KARKAR: WELCOME TO THE ISLAND OF NO RETURN!

‘Welcome to the island of no return,’ a man said to me as he showed me his redstained teeth. We were sitting together in the back of a ramshackle van and he grabbed my cheek to give it a little tug. I wasn’t sure if it was out of affection or he was sizing me up for the amount of fat on my frame.

I was in the wilds of Papua New Guinea you see, which has a history of cannibalism. Luckily this tradition has pretty much died out and the red on the man’s teeth was a mixture of lime powder, betel nut, and mustard seed – not blood. When it came to my exact location I was on a tiny island called Karkar, which I’d ventured to in a bid to find my long-lost great uncle.

Sadie Whitelocks

Sadie Whitelocks is a travel writer and photographer, who has lived between London and New York. She has travelled to more than 60 countries from Kashmir to Kazakhstan and holds a Guinness World Record for attending the highest dinner party on Everest at 7,056m. She is a member of the Explorers Club.

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