"By the Mangrove Swamps" a Daru Travel Page by Bwana_Brown

Located almost 270-miles westward from Port Moresby, as the crow flies, directly over the Gulf of Papua the whole way, Daru is the small capital of Western Province. This is one of the most isolated areas of Papua New Guinea, with the great arc of shoreline along the Gulf almost entirely made up of mangrove swamps with very little settlement. A number of large rivers drain the Highland Mountains by pouring out into deltas along this coast - most notably the Fly River which rises next-door in the Indonesian part of the island. Daru itself is actually located on a small island just off the coast, at the top end of the Torres Straight which separates PNG from Australia (please see my 'General' tip for a map of Daru's location).

Surrounded by water and with large rivers nearby, it is not surprising that fishing plays a big role in the daily life of Daru. In my case, I made a single trip to this island via a twin-engine turbo-prop Fokker F-27 airplane from Port Moresby. Troubles at the diesel power station required the cavalry riding to the rescue!