(New photos have been posted!)
This was a BRIEF scene for us
You’ve never heard of it, and you may never hear of it again.
It’s a town situated on the coast of northern Papua.
Nabire.
It’s on the beach, but it’s not a beach town. Something we’re discovering here, but these people live on the sea, but they do not enjoy or really use the sea. Small bits of people do all the fishing, but there is not a tremendous demand for the fish, no tourism…so not so many people fish.
The beach is…small, not much if any tidal change…and there is mangrove right up until a few yards from the water. It’s a bit odd, but who am I to judge these folks.
It’s a very conservative society, very Christian. Everyone is on their mopeds, bopping around town doing small errands, and it all rolls up around sunset.
No bars, no clubs, no partying. In fact, you hear no music when cruising around town. There are hardly any restaurants. There is one internet connection, and it’s a place with 6 or so old computers, but they do have wi fi, which is cool.
It’s the only place anyone can start a Carstensz Expedition, but there is no signs of these folks really caring about it. They are not too impressed I feel.
We just banked 12 hour of sleep, with any hopes we have adjusted our internal time clocks. It’s usually quite easy for us to travel this direction (west). It’s going back home that we have most troubles adjusting to the time change. We’ve just awoke to a breakfast of sweet tea, toast/jam and hard boiled egg, AND a rain that was so massive it was hard to believe our eyes. Enjoyed all this with Sade playing on my laptop. Great relaxing morning to suppress our anxiety to get on the mountain. The hotel is the nicest place in town. New/nice tile, local TV, toilet, no hot water, decent bed.
We are sharing this tiny hotel, with the other team that is waiting for the helicopter to be repaired. They have been here 4 days, and are plenty frustrated, but patient. It’s not just any team, this team is led by Andy Holzer. He’s a famous mountaineer from Austria, and is attempting to climb the Seven Summits. This will be #5 for him. Over dinner, he and Jordan shared amazing stories from their quests. Jordan has just the Aconcogua peak, over what Andy has done yet. By the way- Andy is blind. Very blind. But man does he have a sense of humor that is a riot.
Every 4 hours or so a small plane flies into the airport, and we hope each one of them carry the instrument for which the helicopter maintenance team is waiting.
Our guides we have now met- a couple of long haired/hippy types from another island of Indonesia to the west. Very experienced and very cool guys. Meldy and Poxy. Patric and Agus are our city guides and driver helping us to burn away this time with some sort of enjoyment.
Our duffle bags are sitting ready; our climbing packs are completely ready with water/food/safety gear. If we had to climb in 10 minutes from now, we’d be more than ready.
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FYI- we are 17hour ahead of PS
Yeah J! All that practice one-hand hand clapping practice paid off! You have been getting so fast it is hard to keep up with the counting! Love you, thinking of you! Always on my mind and in my heart.
So glad to hear from you guys!aw
So glad to hear from you guys! You always have such amazing stories to tell! Hopefully you get the part for the helicopter soon! Jordan you have skill levels that far exceed mountaineering. Congratulations on the unofficial one handed clapping record!!
Take Care!!
Jim,Jayne & Josh
Team Jordan,
This is going to be a great book on Jordan and team mates. There is no stopping you guys.
Video tape Jordan talking with these people of different cultures. Its an education worth a million bucks. What great stories Jordan can spin around the campfire.
We will be up in Big Bear to see Jordan run his first 26 mile marathon.