bus to another terminal, checked me in for the next flight!  And at the same time, in fact, they did not look at any documents, except for a visa to Papua!

 In Port Moresby, one meticulous aunt tried to remove the sausage from my trunk! But I said that we, tourists, in your Papuan mountains, there is definitely no way without it! Last domestic flight to Mount Hagen. Permitted baggage is 16 kg. The surcharge for the preponderance is around $ 60-70.

— Where are you from?

— From Russia. I'm going to Mount Hagen, tomorrow I'll meet the group and we'll go to the Giluve volcano!

They smile..

— There is no need to pay anything extra. Do you know where to go on a domestic flight? Let's take you out!

Papua New Guinea welcomed me so hospitably!

Tomorrow I meet a group and - let the adventures begin!

Hurray! There is the summit of Giluwe and the first swallow that flew to Papua New Guinea! After 2 years of pandemic, Papua New Guinea finally opened to tourists in February 2022. And the first participant in the program of our climbing project with local guides  this weekend successfully climbed on the top of the highest volcano in Australia and Oceania - Giluve (4368 m). This mountain is part of the "7 Volcanoes" project. Congratulations to Adrian on the summit! And we invite new people to make this unusual journey to another world.