Busy start, packing, a visit by a yellow-helen swallowtail butterfly…
breakfast, checkout (put a general tip on the tab) and to the river.
On the way to the airfield (literal), our last look at real Karawari sago production.
Dana did a little entertaining for the kids who’d come for Sam’s takeoff.
Sam arrived on time…
and we were soon airborne with a group of five divers…
headed for Mt. Hagen in the Western Highlands…
and its premier resort, Rondon Ridge (part of the TNT chain, where its Australian owner has a retreat).
On the shuttle ride there we stopped at a local supermarket in Mt. Hagen – a sharp contrast with where we’d spent the last three days.
Mt. Hagen has a population of ~40,000.
Like the others, the lodge was impressive in its appearance…
as was our suite.
In the latter, however, function was sacrificed for form. More on that later.
We quickly set off for a little birding. No BOPs, but on the way we passed several wild orchids and others…
and we did see some interesting birds:
Dinner in the lodge was quite good, and familiar (the cook flew with us from Karawari).
On retiring, I discovered the suite’s first dysfunction: the toilet is down a flight of stairs from the bedroom – inconvenient for an octogenarian bladder in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar setting.
Dana and Roger Travels 