The strange and mystifying country of Papua New Guinea is an interesting one. First of all, it’s just south of the Equator, which means it SHOULD not snow. In fact, it should be really warm there. Although it does have lush, green jungles, up high in the mountains of New Guinea, there’s snow there all the time. The country’s highest point, Mount Wilhelm rises 14,793ft ( 4,509m ) above sea level. The country has over 600 different islands and over 800 indigenous, or native languages – that’s a lot!
It was discovered that the land has been drained over a course of 10,000 years. The swampy land, called the Kuk, is what’s being drained. Also, the land is native to the world’s only poisonous bird, the Hooded Pitohoui ( Pitohui Dichrous ). This bird is native to Papua New Guinea.
This is crazy, but the Indigenous people of Papua New Guinea practiced cannibalism and head hunting. It was rampant until the 1950’s! The native people also hung their enemy’s heads as decoration! Archaeologists believe humans arrived in Papua New Guinea some 50,000 years ago, presumably by sea from southeast Asia. The villagers of Papua New Guinea eat only two meals a day, boiling or roasting the food. Staple foods include starchy vegetables such as wild sago, breadfruit, yams, taro, sweet potatoes, and rice complimented with wild greens, several varieties of bananas, coconuts, mangos, and other fruits.
Competitive feasting events, (aka: food fights) between big men and chiefs of the native peoples, feature oratory, dancing, singing, drumming, and feasting that goes on for days, along with the payment of bride-prices and other exchanges.
Until 1933, the country used sea-shells as it’s national currency. ( If you spent a day at the beach finding seashells, you’d have a lot of money!!!) After 1933, the country switched its natural currency to the Kina, a form of money. Over all, I think the country of Papua New Guinea is one of the strangest, wildest, curiously interesting countries there is.
