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If you have walked the renowned Kokoda Trail and reckon it is one of the extremely toughest and hazardous WWII tracks in Papua New Guinea, maybe you should think again.
This time we offer you an alternate ultimate challenge of a lifetime through two other known WWII tracks in the country ? the Black Cat Trail in Salamaua, Morobe and the Bulldog Track in the Gulf province.
A nameless few have walked on these two remarkable tracks, yet some have found it quite disarming to put words to the unrefined composition of this terrain afterwards.
Trekking the Black Cat Trail……
46.jpgThe Black Cat Trail for one is a real thrill for an adventurer looking for that extra challenge.
It runs from Salamaua, cuts through and between the steep peaks and falls off the rough terrain and down to flowing streams that comes alive with the wake of its new day, and ends at Wau ? the old gold mining area.
Some have described it as the toughest and most dangerous compared to the renowned Kokoda Trail along the Owen Stanley Ranges. Still, some others maintained Kokoda is still the toughest.
Malum Nalu, a journalist who completed the Black Cat Trail late last year after his successful walk on Kokoda dubbed it ?the old track which makes the Kokoda Trail seem like a Sunday arvo stroll in the park.
As for expert trekker Pam Christie: ?It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But, what an experience heaps of war memorabilia, birds, snakes, leeches and the most hospitable people I have ever met.?
After completing his five days walk along the Cat Trail, Chris Suma an experienced guide who trekked Kokoda for more than 50 times said, the Kokoda Trail made the Black Cat less daunting and exhausting in terms of physical test but poses as a real adventure thriller because of its at-times unforgiving structure and…. merciless leeches.
Chris Suma during his trek on Black Cat Trail & Bulldog Track last month..
28.jpgLeeches, and as one trekker puts it, alien leeches (because of some unidentified coloured species of green and white leeches,) once aware of your presence have only one thing in mind ?Give! Give!?
You'd do better than to stop in their territory and try to wipe them off in the first instance. Keep walking and once you reach a free-from-leech-attack territory you can remove the rest.
The green leech…seen here
Leech.jpgFor the most adventurous trekker this is perhaps one of the extremely tough adventure but also a ?must-do? for anyone who has special interests in war relics.
True to say, if you are looking for old war relics ? you won?t be disappointed. In fact the track itself is covered from its head to the tail with live ammunitions like mortars, bombs, grenades, bullet shells, war machine guns, and even pieces of boots which dates back to the WWII.
And you won?t have to look that far. The war memorabilia appears not to have been moved or disturbed. Everything remains untouched and it may have been this way since the war.
30.jpgThe enchanting sounds of the forest as it comes alive with sounds of different bird species including the famous bird of paradise and the unkempt beauty of its wildlife, the trees, plants and other animals makes it all worth the challenge.
Here you will have many surprises for your rolls of films as you catch a glimpse of the teeming wildlife and its unique beauty.
The animals here appear to have been rarely hunted or disturbed by villagers and will show themselves oblivious to one's approach.
53.jpgBlack Cat's Historical brief
There is so much WWII history attached to 'Black Cat'. Some of the bloodiest battles were fought during the WWII along the trail between the Japanese Imperial and the Allied Forces where Salamaua was recaptured from the Japanese Imperial Forces in 1942. The scares of WWII still remain along the track. Live mortars, munitions, plane wracks, clothing and huge bomb craters that are now filled with water are everywhere to be seen.
5.jpgTrekking the Black Cat should take four to five days. It is grueling 8-9 hours walk each day but well worth the effort when greeted by villagers with such kindness and hospitality. Every stranger's safety is every villager's concern.
There is very little influence by the outside world as the people who live along the track still value and maintain their traditional ways of life. Hunting and gardening rituals are intact and are evident along the track.
100_2842.jpgTHE BULLDOG TRACK
The Bulldog Track connects with the Black Cat Trail where it ends in Wau and traverse through Eddie Creek to Hidden Valley and all the way to the immense LakeKamu basin in the Gulf province.
This also offers an excellent adventure. Perhaps not as tough as Black Cat Trail or the Kokoda Trail but this almost 12-feet wide WWII track which surpasses through some very steep mountains including the Hidden Valley is done best in dry seasons and offers some of the most amazing views.
Crossing Eddie Creek…..Bulldog Track
75.jpgThe Bulldog like Black Cat is raw at this stage with teeming wildlife, friendly villagers, old war relics and at times pleasant surprises and a significant war history. It's a pity not many visitors come around here. Could the two tracks, put to rest, forgotten forever?
What about the daring, courageous young men who everyday during the war and through their bravery sought to traverse through the sometimes perilous, leech and mosquitoe infested jungle to defend their territory?
Will they pass from memory too? Perhaps not.
Ends//
An old one sided WWII boot…located along the Black Cat Trail.
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