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Our band of explorers travel to the Tari Highlands and the Embula Lodge, where they met Jackson, the tree kangaroo, who was the lodge's mascot. Alyson fell totally in love with him and maybe felt a bit guilty as she had wore the pelt of another the previous day in the Huli welcoming dance ceremony. "You think he'd like to go to L.A.?" asked Alexis to the hope of Alyson, but Jackson was meant to stay in Tari and our foursome was meant to continue their journey. Next, they hiked up to a local waterfall. Alexis tried to describe their surroundings as they ventured along the trail. "It's a wall of rainforest. It was like watching its heartbeat when we were standing there." At one of the many airports they would travel through, Alexis had brought along a Hacky Sac to kill time while they waiting for their plane. Alexis explained, "Somebody else, another bystander, villager, wanted to join in - so he stepped in." "He pelted this one guy who tried to get into the circle," Alyson continued, "pelted him with the Hacky Sack. I thought we were starting a clan war." Kelly said the one who got hit looked ready to fight, "and Alexis was caught in the middle. Alexis tried to diffuse the situation; making the two men shake hands." But then it was on board the plane and off to another amazing sight. Once they landed, a boat ride would take them upriver where they arrived at Karawari Lodge. They canoed along the river and saw local houses, which are built on stilts to protect them from the rising waters during flood season. "That river culture of people that live on the water, I mean there's no need to walk anywhere or drive anywhere because the road is this big river." Children were all hanging in the trees as they cruised past eager to see who the visitors were. As they departed the cool breeze of the boat ride, they realize how hot the climate really is. 93 degrees F is the average temperature and that doesn't include the humidity. "It was hot, definitely," admitted Alexis. "When the canoes stopped and we get to feel the sun beating off the river there's - you have to be born here I think to get used to it. Bring your bug spray." The Karawari tribe is called Yak-kdim and up until just 70 years ago they were headhunters and cannibals, This only changed with the arrival of the Missionaries. The Hulis' first contact with the outside world didn't occur until the 1930s. But Alexis was the first to assure that the natives were, "Such beautiful, friendly and warm people that hopefully didn't want us for lunch." Their guide explained the old process of how they would put a victim in a hut, slit their throat and then bring the body out, cut it up into pieces and eat it. This was followed by a big dance to celebrate. Alexis recalled, "Then the welcoming committee of war dancing cannibals was pretty amazing." Later that night a bamboo band provided the music as the villagers and their guest danced the night away after dinner. Venturing on to Mandang
The next day they took yet another plane to the North Coast and arrived in Madang for scuba diving at the bottom of the Bismarck Sea and the search for dolphins. Alexis gives a recount of the dive. "We're descending along the chain and all you can see as you go down at first is just a sort of dark shape of an object. And then as we get closer we can see that it's the surface of the boat. Then we go down and descend along the side of it, just sort of going down the wall, and the walls just covered with varieties of coral and seaweeds and grasses that are growing off of it." He continued in awe, "That's where we looked through the porthole, was along the side, and through the porthole you could see the opposite porthole, and the light and then the shadow of lost of fish crossing in front of your eyes. The top of the boat, the Captain's cabin, is completely gone except for the frame and about two walls. So you can look inside there and all the fish are grouped inside the Captain's cabin just hanging out. And then as you swim along the top of the boat it's rotten away and you can see right into it and there's just a forest of coral and fish swimming everywhere." As Alexis came up to the surface and got back on the boat, Scoot asked if he had had a 'good dive' to which Alexis replied with a smile, "Every dive that you come back up to the boat on is a good dive." Kelly observed, "Alyson and Alexis are very caring and thoughtful, and they get along extremely well. I could tell it's really important to each of them that the other has a great adventure. They travel very well together -- and that's sometimes rare to see -- especially when visiting a really far-out place." Alexis gave his own thoughts, "I think it's a great bond that couples can have when they travel to different, extraordinary places, that it just brings you very close together. It can be hard because it's different. It doesn't have always all the same comforts of home but it has things you'll never find at home that you get to experience with each other. Thank goodness Aly's here, who I love, so the person I want to go, 'Hey. Look at that!' is here to go, 'Hey, look at that!' too. It's just fun being together all the time and experiencing these new things."
As the boat ride continued in their elusive search for the dolphins Alyson so badly wanted to see, they magically appeared on the horizon and soon were swimming in the wake of their boat! Aly was about to jump right into the water to be with them but Alexis protectively held her back. "Oh! I love you guys," she shouted to the dolphins. Kelly, Scott, and Aly said farewell to Papua with a parting toast of champagne, and Alexis put his final thoughts into words, "What an adventure! There's a lot of trips you can take and places you can go that are kind of a version of another trip or another place with some variation. And this is like nowhere else and it's like no other adventure. It's not like sitting on the 405." It's not often that we get to see Alexis in candid situations, he rarely does television interviews and at industry functions he's rather shy and quiet. The first thing that is most evident is the lack of a British accent. Soft spoken yet 100% American, all this is in his favor though, he is a genuinely sincere and caring individual and it's a pleasure to see this compassionate, sensitive and introspective side of the a true gentleman. There are parts of him that reflect his character of Wesley, but to see the real Alexis is a rare and honored treat for his fan!
Written by CoA Head Writer, Kristy Bratton
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