Papua, the north eastern province of Indonesia, is a place I must explore further.
In my earlier post, I wrote about the most attracting countries, Indonesia being my favourite thus far. Papua has caught my attention recently with regards to the vast amount of tribes, islands, developments and all the current and older news regarding Papua, so you can expect quite a lot more of my writings on the subject of Papua.
Papua, the north eastern province of Indonesia, is a place I must explore further.
My Indonesian friend was telling me some time ago that there are over 350 different languages spoken in Papua. Now that is surely something quite amazing, considering the size of this province. Overall in Indonesia there are over 700 Living Languages and constitutes about 10% of the world’s languages. Now that is impressive.
South Africa has 11 official languages out of the approximate 35 indigenous languages, a very different comparison to Papua. Basically South Africa is about 1.200 000 km2 compared to the approximate 140 000 km2 of Papua. That is a lot of language is a very small space.
My previous mentions of the diversity of Indonesia, not only the languages, but all the various tribes, religions and so forth; such a rich culture and then you have a minority group that wants to influence the separation of Papua to become independent. It is a shame that a minority group can be so destructive towards such a beautiful and peaceful country.
I have a few South African, German and British friends in Papua or who have been there and the stories I have heard from them have only been good.
My one buddy was a “bush pilot” (He flew a small aero plane for local airline company) there a few years ago and he was telling me how absolutely mesmerizing it is to see and meet people from the various tribes from all over Papua. His most memorable trip was flying a member of the Dani Tribe to a local hospital several kilometers away from his home. What intrigued him the most about the Dani Tribe was the “koteka” (a Penis gourd).
Quite fascinating if you ask me.
He told me about the various tribesman that he had met and many who were not really interested in the politics of the country and enjoyed their freedom as it always has been. The diversity of tribes was a topic we spoke about for a very long time.
I must admit, with the stories of Papua wanting to become independent does not make sense to me.
