Papu ah!

To say that the 8 hour flight, with 2 stops, from Jakarta to Jayapura, was uneventful would be untrue. The Garuda girls are overzealous in their desire to feed you the worst kind of airline food, nasi goring in this case, after every halt. So they woke me up at 11 pm, then again at 2 am and then one more time at 5 am for breakfast, by pulling the blanket off my face, prodding my shoulders until I had responded to their question Makaan?

But all that and the lingering pain in my hip was forgotten, when I looked out of the window at the dramatic landscape unfold below me, a vast expanse of green, without an end, broken by brown rivers, a blue lake, and thickly forested hills. Ah! Papua!

Call it what you like, Irian Jaya, West Papua or just Indonesian Papua, the view of the forests is a grand testimony to the efforts put in by the Papuan Governor, Mr. Barnabas Seubu . No less than 85% of the island is covered by rainforest, much if it primary and untouched by man. Other prevailing ecosystems include steamy mangrove forest and savannah right through to alpine highlands with snow-capped mountains. Wildlife abounds and includes some of the most interesting creatures known to man.

I was heading in to Jayapura to welcome Greenpeace ship, MV Esparanza, that is in Indonesia to bring the world's attention to the last of the ancient forest, climate regulator, home to hundreds of indigenous communities who speak more than 200 languages, yet to be discovered biodiversity, and all of which is now on the chopping block. Literally.

An hour long drive from the airport at Santani and I was in Jayapura, founded in 1910 as Hollandia by the Dutch, then changed to Kotabaru, then to Sukarnopura and finally to its current official name. Among ethnic Papuans, it is also known as Port Numbai, the former name before the arrival of immigrants.

A quick shower and I was at quay side, alongside the MV Esparanza dancing with the nimble footed Jayapurians, decked out in their traditional fineries, painted faces and stone and bead jewellery, grass skirts et al. Happy to be here, Happy to hear them sing songs of the forests. Happy to have survived the Garuda flight.

Tomorrow I will write about my visit to the market, but tonight I will go check out the Karaoke/Disco to get a deeper understanding of the effects of transmigrasi.

(In the picture, Robi Tui aka Joey poses alongside MV Esparanza)