Mission: “The Search for Little People”
Objective: What objective???
Team: Katie, Becky, Dan, Meghan, Josh
Location: The Bush, Piltongi, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea
It’s taken me nearly a week now to put my thoughts together about this hike. Even before we set out if felt like one of those….now just how poorly can we prepare and still come out alive sort of adventures…but no one could resist! Anton Jim, a night watchman on the station, had told Josh of the little people that live in the hills surrounding Kudjip. They are 2.5-4feet tall and have white skin with thick black hair covering every inch of their body except for the very top of their head which is bald. Now there is an altar somewhere in the hills where you can go and play music for the little people. If they like what you’re playing, they may just appear to you. These are very special little people who speak every language and give gifts of various kinds to the tall ones they meet.
Once the story was out about the little people, what was planned to be a nice Saturday afternoon hike turned into an overnight trek into the deep bush with hope of returning sometime before dark on Sunday with a little person in tow. I was actually impressed with the supplies we were able to find morning of and since the team included a doctor, a missionary kid who grew up in Africa, and a boy scout from Alaska, I figured we just might be alright. By noon we were finally packed and ready to go. A missionary couple drove us to Piltongi where we would recruit a bush man to guide us through our journey.
The man who was supposed to take us had a bum knee, so instead he sent us with two bush boys, Alex and Kaman, who were 15. They guided us across the river and up the mountain where we had spectacular views of the valley below. We stopped to sample the sugar cane and when it began to rain we ducked into a cook hut to make a fire and dry off. An hour before dark we decided to press on deeper into the bush for a more authentic experience. Alex and Kaman used bush knives to clear space for us and built a shelter from small trees, vines, and the one tarp we brought. Though it was too wet to make a fire, Dan had packed a small burner and cook set….we had an awesome dinner and drank hot chocolate until finally passing out from exhaustion.
The next morning Alex and Kaman returned bright and early at the crack of 9 am to get us moving down the mountain. After a little convincing they agreed to take us on a “more scenic” route home….just down this mountain and across a couple rivers…probably 5 hours or something at most. Soon the trail disappeared and we were cutting through the bush….I say we meaning Alex, Kaman, or Josh. We met up with a river and followed it through a ravine until we met a waterfall….at which point we were back to climbing mountains again.
It was already 4 pm before we reached the first main river and started back up the next mountain. Eventually it became clear that we might not make it home before dark….let alone off the mountain or out of the bush. At some point it began to rain…softly…and then it poured. Though we discussed the possibility of setting up camp and calling it a night, we were bound and determined to make it home. We trekked on through dark, cold rain for hours…up and down hills, through the mud and stinging nettle, and across at least 3 more rivers.
We didn’t return to Piltongi until almost midnight and it was still another 2 hour walk back to Kudjip. We had almost made it through the village when Pastor Paul and his family came running after us. A missionary had come by earlier that evening to tell him to look out for us….thank you Scott. Pastor Paul had us wait while he called to get us a picked up. We were hopeful, but still skeptical of how far the cruiser would make it on the washed out road. But sure enough the cruiser pulled up just outside of the village. I’ve never been more excited to see headlights in my life!
By the grace of God we made it home safely. After 16 long hours the only thing I wanted to do was shower and make pancakes! Needless to say we never saw the little people. Our source says it may be because the little people will only appear to one person at a time. Who knows…maybe we’ll try again someday…
