Mount Giluwe — The Land Before Time

Fresh off the success of Damavand, I was stoked and ready for the next challenge: Mount Giluwe (14,327 ft) in Papua New Guinea. At a lower altitude than my recent climbs, I thought this one would be straightforward. What I didn’t realize was how much it would open my eyes to a world unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Getting There

Papua New Guinea’s Western Highlands are infamous for their volatility — violence, kidnappings, instability. I didn’t know any of that before I went. In truth, I felt safe the whole time. The real challenge wasn’t security; it was logistics.

The only airline allowed to fly domestically is Air Niugini, and with limited fuel and government oversight, delays and cancellations are the norm. We were delayed to Port Moresby, delayed again to Mount Hagen, but eventually, we made it.

Waiting for us was Rafeal, a man I had only known through a Reddit thread and a Facebook profile. I had wired him money, trusting a leap of faith. He arrived with his son, both warm and welcoming, and took us to the local market. There, they introduced us to chewing betel nut, picked up snacks, and then drove us to an eco birding lodge in the mountains — our staging point before the jungle.

Into the Highlands

The next morning, accompanied by seven men with machetes, we trekked into the rainforest. Nothing in Papua New Guinea is dry. The island breathes rain. The mud was endless. The forest was thick, lush, and alive.

Breaking out of the jungle, we entered rolling highlands — tall grasses, mist, and endless dampness. It looked like The Land Before Time. We set up basecamp at the foot of Giluwe.

Our porters pulled out machetes and, in an hour, built an entire house out of the earth itself. Walls, a roof, even a fireplace — with nothing but wood, grass, and a single tarp. Half of them didn’t even have shoes. I was in awe.

That night, we all shared a meal together. They laughed as they told us most tourists preferred to eat separately, to be “served.” Why, when there were stories to be shared?

Stories by Firelight

Around the fire, they told us about life in a country where most people live without electricity or running water. Where marriage customs were deeply local, shaped by clan and language. Where time wasn’t measured — many didn’t know their birthdays, or even their ages.

And yet, their knowledge was profound. They told us how Papua New Guinea was the first place on Earth to domesticate plants, the foundation of modern agriculture. They built homes from nothing. They grew food without machines. They thrived with creativity, courage, and kindness.

I left camp that night feeling humbled. These were some of the happiest people I had ever met — and some of the wisest.

The Summit

At dawn, the rain paused. Stanley wanted to set a personal speed record, so we moved fast up Giluwe’s slopes. We raced through the soaked highlands, lungs and legs burning. At the summit, a rainbow arched across the horizon, breaking through the clouds like a gift.

By the time the rain returned, we were already on our way down, drenched but smiling.

Lesson

Giluwe wasn’t about suffering or survival. It was about connection — to people, to history, to the raw, prehistoric beauty of Papua New Guinea.

If the Andes are mountains of endurance, and the Himalayas are mountains of scale, then Giluwe is something else entirely: a mountain of belonging.

It reminded me that climbing isn’t just about peaks and records. Sometimes, the greatest gift of a mountain is the way it shows you the brilliance, resilience, and kindness of the people who live at its feet.

Papua New Guinea is the Land Before Time — and I carry its lessons with me still.