Killing time in the Timika airport this morning. Over 3 hours, which is a long time on cold, creaky metal chairs after 2 nights in airplanes. The waiting room is packed with sweaty, unwashed bodies and the damp air is stagnant and stale. My eyes hurt, after 40 hours on the road and no proper cleaning of my contact lenses. And so far, I’ve actually been dealing with it all just fine. Until now. Because at this moment, it occurs to me – at home, I had carefully packed my headlamps, wrapping them up into t-shirts. And then exactly those t-shirts ended up in the bag which remained in Bali. Headlamps still tucked neatly inside. ARGH!!! I’ve been fantasizing about just collapsing into bed and sleeping a good 3-4 hours upon arrival in Nabire. Looks like yet another last minute equipment shopping trip instead. Can you even buy headlamps in Nabire, Papua???

Landing in Timika early this morning, we were greeted by a wet, grey day. This is pretty much what I’ve been expecting from Papua. So it’s a nice surprise when I land in Nabire and the day is sunny. It’s beautiful, lush green foliage surrounds everything, and a picturesque landing coming in over the water. I’ll try to add a video, not sure if the network here can handle the upload, though. Oh, and it is HOT. And very humid. Already I don’t have the right clothes. The plan was to leave to Sugapa early tomorrow morning (there’s only one flight a day). But it seems we are still missing some gear – like a tent, so not trivial – and will likely need to spend another day here until all provisions are secured. Bummer. Now I wish I’d stayed in Bali – much nicer place to wait. Sigh. At least I should be well rested by the time we finally head out. And now all the long flights are behind me. Only the long trek ahead…

Quick update: you CAN buy a headlamp in Nabire, and in fact my guide picked one up for me while he was shopping for other stuff we need. And while I was taking a long nap back at the hotel. 😀