Vakuta islander Klunie Patimo welcomes small numbers of visitors to his family home for the cultural experience of lifetime in a Trobriand Islands village. This is the ultimate in cultural tourism.
SETTING THE
SCENE : For nearly a century, the Trobriand Islands have been
studied by anthropologists, the most famous being Bronislaw Malinowski
who dubbed the Trobriands "the islands of love". He wrote
with passion about the beauty of the people, their islands and their
customs; little wonder that a succession of anthropologists followed
in his footsteps to sample, reflect and report. The Trobriand Islanders
have retained the social order and customs that they have developed
over centuries and although there has been some western influence,
only those elements that Trobrianders feel are appropriate have been
embraced. Tradition is still of utmost importance. Vakuta Island has
no electricity, no TV, no newspapers and no telephones. (However,
there is a music box that, if loaded with D batteries, plays cassettes
and CDs well into the night!). Throughout the year, but particularly
during the four to six weeks of the yam festival (August/September),
Vakuta village is alive with activities and good natured entertainment.
Often there are so many activities happening that, throughout the
day and well into the night, visitors are kept busy either participating
in the activities or photographing them. Anthropologist Annette Weiner
has written widely on the subject of the yam culture and explains
"the annual growing cycle of yams is so deeply interconnected
with the social and political well-being of Trobrianders that even
the months of the year are named after each stage of the growth."
When a chief or hamlet leader decides to show who he is by spreading
his fame among other villages, he organises a yam competition. Planning
for a yam competition commences more than a year before the finale
as it takes over nine months for gardens to be prepared, yam seeds
planted, nurtured and tended until finally the yams are harvested,
counting begins, carrying commences and dancing and all the free fun
begins.
So, there are activities all year around but the highlight is during
the four weeks when the harvesting, carrying, exchanging and storing
takes place. This can commence any time from early August to late
August on Vakuta, depending on the weather. (If there has been a good
growing season, the yams will be ready for harvesting early in August
but if the rains come late, harvesting will be delayed. The finale
party may also be delayed for a few days if the weather is inclement.
On Kiriwina they hold their yam festivals a little earlier in July/August.
The sandy beaches,
reefs and seas surrounding Vakuta Island are free from pollutants.
There is no logging in the area; just beauty and tropical nature at
play. The people of Vakuta have a rich cultural heritage that is nurtured
and treasured by all.
GETTING THERE:
Vakuta Island is infrequently visited by outsiders. The Island is
immediately adjacent to the largest of the Trobriand Islands, Kiriwina
Island but it is a two hour dinghy ride from Losuia, the main town
on Kiriwina. Dinghy transport is infrequent and must be pre-arranged.
Klunie Patimo's village home is situated in a hamlet of four of five
families on the fringe of the main village on Vakuta Island. Airlines
PNG (formerly MBA) runs twice weekly air services from Port Moresby
to Losuia. The flights continue on to Alotau and return by the same
route. On Tuesdays and Saturdays the flight leaves Port Moresby at
0630, arrives Losuia at 0740, departs Losuia at 0800 and arrives Alotau
at 0845. The return trip departs Alotau at 1120, arrives Losuia at
1205, departs Losuia at 1225 and arrives Port Moresby at 1335.
ACCOMMODATION:
Trobriands families do not live together in a single hut. In the Trobriands,
each member of the family has his or her own separate sleeping hut.
Other shelters or huts are built for cooking, eating and socialising,
although many of these activities take place in the open air. At Klunie's
village homestay visitors sleep in their own separate sleeping huts
built of bush material in exactly the same style as all the other
huts in the village, as decreed by a succession of Trobriand chiefs.
Visitors sleep on the floor of their sleeping hut, on woven mats (though
a foam mattress can be supplied if necessary). Visitors may need to
bring their own bed sheet, towel and mosquito net if required. The
weather is hot at night so no blankets are required. The homestay
is Type
1 ecotourism accommodation.
BATHING:
Villagers and visitors alike bathe in a beautiful limestone filtered
pool at the mouth of large cave, about one kilometre from the village.
Buckets of water are also available outside your sleeping hut, for
freshening up at other times. A private bush toilet (latrine) is situated
thirty metres from the village home. Expect to squat over a long drop,
and BYO spare toilet paper just in case supplies are low and demand
is high!
MEALS:
Meals at Vakuta Island Homestay are normally prepared on an open fire
by Klunie's family. Sometimes meals are cooked in claypots or metal
saucepans, and other times food is grilled over a fire or under hot
coals. At mealtimes, one vegetable that will always be served is yam.
The Trobriand Islands are famous for producing large, tasty yams.
(A yam is a tuber vegetable like a very large potato but with a sweeter
taste and more fibrous texture). And hardly a meal passes without
some crayfish or reef fish being cooked in one of a variety of ways.
A visitor favourite has proved to be fresh crayfish, straight from
the reef, cooked on the coals on the beach. Heavenly! Another favourite
is warm, freshly boiled crays, straight from the shell, with fresh
lime juice. Klunie and his wife Jennifer offer an array of different
reef fish either grilled or fried, always with yams as an accompaniment.
Boiled yams, roasted yams, fried yam chips, mashed yams. Depending
on the season, there is also normally a range of fruit including pineapples,
oranges, pawpaw and bananas.
ACTIVITIES:
Visitors to Vakuta are free to soak up the village environment without
being charged extra for every step taken, as seems to happen in some
other parts of PNG. However if your daily activities require a guide
to accompany you away from the village, expect to pay K50 per guide
per day. If you require motorised dinghy transport, dinghy hire is
K250 per day for an operator and an assistant plus the cost of fuel.
If you wish to swim, fish, snorkel or hike on private property you
may be charged an access fee of about K20.
- Day tripping: From Vakuta it is possible to undertake a variety of day trips by dinghy to all of the nearby islands and significant sites in the area. One of the day trips is to a tiny grass covered island that is slowing being created on a reef off the end of Vakuta Island. Here, thousands of seabirds nest. Klunie or one of his family may take visitors on deep sea fishing excursions or alternatively on visits to villages on nearby Kiriwina Island. A more adventurous dinghy trip is a two hour run to Kitava Island where you will meet Klunie's kula exchange partners and learn something of the tradition of kula
- Snorkeling and skindiving: Guests can snorkel over the many reefs in the area either accompanied or unaccompanied. The beauty of diving with a local is so that he or she can point out the many treasures that a visitor might blithely swim by.
- Fishing: Either dive with the boys with spears on reefs or ride on a dinghy or canoe to bottom fish for coral trout and red emperor. (Canoes - no charge, dinghy hire is K150 per day for an operator and an assistant plus the cost of fuel.)
- Gardening: Ask Klunie if you can accompany him or one of his family when he/they go to their garden so that you can see how they prepare their garden for yams and then how they tend and harvest the yams.
- Crayfishing: Nothing surpasses the enjoyment of an evening of diving for crayfish from canoes, with the boys from the village. You will need to supply the village boys with batteries and they will dive until they have bagged a number of fresh crayfish for you. Diving is best when there is no moon. (Batteries are difficult to obtain on Vakuta and you should bring a supply from Port Moresby, say 16 D-size batteries per night for four torches/divers.)
OTHER INFORMATION: Vakuta Island is a very remote location.
If you suffer an accident or illness at Vakuta you will be two hours
away by dinghy from the nearest medical treatment at Losuia, even
longer in bad weather. You should consider this fact, and your general
state of health, before deciding to visit Vakuta. You would visit
Vakuta at your own risk and you would need to ensure that your travel
insurance would cover helicopter evacuation from that location. Carrying
a first aid kit is advisable.
The Trobriands is an extremely traditional yet fragile culture. As
a visitor you are expected to respect local culture and not do anything
which would impact on the lifestyle of the Islanders. Be guided by
the advice of your hosts.
You should also be aware that while romantic freedom is a hallmark
of Trobriands culture, liaisons between Islanders and visitors are
not appropriate. Your footprints should be the only thing you leave
behind.
COSTS:
Per-night
costs not available. Accommodation is incorporated into our eco-tour
trekking package,
Tour EM02 Trobriand Islands Culture Tour.
See cost of Tour EM02.
MORE INFORMATION:
See detailed itineraries for our PNG eco-tours
Read our general booking information
Find general information about Milne Bay Province
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| Women in the village, Vakuta | Vakuta children wearing strings of betel nuts for decoration |
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| Chewing betel nut with a lime spatula atop a pile of yams. | Delicious seafood with yam and green vegetables cooked in coconut milk, a specialty at Vakuta |
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| A traditional sleeping hut prepared for a visitor | Young Vakuta girls in costume |
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| Young Vakuta man in traditional garb, with harvested yams in background | Young Vakuta woman in traditional garb | Small Vakuta boy demonstrates his dance steps |
