A Herper's Life ...

Can it really get much better than sitting on a veranda in the middle of nowhere, in a country on the other side of the world ... enjoying a coffee while a young green tree python explores your fingers??

Wolfgang was mesmerized by this little gem that some local boys brought to us, and I couldn't resist grabbing his camera and sneaking off this shot. 

Up until then I had respected Wolfgang immensely as one of the eminent Herper's of our time for his taxonomic brilliance, but let's face it .. the poor schmuck was spending his days stuck in a lab in Wales (of all places!!!) pouring over lab results amid pipette tips and PCR thermocyclers ... hardly a picture that conjures up an image of a dedicated field herper...

Spending time in PNG with Wolfgang changed all that ... his enthusiasm, commitment and dedication to herping were unparalleled ... and I guess this picture captures the true to life image ... this guy really loves herps!

A Herper's life ... Wolfgang kicking back after a hard day in the field admiring a juvenile green tree python (Morelia viridis) after helping it remove a difficult slough.

A horned beauty ...

Wolfgang and I caught this Papuan death adder (Acanthophis spp) while spotlighting roads near Port Moresby before leaving on our taipan collecting trip.

Death adders are responsible for approximately 10% of serious snakebites in PNG, with many of the bites taking place at night when people are walking around outside in bare feet. This was driven home on the night this snake was caught as we passed dozens of people walking barefoot by the side of the road!

Papuan carpet python

Wolfgang and I found this beautiful carpet python (Morelia spilota variegata) stretched out on the road one night, and rescued it from a vehicle that was rapidly bearing down.

These colourful little pythons rarely exceed 1.5 metres in length, and are remarkably pugnacious. Captive snakes often do very poorly - simply refusing any and all foods offered to them. In Central Province most are found in lightly wooded savannah country, although they occasionally turn up near swamps, banana plantations and in village gardens.

Liklik Raskols ...

Kids from all over the world could learn a lot from the youngsters in Papua New Guinea. No matter how much time I spend there I never cease to be amazed by just how happy and cheerful the children are ... despite lacking all the material things that kids in better developed countries take fore granted.

Everywhere you go in PNG you'll find a gaggle of "liklik raskols" ... young lads with the biggest, cheekiest and most delightfully infectious smiles on their faces.

Now I know that this is a herp website, and social commentary is probably a little bit out of place, but part of any great herping trip is getting to know the locals, and the more I learn, the more I like. Now if only the kids in the so-called developed world could learn that fun isn't something bought at Toys'R'Us...

Samting gut kaikai tasol!

Bush foods are the staple diet of rural Papua New Guineans.

Fresh fruit and vegetables like taro, yams, cooking bananas, sweet potatoes, pineapples, watermelon, kulau (coconuts), and pawpaw are all readily available in local markets.

Depending on where you are the markets will also have a variety of meats or seafoods including wild pig, cassowary, chickens, smoked wallaby (pictured above), mudcrabs, turtles, tilapia or reef fish. 

Trade stores sell more conventional items like rice, flour, tea, sugar and canned goods.

From time to time I have tried almost everything on offer, and without question all of the local foods I've tried have been tasty and nourishing, even if not always visually appealing.

Our group of enthusiastic volunteers in Moreguina

A 2.1 metre Papuan taipan

Wantoks ...

In PNG the term wantok basically refers to a person's immediate and extended family of both relatives and friends. Over the years I have made many good friends in Papua New Guinea, and never cease to be amazed by the kindness and generosity of complete strangers. 

On one trip the carburettor in a borrowed Utility gave up the ghost in the middle of nowhere at about 10.30pm. Within an hour two PMV's and a 4WD going in the opposite direction stopped to help, and while some of the ladies on the PMV's lit a fire and cooked food for everyone, the guys put their combined mechanical skills together. By the light of a kerosene lantern, the carburettor was dismantled, cleaned and reassembled. Once the engine fired, everyone climbed back aboard their PMV's and headed off with waves and shouts, while the guys in the 4WD turned around and insisted on following me the 90 kilometres back to Port Moresby - just to make sure I had no further trouble! 

How often do you get that sort of help in Australia (or England, Europe or the USA)??

You call this a highway...??

One of the greatest problems facing rural Papua New Guinean's is the parlous state of the Nation's road network. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars of aid poured into the country from overseas, the custodians of that aid still apply funds to road building in a completely disorganised and adhoc manner that has resulted in little if any real improvements.

Travellers in PNG have to consider the conditions they may encounter when planning travel in the bush. Even in what is generally considered the "dry" season (May-October), roads can become impassable with just a smattering of rain. 

In my studies of snakebite in PNG I have come across many cases where snakebite victims have died of slow asphyxiation in the back of bogged ambulances.