Lake Kutubu

Introducing Lake Kutubu

The Lake Kutubu area has one of just five national parks in PNG. According to legend, the lake was formed when a fig tree was cut down by a woman looking for water. The story goes that whatever the tree touched turned to water – hence the lake.

The lake is beautiful, and the surrounding country is home to friendly people living a largely traditional life. Butterflies and birds of paradise are common. You can swim in the lake – women should wear a laplap (sarong) –and visit local villages where people still live in sex-segregated buildings.

It is also possible to visit the skull caves of Bebere and Kosame, where traditional burial rites are still observed. Custom dictates that the bodies of dead relatives are placed into the hull of a canoe and interred in a cave until the flesh has rotted from the bones. The skeletons are then removed, cleaned and displayed on the walls of the caves.

Kutubu is the Highlands’ second-largest lake, and, at 800m above sea level, PNG’s highest substantial body of water (although the Mt Wilhelm crater lakes are higher). It has a remarkable level of fish endemicity – 10 of the 14 species of fish are found only in this lake.

The big oil project near Lake Kutubu has changed the Mendi area, and local people are used to dealing with oil workers with fat wallets and expense accounts. Prices asked to cross a bridge or walk across land can be outrageous.

Oil began flowing through the pipeline down to the Gulf of Papua in 1992. Chevron Niugini has a good reputation, fulfilling its agreements with the local landowners, the Foi and Fasu people. There’s a road from Mendi to Pimaga and on to Moro and the company headquarters near the northwest end of Lake Kutubu.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009