So an R. Crusoe & Son traveler asked me on a recent journey.
My name is Cheryl Sturm, and I’m R. Crusoe’s vice president of marketing and development. Papua New Guinea isn’t on everyone’s travel wish list, and—to be perfectly honest—I’m not the world’s best cruiser.
But my answer was simple: I had a hankering to visit a destination that was remote and exotic, a place that didn’t feel like everyone else in the world had visited before me. Seeing photos of colorfully dressed tribal members living traditional lifestyles on beautiful South Pacific islands had piqued my interest. I wanted to meet these people and experience their world in person.
After considering my options, I concluded that there was one choice: expedition cruising. It really is the only way to see some of the world’s most hard-to-reach places, if you want to travel in a manner that makes you feel pampered—and even a bit spoiled.
And why not?
As a result, my sister and I joined a terrific cruise around Papua New Guinea aboard the Orion, a member of the excellent Orion Expedition Cruises fleet of small ships.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is blessed with a population of remarkably friendly people living a lifestyle that goes back many generations. PNG is comprised of half of the island of New Guinea (the other half is part of Indonesia) as well as an archipelago including New Britain. These tropical South Pacific islands are bucolic and surrounded by crystal water and stunning sandy beaches.
Each day of our journey was marked by some extraordinary event: a chance to explore lush landscapes, meet welcoming people (many of them English-speaking), witness astonishing dances, and feel the beat of rhythmic music. We found the adventure a perfect antidote to the ho-hum of daily life.
Each evening, the superb Orion staff summed up our day and previewed the following day. Orion Expedition Cruises took great care to maximize our visits while exercising sensitivity toward both the local people and PNG’s environment. Our visits helped to provide people we met with an economic incentive to protect their land while supporting their efforts to raise their standard of living.
We found it tremendously refreshing to visit a part of the world that feels untrampled. It was inspiring to see people wrestle with preserving their precious traditions but also working to provide their children with better educations and improved healthcare. And we were encouraged to discover that thoughtful, well-considered travel to PNG supports positive efforts to find that critical balance.
If you’re interested, please click here to view my personal photo log of the journey.