Doughnuts in the jungle!

It seems strange to have come all this way, head into the dense Borneo rainforest to then be served fresh, sugared doughnuts - but this has happened a number of times - and very nice they’ve been too! (I ate three today, one after another sitting by the side of the airstrip at Long Lebuson).

Last night we stayed overnight in the village of Long Nawang, one of the furthest locations the pilots fly to from Tarakan. The village sits on the bank of a fast flowing river, the jungle surrounding it. It is slightly better developed than other villages, and has quite a history in relation to American missionaries, the Dutch and then Japanese troops. We interviewed numerous people there who have benefitted from MAF’s services and, once again, the gratitude is great.

Today we joined Chris Desjardine at Long Lebuson where he was installing an aerial for a high frequency radio there. Without it the pilots have no way of knowing what the airstrip and weather conditions are like until they fly over it (it took us 1 hour 20 mins to fly back from there to Tarakan in the caravan). The aerial wires were erected on the tallest bamboo poles I’ve ever seen; we estimated about 12 metres high.

It’s now my final night here before I head home. It’s been a good trip and we’ve gathered plenty of material. The challenge now will be to bring it to life in print and film . . . but I’m up for that!