I imagine for these special ceremonies that the kids really like getting all dressed up like the adults for the festival. It’s considered a fun right of passage for kids to do this every year. What kids don’t like getting all dressed and gussied up? Well, I know Scarlett certainly does. 🙂
Well, I don’t know if this guy is an actual headhunter or not, but let’s just pretend he is. I was afraid to ask… But you gotta admit, the addition of the sunglasses makes him seem extra badass!
Here’s a cool photo that shows a little bit of the context of the amazing tribal festival in Goroka. All the tribes get together and festoon themselves in an entirely unique way. It reminds me a lot of the documentaries that David Attenborough hosts about the birds of paradise in the same area. Papua New Guinea has some of the craziest-looking birds and dances you’ve ever seen. It seems to me that the locals are following their lead.
So this was a rather tense situation… This tribe in PNG has all the women who are the badasses and they outfit them with all the kind of stuff you see here. Not long after I took this, the national military group showed up and started shooting off tear gas before things got too out of control. Pretty much everyone here imbibes the psychoactive betel nut, which makes their mouths and teeth a dark, bloody red. Anyway, before things got too rough, I left to go back to where I was staying. They don’t really have hotels there, so I was staying at some compound that was built for diamond miners. There was this tough South African guy there that ran it… I’ll never forget when he told me about how much the locals are thankful for him, and, if they are not, he carries around a 1-meter copper pipe to make sure they do. Pretty rough place!
Man I could take photos of these tribes all day! The amount of time and effort that goes into them is truly stunning. Plus, they are all such characters and love having their photo taken. I think I used the 50mm Leica 1.4 for almost all these shots!
Well, this isn’t exactly a great place to party, unless you count “staying alive” as a party. After we went to a big festival where we almost got killed, we went to a remote village where we almost got killed. It didn’t help that Choppy was there and she began an attack to try to intimidate them. But, they were definitely thinkin’, “Man this white chick is CRAZY!” …so, she may have just saved our lives.
Today, I have a new video that shows off the new Luminar AI if you are a Passport Member! You can get it now via that link for a pre-order and it’s released in just a few days. I think you are really going to like it!
Today’s video will entertain you with a quick tour-de-force all around the new Luminar AI. I start off with a rather silly example of how you can add mountains on top of mountains… Hey, I would not doctor a photo quite that much, but it’s kind of cool how easy it is. Besides that quirky feature, I show off a lot more that are more practical.
While at the festival, we would visit 20-30 different tribes. They all had their unique outfits and singing patterns. There’s a big competition with which tribes have the coolest outfits and the coolest song & dance routine. I think the contest is pretty unofficial, but it’s still quite competitve. In fact, it can turn quite violent and the military has to come in with tear gas and stuff. When that happens, it’s time to leave the scene quickly!
I have a new podcast that is in production now called “Molecules I’ve Ingested” that should be something quite unexpected, hilarious, and educational. Each episode features a crazy story about different molecules I’ve tried, from legal to illegal. Mostly the latter. Anyway, episode 1 is: “Amazonian Giant Monkey Frog Poison aka The Cambo Ceremony” and it’s an absolute riot. Wait till you hear what Sprinkles and I get up to. If you’re a Passport Member then you get the first listen to this as it goes into production.
Hey y’all! I think you’re gonna enjoy this. It’s not finished… what you’re about to hear is the raw recording of Episode 1. You’ll hear all my gaffs and mistakes and some behind the scene stuff. You’ll also come to appreciate Stu and all the hard work he has to do turn this into a sequence that is relatively flawless and feels right. We have some music coming and other things that will make more sense when you hear the final version. At the end of this, you’ll hear little things that we’re going to insert into the middle of the longer story. Enjoy!
This picture really has nothing to do with the actual podcast, other than that this boy lives in a jungle. I haven’t actually seen an Amazonian Giant Monkey Frog in the wild, nor have I milked it for its poison. Also, there’s very little chance this kid has seen that particular frog since he lives in Papua New Guinea. It makes me wonder what kind of interesting molecules are in PNG.
This is a pretty cool video! How do people come up with this stuff?
3D printing revolutionised by rapid liquid printing from Damnthatsinteresting
I should really go back to PNG! I only spent a very small amount of time there, but I got so many interesting photos. I can’t say there is any place like it anywhere else in the world. The tribes and all their crazy costumes made it feel a lot like Burning Man. Well, a Burning Man where they will cut off your head instead of give you a hug… so I guess it’s a BIT different.
While I was on my 80 Stays around the World tour with the Ritz-Carlton, this article came out about some of the various destinations. I hope you enjoy!
My first time in Papua New Guinea could not have been more crazy, and that’s saying a lot after leaving a week at Burning Man. I think the thing that made it the craziest was having Choppy there. I’m not exactly sure, but she seems to somehow inject a level of insanity into every situation. And I love it! I’ve figured out one simple thing I like from my friends… to surprise me! And she always does that! 🙂
