Read Online Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Josh Gates - Free Book Online
Authors: Josh Gates
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international cities in the world with worse reputations, I suppose, but not many. We leave the airport in an armored vehicle with reinforced steel slats over the windows, and I scan the edges of the road for what I can only assume is an impending zombie attack. The city is teeming with gang violence, and a carjacking here last week left three people dead. I encourage the driver to step on it.
Along the way, Steve reveals himself as an ex-military SAS officer contracted to provide private security for our expedition. He’s also one hell of a nice guy. We bring him up to speed on our itinerary, which is slightly more organized than our outing to Malaysia. This is an unpredictable place, and Steve’s presence here will be critical in navigating the intense local politics.
Despite the country’s geographical coziness to Australia, Papua New Guinea remains fiercely independent and yet alarmingly non-nationalist. Locals are more apt to identify with their clan than with their fellow countrymen. Nine hundred tribal dialects, endless regional bickering, and a nearly broken political system: many would argue that the country is simply a failed state. Not one prime minister has completed a full five-year parliamentary term in the last thirty years . And with more than $400 million somehow gone missing from government coffers in the last decade, it’s safe to say there might be a touch of corruption in the capital as well.
All of Port Moresby’s deficits are a particular shame, since the rest of the country is one of the best adventure destinations on earth. This is a place where the long arm of tourism hasn’t fully reached, where tribal culture prevails, and the rusted relics of World War II are still on full display. Plus, this tropical wonderland is brimming with uncataloged biodiversity. Each year dozens of new species are discovered in the nearly impenetrable jungles; scientists often refer to these archipelagos as a “lost world.”
This is our first and most ambitious stop of the season. We’ve come here to investigate three cryptozoological fugitives: a mermaid that has been spotted near the Papuan island of New Ireland for generations, as well as two different living dinosaurs purported to inhabit nearby New Britain Island. As outlandish as these creatures might sound, PNG, as it’s known, would certainly be the sort of place to harbor them.
We begin our investigation into the mermaid story, conducting a few interviews at the local university. Our time in the crime-stricken capital is thankfully brief, though, and before long we’re off to the airport for our flight to New Ireland. The process of checking in is unabashed chaos. The concept of a line hasn’t really caught on in this corner of the world, and every passenger on every Air Niugini flight simply mobs the counters from any available angle, waving his or her ticket in the air. We somehow manage to tag our bags, run down the tarmac, and board the plane.
The beat-up turboprop sputters up over the crystalline waters of the Bismarck Archipelago and the New Guinea Highlands. I gawk down at the virgin jungles with amazement. The more than one million people that inhabit this part of the country weren’t even discovered by the outside world until the 1930s. There are whispers that cannibalism, popular here for centuries, may still be ritually practiced.
At the tiny airport in Kavieng, we step down from the plane and into the blistering sunshine. Our bags are taken out of the hold of the plane and simply strewn along the tarmac, along with a dead body. I hear wails and crying from locals pressed up against the chain-link fence at the arrivals terminal as the crude coffin is moved out of the heat. It’s a distressing sight and a portentous introduction to the island.
After collecting our gear, we meet Lucas, our Papuan liaison, who is supposed to help facilitate our presence here. With his thick bristled moustache and short legs, he looks a little bit like
Along the way, Steve reveals himself as an ex-military SAS officer contracted to provide private security for our expedition. He’s also one hell of a nice guy. We bring him up to speed on our itinerary, which is slightly more organized than our outing to Malaysia. This is an unpredictable place, and Steve’s presence here will be critical in navigating the intense local politics.
Despite the country’s geographical coziness to Australia, Papua New Guinea remains fiercely independent and yet alarmingly non-nationalist. Locals are more apt to identify with their clan than with their fellow countrymen. Nine hundred tribal dialects, endless regional bickering, and a nearly broken political system: many would argue that the country is simply a failed state. Not one prime minister has completed a full five-year parliamentary term in the last thirty years . And with more than $400 million somehow gone missing from government coffers in the last decade, it’s safe to say there might be a touch of corruption in the capital as well.
All of Port Moresby’s deficits are a particular shame, since the rest of the country is one of the best adventure destinations on earth. This is a place where the long arm of tourism hasn’t fully reached, where tribal culture prevails, and the rusted relics of World War II are still on full display. Plus, this tropical wonderland is brimming with uncataloged biodiversity. Each year dozens of new species are discovered in the nearly impenetrable jungles; scientists often refer to these archipelagos as a “lost world.”
This is our first and most ambitious stop of the season. We’ve come here to investigate three cryptozoological fugitives: a mermaid that has been spotted near the Papuan island of New Ireland for generations, as well as two different living dinosaurs purported to inhabit nearby New Britain Island. As outlandish as these creatures might sound, PNG, as it’s known, would certainly be the sort of place to harbor them.
We begin our investigation into the mermaid story, conducting a few interviews at the local university. Our time in the crime-stricken capital is thankfully brief, though, and before long we’re off to the airport for our flight to New Ireland. The process of checking in is unabashed chaos. The concept of a line hasn’t really caught on in this corner of the world, and every passenger on every Air Niugini flight simply mobs the counters from any available angle, waving his or her ticket in the air. We somehow manage to tag our bags, run down the tarmac, and board the plane.
The beat-up turboprop sputters up over the crystalline waters of the Bismarck Archipelago and the New Guinea Highlands. I gawk down at the virgin jungles with amazement. The more than one million people that inhabit this part of the country weren’t even discovered by the outside world until the 1930s. There are whispers that cannibalism, popular here for centuries, may still be ritually practiced.
At the tiny airport in Kavieng, we step down from the plane and into the blistering sunshine. Our bags are taken out of the hold of the plane and simply strewn along the tarmac, along with a dead body. I hear wails and crying from locals pressed up against the chain-link fence at the arrivals terminal as the crude coffin is moved out of the heat. It’s a distressing sight and a portentous introduction to the island.
After collecting our gear, we meet Lucas, our Papuan liaison, who is supposed to help facilitate our presence here. With his thick bristled moustache and short legs, he looks a little bit like
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