DAY 53 - RABUAL, NEW GUINEA, MARCH 21, 2010

TODAY WAS AN EYE OPENER TO REAL DEVASTATION AND POVERTY. RABUAL HAS THREE VOLCANOES ON THE ISLAND OF PAPAU, WHICH IS WHERE WE DOCKED. ONE OF THE THREE, TAVURVUR, ERUPTED IN 1994 VIRTUALLY DESTROYING THE MAIN TOWN. SURPRISINGLY THERE WAS NO LOSS OF LIFE AS MOST RESIDENCE LEFT THE ISLAND PRIOR TO THE ERUPTION. THE THREE EARTHQUAKES PRECEEDING THE VIOLENT EXPLOSIONS WAS WARNING ENOUGH FOR THE PEOPLE TO EVACUATE.

ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE RESIDENCE RETURNED TO THE ISLAND MONTHS LATER, THE VOLCANO HAS SPEWED VOLCANIC ASH UNTIL SEPTEMBER OF 2009. ASH AS DEEP AS SIX FEET LINED THE ROADS THAT COULD BE TRAVELED. THOSE AREAS NOT CLEARED WERE BUMPIER THAN A POTHOLED STREET ON THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.

OUR EXCURSION TOOK US TO SEVERAL OF THE SMALL COMMUNITIES NEAR THE SITE OF THE VOLCANO. MOST FIELDS WERE BARREN, HOMES ALMOST NONEXISTENT AND VERY LITTLE SHADE FROM THE COCONUT TREES. THICK VOLCANIC ASH COVERED EVERYTHING. THE LOCALS DISPLAYED THEIR WARES AND THE CHILDREN SANG SEVERAL SONGS LEARNED IN SUNDAY SCHOOL.

THE LOCALS ALL SEEM TO HAVE TREMENDOUSLY HAPPY SPIRITS WITH SMILES FROM EAR TO EAR. THE CHILDREN ARE THE SAME WAY. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SEVERAL OLDER YOUTH AROUND THE AREA WAS NOTICEABLY VOID OF OLDER MEN.

I MENTIONED TO GEORGIA IT WAS VERY HARD TO DISTINGUISH THE BOYS FROM THE GIRLS. THEIR HAIR IS ALL THE SAME LENGTH AND BUSHY. THE STRANGEST OBSERVATION IS THE BLOND, CURLY HAIR ON THESE DARK SKINNED PEOPLE.
EVEN THOUGH THE VOLCANO HAS STOPPED SPEWING ASH, BELLOWS OF WHITE SMOKE CONTINUES TO RISE HIGH INTO THE AIR. THE VOLCANO WAS ONLY A SHORT DISTANCE ACROSS THE INLET AND THE PHOTO OPT WAS IDEAL.

THE SHIP STOPPED IN RABUAL LAST YEAR WHEN THE ASH WAS STILL BEING EMITTED FROM THE VOLCANO. THE CONDITIONS WERE SO BAD SEVERAL OF THE PASSENGERS BECAME ILL. WHEN THE SHIP LEFT PORT IT WAS COVERED IN BLACK SOOTE AND NEEDED TO BE WASHED DOWN AS THEY HEADED OUT TO SEA.

OUR SECOND STOP LED US OVER MORE ROADS COVERED IN DEEP COMPACTED BLACK ASH TO ANOTHER COMMUNITY NEAR BOMBED OUT JAPANESE AIRCRAFT FROM WWII. RABUAL WAS A MAJOR AIR STATION FOR THE JAPANESE FOR THEIR RADES AND ATTACKS. IN AN EFFORT TO HIDE THE AIRCRAFT FROM U.S. BOMBERS THEY WOULD MOVE THE PLANES INTO THE THICK COVER OF THE COCONUT PALMS. THE U.S. EVENTUALLY FOUND AND DESTROYED THEM.

THE THIRD STOP WAS THE LOCATION OF NATURAL HOT SPRINGS CREATED FROM THE HEAT OF THE UNDERGROUND TUBES LEADING TO THE VOLCANO. THE SPRINGS WERE ONE LONG WALK FROM THE PARKING AREA. THE TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE HIGH 90’S, THERE WAS NO SHADE AND THE BLACK ASH UNDER FOOT ABSORBED THE HEAT OF THE SUN, WHICH IN TURN DRAINED EVERY BIT OF ENERGY FROM YOUR BODY. THE GLARING HEAT MADE THE RETURN WALK TO THE VANS SEEMED 5 TIMES LONGER.

THE VANS TRAVELED BACK THOUGH THE SMALL TOWN OF PAPUA AS WE SLOWLY CLIMBED THE HILL TO THE CENTER FOR VOLCANIC ACTIVITY. THE MEASURE EARTH MOVEMENT, EARTHQUAKES AND THE LIKE, FROM 16 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS NEAR AND AROUND THE VOLCANOES. THEY RECORD OVER 80 TO 90 QUAKES EACH DAY. SOME ARE HARDLY NOTICEABLE OTHERS ARE OF GREATER MAGNITUDE. AS I STATED ABOVE, THE AREA WAS EVACUATED PRIOR TO THE 1994 ERUPTION BECAUSE OF THE CLOSE MONITORING THAT TAKES PLACE AT THE CENTER.

THE MONITORING CENTER SITS HIGH ABOVE THE TOWN AND IS A PERFECT SPOT TO CAPTURE THE LUSH VEGETATION OF THE AREAS NOT DESTROYED, THE BAY AND THE VOLCANO. THE AIR WAS CLEAN AND CRISP.

AS WE RETURN TO THE SHIP EACH OF THE MEMBERS TRAVELING IN THE VAN EXPRESSED THE HOPE THAT COLD MOIST CLOTHS WOULD BE WAITING OUR ARRIVAL. THE EXPERIENCE OF PLACING THESE TILES ON THE BACK OF THE NECK ON A HOT, STICKY, MUGGY DAY IS BEYOND DESCRIPTION...REFRESHING IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

GEORGIA AND I WASTED VERY LITTLE TIME IN GETTING TO THE CABIN AND CHANGING INTO OUR BATHING SUITS. WE WERE IN THE POOL IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES. I REALLY CAN’T REMEMBER SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE POOL AT THE SAME TIME. THERE WERE ONLY TWO TOURS OFFERRED TODAY BUT WE ALL EXPERIENCED AND MANAGED TO SURVIVE THE HEAT. I THINK THE POOL WAS FIRST ON EVERYONES MIND UPON RETURNING TO THE SHIP. WE STAYED IN FOR OVER AN HOUR.

WE GAVE THE BRISTO ANOTHER TRY TONIGHT. THE RESULTS WERE FAR BETTER THAN THE TWO PREVIOUS VISITS. AFTER DINNER WE WENT TO THE LOUNGE AND SAW AN UNBELIEVABLE DEMONSTRATION OF MIND WIZARDRY. I’LL TELL YOU ABOUT JUST ONE OF THINGS THIS GUY DID.

HE GAVE THREE DIFFERENT BOOKS TO THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. HE FLASHED THE BOOK IN FRONT OF ONE PASSENGER AND STOPPED FLIPPING PAGES AT THE PASSENGER’S INSTRUCTIONS. HE TOLD THE PASSENGER TO PICK THE FIRST WORD ON THE PAGE AND CONCENTRATE ON THE WORD. AFTER A LITTLE SHOWMANSHIP, HE WROTE THE WORD ON A BIG TABLET CONCEALLED FROM THE AUDIENCE. HE THEN ASK THE PASSENGER TO SAY THE WORD...AND GUESS WHAT WORD WAS ON HIS TABLET...THE SAME WORD.

WITH THE OTHER TWO PASSENGERS HE HAD THEM TURN TO THE PAGE NUMBER THAT THE FIRST PASSENGER HAD CHOSEN HIS WORD. PASSENGERS 2 AND 3 COULD PICK ANY WORD ON THE PAGE FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE BOOKS. HE DID THE SAME THING WITH EACH OF THEM AND GOT THE WORDS CORRECT. TRULY AMAZING.