Revisiting Tufi- Land of the long fjords

Tufi fjords, view from atop. Photo: Courtesy of Robinson Lui

We were on a fish collection expedition mission to Tufi and our team’s curiosity aroused as soon as we landed. It was an Airline PNG Dash 8 plane via Jacksons, Girua and then Tufi. Soon after we landed our team headed straight to local fisheries office for a briefing and then went our way to the resort to pick up our luggage.

AirlinesPNG dash8 aircraft parked at Tufi airstipe

Observing the place, I felt it was quite obvious that basic services in Tufi had not improved the last time I checked. For eight years since my last visit, I must admit I was taken aback by the slow progress and neglect of the place despite of it having a thriving world renowned dive tourism resort.  The thought of this almost unwitting infuriated me for I have formed a perception of such developments for many places I have visited in the  past.

It would not be akin to my nature to talk about this however, I have to resolve my personal convictions and catch my team who are new to the place and are fueled with curiosity, at least that’s what I know.  Avoiding conversing further with locals on the treatment their getting from the resort, I hastily rushed over to my team who have now collected all our luggage and are heading downhill.

Team walking downtowards tufi jetty

For a while, I thought tufi`s poor infrastructure is unmatched by its beauty and the uniqueness of the scenery and people. At least I had to reassure myself and such thinking almost subtly forgave my misgivings earlier.

SceninicTufi harbour.Photo: Courtesy of Robinson Liu

I am back with the team momentarily and having had our luggage picked up, we proceeded to the tufi jetty for our boat ride to Kofure, a small humble guest house situated about 20 minutes ride from the main station. It was Monday and not so many people according to one of our local guide. Strolling down hill, soon we recollected ourselves at the foot of the hill and went straight to buy rations from the only shop there including purchasing our fuel.

Above: tufi jetty area, view from downhill. B. Tufi Resort Jetty and Wharf area

As expected, we found out tufi jetty was as usual with minor activities by the locals going about conducting their business with a few expat guest whom we came with on the plane are already soaking the atmosphere with toe dipped by ramp.

Local canoes parked at the waterfront

It was already lunch time by then and we had to allow ourselves a mouthful of the local menu that almost instantly renewed my appreciation for that place. Barbequed red emperor wings and cassava pizza turned out savory and gut pleasing.  While enjoying it, my team and I had to mingle about with a few locals who had gathered to watch with such gimmick, probably because of our conversations or that could be for their own inquisition.

barbecued fish wings and cassava

A few of the sailors had parked by and watching vividly at the sight of us conversing among ourselves as if they would like to say something too. But it was their softer nature and respect for visitors that could have satisfied their inquest and so one would assume.

Kofure Guesthouse

The sea was less choppy and we were riding to Kofure which we intend to stay for the next couple of days while in Tufi.  Arriving at our destination we were greeted “Oro Kaiva”. This as I expect is a usual tradition of the local tufi people welcoming their guests. The phrase itself means in local vernacular as welcome! The village guest house was as humble as its people.  A few sacks of sago thatched roof houses bellowing with vivid faces shouting Oro, Oro. Oro Kaiva, that echoed almost continuously until we seated at a makeshift table newly dressed with white linen and red hibiscus flowers reassuring our arrival.

A makeshift table prepared for the team at Kofure

Around about  2pm, we finally convene for a breifing with the locals. The kids had swammed in around currrious about our personnel artifacts. The village chief made an announcement and finally we’re talking to the locals of our trip.  A series of conversations ensued and after awhile we were allowed to rest and recalled back our scheduled.

It was 3 oclock by then and our team deceided it was time to inspect the sea and spot some survey off the reefs.  My earlier dive encounters off the area seemed to be refreshed in my mind and I had to soon dicover its reality with enthusism.

The tide was lower at 1.5 meter of sea and we found ourselves walking on the sandy seagrass towards the crest,heading for a deeper enough water to catch some swim. While walking we tumbled upon what seem to be blue little damsels hovering over a patch of digitate porities. I was thrilled to learn what it was for I have known of little cute damsels fishes unique to that area

And here it was, dubed the ‘tufi damsel’ it had a striking pattern of lines all over.  This species was discovered earlier by the renowned world fish ichthyologist, Dr. Gerrald Allen. In his book, reef fishe´s of the tropical pacific, he named this species as Chrysiptera niger  but with a picture of this fish that is not synonomous with the current fish described.  It was only in 2010 that PNG collectors sent a new photo of the fish online, and the local, if not common name now is tufi damsel as they call it in the industry, a name that became akin with the significance of aquarium collection  in New Guinea.

On the crest the reef was crystal clear with lush coral vegetation and teaming with fish life. It was amazing seeing such reef, as only a few places in PNG would retain such neutrality in the face of climate change and population explosion. Well, I guess Tufi is exceptional and hope it remained like that for quite some time. Enjoying the beauty of the reef, we encountered yet another beautiful damselfish.

 

This time it was the Chrysitpera cyana, patterned differently to its kind above with an orange caudal fin. The reef seems to reward our team with countless and interesting fish species and we could not wait to test our newly attained underwater macro photography skills. The pictures in this story are what our team took as practice. Personally, it was such a perfect opportunity for me and I am thrilled to be in Tufi again. Our diving expedition continued to the slope and ledges along the fjords exposing yet those stunning treasures of the ocean. Clusters of yellow cardinal under a ledge were amazing as they lay there momentarily when we approached. Feeling our surge, they moved inch by inch towards the bottom almost like a pressure gauge acting on them.

For two days we had snorkeled and we needed a shot at scuba to reward out effort. It was Wednesday, and we agreed to rent a few dive tanks from the resort so we went there in the morning. We had run short of our supplies too and so the trip to the station fits perfectly well into our schedule. Soon we got all that we needed and headed out for our dive. At around about mid day, we were approaching Kwafurina bay headed for Smith´s Island.

This island as we learned was named after the first local who moved there.  He was Mr. Smith Ovenina and is still living on that island with his family. With a population of roughly 12 people and growing, it had beautiful surrounding.

The view from atop was stunning blending proficiently with its iconic landscape. The owner had build a few small guest houses of thatched sago roof to accommodate occasional tourists who frequent the area either for diving, bush trekking and bird watching.

For a moment we thought that this island wouldn’t offer much as we anticipate steep drop off from the way it looked, however, diving underwater at smith´s unravels yet some of the stunning crittersJ to our amusement.

A blue damsel again!, one of our team member pointed and we were only 3 meters in our descend.  For a worthwhile look, we discover it was a different one from our previous encounters. This time it was C. cymatilis and they were many of them here and there as we hover at 10 meter depth.   

With our local dive master accompanying us on the dive, we were safely within the limits between 10 to 15 meters depth. For about 20 minutes of dive time, we observed a relatively slopped contour and we were passing a few steep walls. At one turn along the dive, we observed a school of travelly of the species, Caranx sextriatus and apparently they saw us coming. The next thing was nothing short of a swamping experience, they were circling all around us probably curious at the air bubbles emanating from our tanks. The encounter lasted for while and soon they left and we continued on along the cliff.

A wideangle shot of the schooling travelly: Photo Courtesy of Lorel Dandava

We had gone down a few more meters and observed so many fish life, however, for me personally it was more of the macro world I thought of. While my team continued along, I was occasionally stopped for a close up of the smaller inconspicuous subjects. The trimna goby was well placed for me and I started focusing on them.

And even the purple bluish headed nano goby can take a toll on your curiosity too. They would hover over the rock surfaces and inside the ledges in schools. They too are amazingly unique for their kind!

Another species of interest I came across was bicolor goby of the genus ecsenius.  Occurring in pairs or sometimes solidarity, they´re posy and spectacular to watch.