Business
River Kayaking In Madang
A touch of paradise, but better
The cloudy morning of Saturday April 5 was like the rainmaker had had enough of the sunshine in Madang and wanted a change.
For Marlene Samar, and me, that morning couldn't have been better for our first kayaking experience down a river.
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The kayak adventure was made possible by Malolo Plantation Lodge, a charming holiday getaway, situated 45 minutes by car north of Madang in Papua New Guinea.
River kayaking is a new attraction offered by the lodge and manager John Umba and hostess Jane Sapul wanted us to enjoy the experience.
We hit the road early, with three kayaks loaded on the bus, a big supply of buai (betel nut), and five thrilled hearts beating to the passing coconut palms.
Mike McCarthy, Operations Manager for Trans Niugini Tours, the company which owns Malolo, joked away in the front with driver Bugau Damon.
Kaut Idel, the lodge's dive master and tour guide, reassured us that the river should be calm despite the rain the night before.
We turned off the main highway at Matukar village and a Wasab Eco-tourism signboard greeted us.
John explained that Wasab provided activities for tourists such as bird watching, nature walks and bamboo rafting.
We soon realised what he meant as we passed spectacular views of the mountains and the sounds of wildlife.
It was 25 minutes of lush tropical scenery before we reached the main village.
We unloaded the gear - kayaks, paddles, life jackets and water‹and carried them down to the Wasab river. When we were set, John put all the rudders up and said: "You won't need to use the rudders."
He elaborated, after seeing the puzzled look on my face, that we would need paddles, not rudders, to steer our boats away from the banks. I soon found out he was right.
There were two double-seat kayaks and a single-seat one. Kaut and Marlene took off first, followed by Mike on the single kayak.
After securing the buai, mustard and lime in a plastic bag, I took my place behind Bugau and waved goodbye to John, who unfortunately had to take the bus back.
The current was moderate at the first few turns, but slowed down as the river got wider. Bugau steered the six-metre kayak using one of the double-bladed paddles, while I took pictures of the passing panoramic views.
Kaut and Marlene were about two turns ahead already.
"He has kayaked here three times before," Bugau told me when I asked about Kaut.
I wasn't surprised at all. Turning a corner, we came close to hitting the bank. Bugau used the paddle to push us away safely.
I looked down and suddenly, Mike ran into a few bamboo branches, made a three-sixty, smiled at us, and carried on down like nothing happened. It was his first time to kayak down a river, although he had sea-kayaked before.
He must have had a lot of adventures back in the United States, where he comes from.
"You kayaked on this river already?" I asked Bugau and he answered "No".
Parrots and lorikeets fluttered overhead and a cockatoo screeched madly somewhere in the trees. The bird life was thriving as we passed.
I was just beginning to admire the sights and sounds when we hit the spot Mike had just survived. I fended off the branches and leaves and almost lost my paddle and the camera, as Bugau struggled to get us through.
He compensated for that little bump by telling me about the villages along the river and the numerous language groups which Madang is famous for.
"Kaut and I are from Bagildig village and our language is different from Wasab and Joidig villages," he explained. We passed some people fishing on our left and he said morning to them in the Joidig tongue. They smiled, waved back and waited for that lucky bite.
We sped past Mike, who kept joking that the river wasn't wide enough as he hit another bank, and finally caught up with Kaut and Marlene, who were waiting for us at a corner. We took a break in the middle of the river, chewed buai with them and waited for Mike.
When he arrived, we set out together.
"This is Banab village," Bugau pointed to our right. "Their language is similar to us but different to Wasab and Joidig."
Banab was only four hundred metres down from Joidig, but had its own tongue.
Amazing!
By then the river was wider and partly covered by plants that you would find on bigger rivers such as the Sepik. Kaut saw the resemblance and began singing a song about the mighty river.
I asked Bugau and we turned our kayak so I could see the stunning backdrop of the trees mirrored in the river. The sight was awakening, like a special touch of paradise but only better.
We turned the last bend and saw the bridge, and beyond that, the thundering Bismark Sea.
We paddled under Dam Bridge and to the mouth of the river and paused for a breather.
A small conference was held on the gray sand where we revitalised our energy with water and talked about the past hour. We joked, laughed and nodded our heads in unison when I said the trip was "excellent".
The sea was calmer than the day before so we decided to hit the sea while it lasted.
I asked Bugau to show me Malolo and he pointed out a speck.
I looked at Mike and he added, "Another hour to Malolo." He looked five years younger already. In one hour's time he would look ten years older!
So there it was, the first hour of pure nature bonding gone and another hour of fulfilling adventure waiting for us.
We paddled out - Mike in front, we in the middle, and Kaut and Marlene behind.
Half an hour later, Kaut and Marlene were way ahead and Mike was way behind us.
We paddled parallel to the coconut palms swaying on the shore and the volcanic Karkar Island sitting behind us. I felt at ease, even though the kayak was more challenging on the sea.
We arrived at the lodge's beach to the grand welcome by John, Jane and some students from Divine Word University, who were having a picnic there. Kaut and Marlene, who looked like they've just won gold in Sydney, were talking to the enthusiastic students about their 'victory'.
Everyone clapped and cheered when Mike finally showed up.
Then it was off to the pool where we had lunch and rested our muscles.
After the two-day adventure stay at Malolo, I realised that there was a difference between what was logically true and what was fact. The truth was that Madang had all the features to make a holiday exciting and worthwhile.
The sad fact was that tourists and even Papua New Guineans failed to consider adventures like this. Nevertheless, one day others will come and share our experiences kayaking on the river.
Jeremy Mark and Marlene Samar are journalism students at Divine Word University in Papua New Guinea.
