A day in the life of a tour guide

By ANNETTE SETE
TWO hundred alarms went off at 4 o’clock that morning. The place was still dark and wet from rain the previous night. It was an effort getting out of bed.
If it was of any consolation, these brave souls were waking up as ambassadors of this beautiful volcanic island, the eastern half of New Britain, a land so fertile, home to the infamous Mt Tavurvur Volcano, the Mask Festival and the Baining Fire Dancers.
East New Britain was declared the tourism hub of the country, a place that exists with 400 years of colonial and war history.
Today is cruise ship day! P&O’s Pacific Aria was arriving in Simpson’s Harbor.
Time was of the essence. Moving through the darkness, the army of tour guides, bus drivers and staff of the Rabaul Discovery and Eco Tourism Tour Company gathered at the fully packed car park of the Kokopo Village Resort – the parent company, for yet another briefing. It was the first for the cruise ship day.
There would be more in the next three hours before hundreds of passengers disembark Pacific Aria for two main tours: the Rabaul Volcanological Tour and the Kokopo Historical Tour.
The team of locals was a strong believer in that all good and greater things come from Him above with prayer and dedication beginning the order of the day, a ritual so rooted in their upbringing and proven time and time again to be a harbinger of a good day. As they loaded the many hired PMV buses with the day’s supplies, team members boarded and the convoy of vehicles started for Rabaul, their eye on the clock.
Rabaul was some 30 minutes away. They snaked through the recently graded roads that the tour company, through local villagers, grade and patch a day or two before guests visit.
Not as large as the ones in Lae, the potholes were still uncomfortable for users, more so for the first world passengers; many of whom were older folks and unused to third world roads.
The road works are a number of community partnerships that beneficiary communities take part in through the growing cruise tourism industry.
It is a common jest at the expense of the company – “wait for KVR to fix the roads when the cruise ships come.”
The Rabaul/Kokopo Road is a provincial highway connecting the once said Pearl of the Pacific, Rabaul and the new capital and fastest growing township of Kokopo.
Each bus was clearly marked with an allocated tour number and PNG Ports access pass for entry into the main wharf in Rabaul where the magnificent Pacific Aria would dock in a couple of hours.
Each crew comprised six to eight buses, an escort vehicle with their drivers, a medical practitioner, two to three tour guides who would be armed with two-way radios and PPE gear. The day was going to be long.
In Rabaul, the town lights were just going off and the Simpsons harbor was slowly shaking off the blanket of night. Already on the dusty town’s deserted streets was a long line of 15-seater buses with their crew in red T’ shirts and hi-vis yellow vests.
Drivers maneuvered their vehicles into pre-arranged parking plans.
With two hours exactly before the visitors disembarked, Operation and Logistics Manager, Tomot Pulung made final checks and ticked off to-do things on his running sheet. Hot breakfast from the contracted ward 8 women was passed around, peppered with small talk among bus crew and newly joined tour guides. Secretly nervous, they were silently praying that they don’t stuff up.
But why would they? They’ve been trained and coached by a highly experienced team with 10 years in the business. A team that plans right down to the minute details with every move, every action, every plan timed to make sure all runs smoothly. This is a mammoth task for a small town team, many of whom have not been tourists themselves, who are working with limited resources in terms of sourcing logistical support in a remote place and dealing with foreign tourists, some of whom are seasoned travellers.
The benefits were huge. At least 90 percent of the team’s human resources who were previously unemployed, is now a tour guide. These were young people groomed to be selling their province – all the great things that make Rabaul home. From history to site management, customer service and teamwork, they were schooled, even in personal development and growth. Rabaul Discovery and Eco Tourism Tours was the first company in the Pacific to acquire certification in international tour guiding. At least 10 of its guides were certified this year after weeks of intensive training with the World Federation of Tourist Guides Association. Seven of them were trainers themselves, now extending their reach to new guides coming on the job and new product development sites.
It was a passion of Pidi’s to empower his people and the community through capacity building. The future of the industry, he said, depended on them lifting the game through building the human resources and the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He employed and contracted more than 20 SMEs in RDT tour operations on the day. From religious choir groups and women’s groups to family owned hire cars, resourceful individuals and maintained a growing network of industry players.
An hour to go and two hired 25-seater buses still didn’t show up. In such situation, there is no time to panic. Oxford English Dictionary defines panic as a sudden uncontrolled fear or anxiety. As humorous definition in Pidgin/English goes – yu pilim pen na wik wantaim. Let’s just say it is nothing close to the dictionary definition but this was told , and retold on the day just to ease tensions.
And so kicked in plan B. Three 15-seater buses from the standby list were soon in line with the others, ready to enter the main wharf.
In a first, the company established a call centre and effectively equipped the team to better coordinate their operations, a value adding service to the tourists. The centre was a rented conference room at the Rabaul Travelodge, one of the surviving places of the 1994 volcanic eruption that buried the Frangipani town. It is 3-minute drive from Rabaul’s main wharf where the cruise ship would dock.
RDT’s Product Development Manager Dominic Tulo was in charge at the new centre. The office was now complete with computers, printer, two way radio sets, white boards, food and beverages.
Police were briefed and a special operation commenced, not only for the tourists but also for the community in Rabaul amid growing law and order concerns. Tourism succeeds where there are no law and order issues.
Radios crackled to life, it was time to meet the visitors. Pacific Aria grew larger as it approached the wharf. The 70 buses and escort vehicles promptly made their way into the wharf area with their resourceful passengers- the province’s links to the visitors and their guides to our home. Taxis double- parked into their bay, other tour operators took up their spots and villagers came in numbers to show case their products on the sidewalk markets. The ship docked to the singing of the Raluana male choir. At the very top deck of the ship was a waving caucasian male in the unmistakable green, red and white Gurias jersey. On close observation it was a 2015 supporters’ shirt – the year Gurias won the Digicel Cup. He had come home.
Buses rolled up and within minutes the first morning tours were on their way. Guests visited the famous hotsprings at the foot of Mt Tavurvur, Matupit village; an experience of life in a typical PNG village that has a school, a church, traditions such as weaving and the use of tabu – the traditional shell money of the Tolai people. And of course a visit to the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory for that magical view of Simpsons Harbour, the volcano and the Pacific Aria at dock. It ended with a visit to the newly established Rabaul Virgin Coconut Oil factory. Tourists not on tour walked the streets, interacted with the locals and checked out the Rabaul Page Market. Those that were games enough chewed buai and exchanged a few pidgin words with the many locals. Others went on different tours; a developing one is the wet tours in boat rides, diving and visiting the Bee Hives – the rocky piece of land out in the harbor.
The Kokopo tour took them on Vulcan road, firstly to the Japanese Barge Tunnel – the old barges in the man-made tunnels of World War 2.
The Kokopo Historical Centre housed a collection of the war relics and colonial history. Queen Emma Coe’s original steps of her house inside the Gazelle International Hotel premises provided more information of the colonial era, a story of the Samoan/American girl who defied convention and founded a commercial empire in 19th century New Guinea. In some cases, a powerful figure for women standing up for what they believed in. This tour ended at the Bitapaka War Cemetery, in itself a source of rich history of the World Wars fought in this part of the world.
The RDT team’s morning shift took a break and the afternoon mob came on at midday to cater for more tours. At the end of the day, they had served 573 tourists- from the elderly who needed special care to the youngest toddler in diapers.
The tourists were enriched with the knowledge of this island destination, raw and unexplored with a rich culture unlike those of the developed destinations. They took more home; a piece of East New Britain in the stories, the experiences, the little gifts and the pictures – all thanks to the tour guides.
As the visitors piled back onto the ship, the next male choir, this time from Ialakua village, took to the microphones. They sang and bid the guests farewell. There were smiles and waves of goodbye as the large vessel took its passengers to another destination. The guides had more reasons to sleep well that night. It has been a long, tiring day. If weary eyes, repetition of the words ‘boina tuna’ (thank you) and a million handshakes did not count as success, what is?

• Annette Sete is a freelance writer.