12 Oct 2017

Exploring Manus Provience

Manus Island

Our last two days have been spent in Manus provience, the first was an action packed day on the beautiful little Bipi Island and the second a busy day in and around Lorengau. After a calm nights sail from the Sepik River we arrived at Bipi shortly after dawn.

With the sun shining the reefs were clearly visible and almost as soon as the anchor was dropped a flotilla of small dugout canoes began to appear and then surround the Spirit of Enderby. A short zodiac ride brought us to the carefully manicured shores of Bipi Island where our hosts enthusiastically escorted us with song and dance to to town center, here exceptionally energetic dances were followed by speeches and demonstrations. The entire ships "management" was required to be in the center of the area as the welcome dance was performed around us. Then there was plenty of time to join the birding walk or find a friend and wander through town learning about life on Bipi Island. During the afternoon we enjoyed our first snorkel excursion with some interesting snorkelling along the shores of Bipi Island between the anchored zodiacs, after the morning had been sunny and hot the afternoon cooled with clouds and gentle rain.

After heavy rain overnight, the morning at Lorengau dawned overcast but bright and first ashore were the birders who headed off up into the hills in search of the numerous endemic species of Manus Island. The rest of us weren't far behind heading off to explore Lorengau and Manus Island, our vehicles took us to a vantage point overlooking Lou (pronounced Low) Island and onto Los Negros Island where we enjoyed a couple of hours with the exceptionally hospitable locals and Longi Village, they had a great display of artifacts in their temporary museum as well as some delicious local cooking to sample.

Our afternoon was spent at Hawai Island where there is a beautifully shaded beach and a protected area for swimming and snorkelling. Now we are headed for the remote shores of the seldom visited Mussau Island.