Papua New Guinea is blessed with wilderness lodges offering unique PNG experiences for surfers, divers, bird watchers, trekkers and intrepid travellers of all sorts.
Just for starters, you can stay deep in the jungle in the East Sepik at Karawari Lodge, in overwater bungalows at Nusa Island Retreat, or in fishing heaven at Baia Sportfishing Lodge.
In this issue, we feature Walindi Plantation Resort at Kimbe Bay on New Britain Island, where the diving is out of this world.
Grant Thomas (who also covered Lissenung Island Resort for Paradise earlier this year) is the lucky photojournalist to check-in for us at Walindi.
He says the dramatic mountainous backdrop and the fringing coral reefs make the perfect location for nature lovers and divers.
“Papua New Guinea has some of the best scuba diving in the world and Kimbe Bay has some of the most biodiverse and rich coral reefs on the planet,” he says.
There’s a level of luxury at Walindi, and two liveaboard dive vessels.
Less luxurious but still totally compelling, is Nuli Sapi, a back-to-basics retreat on Logea Island, a 90-minute boat ride from Alotau.
Nuli Sapi’s basic overwater bungalows are connected by a boardwalk and once came to the attention of global travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet, which described the retreat as one of the world’s best eco-stays.
Our photojournalist Olga Fontanellaz falls for the place, too, and says the only mod cons are “mosquito nets and cold SP beer”. What else could you want?
In this issue we also visit the Enga Show, report on PNG’s annual fashion week, provide a rundown on some of PNG’s best markets, investigate a diet craze sweeping the world, and meet up with tough guy Jonathan Tuhu, a patriotic Papua New Guinean kick-boxing champion.
There’s a lot more, too, including stories by local writers, and our usual food, hotel, book, film and gadget reviews.
Happy flying and reading.
Robert Upe, Editor
Paradise Magazine July/August 2019 (click to view)
