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The Kaure people live in region in north-east of West-Papua. The most well known Kaure villages are: Kaure, Lereh and Aurina 1 & 2. Lereh have recently been targeted for palm oil plantations, and large scale logging operations in the north of the area had already started to show in 2006. A road from Jayapura leads to Lereh and Kaure, road conditions are grim. Nawa river flows trough the Kaure area and all the way to the upper parts of Idenburg (Taritatu river), near the village of Hulu Atas. The villages if Aurina 1 and Aurina 2 are found on the Nawa river.
2006
Lereh, a village north of Kaure. The Lereh area is dominated by a palmoil plantation.The road between Lereh and Kaure village was one of the worst I`ve experienced. Trucks could not get trough, only the bravest of bikers did.Nawa riverside near Kaure. We took a motorized canoe from here, south to Aurina 1&2 and to the Hulu atas area.Nawa river.
Two hornbills sitting in the tree.Papuan hornbillPapuan hornbillTemporary hut used by hunters and fishermen.
Aurina 1 airstrip. It wasnt in use when I was there in 2006.Traditional Kaure house by the airstrip. The house was home to a large extended family of 15 people.I travelled to the area with a medical team from Jayapura, who was visiting to give immunizations to the kids in the area.
View to the north-west from the village.Youngsters were often very valuable friends to have during fieldsvisits. They were very active and never busy, and didnt mind showing me around. Also if there were people in the interior with a certain fluency of Indonesian, it was the young generation.The lowland rainforest in Kaure was infested with leaches. The worst I experienced in Papua.Bushroad from the Nawa river to Kaure.Interesting treehouse in Aurina.Proud Aurina kids.Traditional house being built.
By the river at Aurina, on our departure from the area.On the Nawa again.Visit to Aurina 2, that was a much smaller settlement by the Nawa River.
Immunization. (note the homemade headlamp)
Cassuary bird in Aurina 2.
Croc by the Nawa river. I saw quite many by the riverside on my travels on the Nawa, but they were very hard to photograph, as they didnt like the sound of the motorized canoe.
The Nawa could sometimes be hard to travel on, since it had many shallow and clogged parts.
Logging products. During my travels in the region, it was a commin sight by the roads leading out of the rainforest.Aurina 1 village – aerial view. Photo from November 2006, accidentely happened to see Aurina village on a return flight from the eastern highlands of Papua.