Trip into Papua New Guinea

I left off in Cairns, probably a little harsh on the place but a lot of it's luster has worn off for me as has a good deal of Australia but... see for yourself, this is just one man's view after all.

So today I'll try to take you into the "Land of the Unexpected." Sounds nice doesn't it? I can certainly say it is unlike anyplace else I've ever been.

The flight from Cairns is relatively uneventful most of the time. I mean I haven't had to have to swim for it yet, so that's always good. The flight is on a de Havilland Dash 8... a twin engine rickety thing that holds about 37 passengers or so depending how you stack them and apparently requires little maintenance and almost no cleaning at least I assume this to be true because they don't generally get much on the charter we fly in on. Amazing the amount of body odor that can be fit in such a small aircraft. This is the first "taste" of Papua New Guinea. The next taste is the inflight meal. For four years we had soggy sandwich fingers... one bit was salami, butter and tomato, the other bit was curried egg. For some reason I generally ate it. This year it is cold chicken with pasta salad and a bit of lettuce and a roll with butter. It's bland as hell but a step up in my book. I've found that while working over here and knowing how fast plans can change I always try to eat my meals... sometimes you don't get the next one and there aren't any stores where you can pick up something to tide you over. No snacks in the room unless an apple happens your way and you've saved it and the ants haven't gotten to it. Sometimes even if the ants haven't eaten too much its still an option.

The first hint that you have that you are getting close, unless you are timing the flight, is the engines start to slow. Most of the jungle below you either looks all the same or is covered in clouds. Then the pilot comes over the intercom and tells the flight crew to prepare for arrival. Some of the things that run through my mind are..." What? I still can't see the ground. There are mountains around here. I hope the fool knows what he's doing." "Ok, the landing gear just came down and I still don't see the ground, we must really be close to the mountains now." Turbulence..." I hope they haven't found any serious corrosion in the last few inspections because those wing are really moving out there." "Wheww there's the ground... good over the lake, now as long as there aren't any ground bursts we won't have to swim for it." " At least there aren't any mountains over the lake, I think I rather swim for it. If we survive the crash that is." Next landing. One hit... two hits... slowing now... ok on the ground.... whoaa... "I didn't thing here was any wind why are we fish tailing like this." "Ok... now I think we're safe this time. I must remember to make a will one of these days."

I'm not really prone to panic but I've had a few somewhat close calls in airplanes and helicopters over the years and I DO NOT like turbulence any more and I'm not all that trusting of pilots or ground crews in third world countries.
Now this is the newest way of coming to work. In the past I've cleared customs on the hood of a truck in Daru, flown with dead bodies and produce. I've flown all day with nothing to eat but a couple cookies and a small glass of OJ... met kids so full of worms that their guts are extended and hair has gone white from malnutrition and all sorts of the "unexpected".
(next installment PNG it's self)