Mt. Hagen Vegetable Market

In my last post, I mentioned that Louise and I went to the vegetable market near the Kagamuga Airport in Mt Hagen. As we waited for the plane to arrive to fly us to Yehebi, we decided to walk to the market to pick up some veggies to take with us. The lowland areas (where we were going) don't have the same variety of produce because of the dense rainfall, high heat, and poor soil. In fact, the main food staples grown in the lowlands are bananas, local greens and root vegetables. When Dale and I lived there, it was a treat to get all the wonderful foods that the highlands were able to grow.

One of the ladies that worked at MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) walked over to the market with us to speak the local language to help us communicate with the sellers. Her name was Marta, and she is pictured above with Louise.

 Green beans, cabbage, broccoli, greens and a huge pile of ginger are some of the things offered by this seller. We bought some cabbage and a few pieces of fresh ginger.

You never see oranges in the lowlands, so we bought a dozen or so to take with us. They were delicious and sweet.

As we walked around the market, Marta was helping us to translate. She spoke mostly in Pidgin. Although I don't know the language, I can hear a little. As we walked around I would hear her say, "They are missionaries...they are missionaries and are going to the Western Province." Then she would explain we were buying vegetables to take there. 

What a beautiful smile! We bought several piles of her carrots. They usually put smaller items in groups to sell. In some situations, you are able to barter for items, but I paid what they were asking in the food market. Sometimes, if I bought several items, they would throw in something for free.

                    A young boy bringing bananas to the market to sell.

 

The lady on the right is holding ginger. I didn't bother to buy any greens, since I knew we could get some locally at Yehebi.

 

Everyone was happy to accommodate me and pose for a picture. In fact, they love for you to get their picture. 

We bought several piles of white potatoes. You could not get fresher ones; no sprouts on these! Here she is grouping them together to sell.

Pineapples and bananas.Although the lowlands can grow pineapple, they seem to grow better in the highlands. They are sweet and juicy!

                                      A local child.

 

This lady has fresh eggs to sell, but also included hard candy, cookies and other items on her table.

Needless to say that we didn't buy any cigarettes! But he was happy for me to get his picture.

More pineapple. Behind the bucket, you can see bundles of peanuts.

Behind the woman, you can see meri blouses hanging on the fence to be sold. Those are popular PNG tops worn by most of the ladies. All are in bright colors and fabrics.

"Tell her to get our picture, too," they said. So I did.  Louise, Marta and I hauled back around 15 pounds of wonderful fresh veggies to take to Yehebi.

I hope you've enjoyed pictures of the market.

Next posting: Packing the charter for Yehebi.