Exploring 6/3

Hello from inside my sanctuary but now I’m tucked into the far side of a large sleeping room in a tall house owned by an incredibly hospitable Lewada couple named Kila and Sibi. We arrived in Lewada this evening after a very long trip. We took off on Thursday morning from Limol. First stop was Upiara for Grace to catch an MAF’s Friday plane to Daru. The journey was a little stop and go, but we arrived with plenty of daylight to settle in at Kwale and Aruwa’s house and have one of Kwale’s famous meals.

We did a bit of exploring in Upiara, which is a much bigger village than Limol. We normally stay with Aruwa on the school compound as he is the headmaster. The other families in this corner also speak Ende or Kawam. We got to greet plenty of Ende school children. We walked out to the furthest point in search of a man named Darema who was the main consultant for one of my linguist friends Phill. He gave us some updated files he had been working on for us to send to Phill with Grace. 

Friday was a long day of waiting for the plane. We would only later find out that no one told the pilot to fly to Upiara. But we had two more delicious meals from Kwale and I got lots of great Kawam data from our new school teacher friends Mamena and George. We helped Kwale collect coconuts and had another refreshing and chilly bucket bath in the breezy valley behind Kwale’s house. 

On Saturday the plane was scheduled for 9:30 am. Grace got her favorite banana cake for breakfast and we headed up to the strip. Sometime and two naps later, I executed the classic restaurant technique of leaving to use the restroom and the plane came seconds later just past 11. 

As soon as Grace flew off, the family (Wagiba, Winson, and Tonny) and crew (Jugu and Mesa) hopped into the boat to speed up the Bituri to the Fly River and Lewada. We very quickly ran out of fuel - our boat operator didn’t remember to top up in Upiara - and so we spent six hours floating and paddling down the Bituri stopping at each village looking for fuel. Luckily the current was strong and in our favor and spirits remained high. A detour through a waterlily swamp provided lunch in the form of yummy little green bean pods and our third village stop, though also out of fuel, generously gave us ten roasted fish and fresh sago. Moreover, Winson shot two huge mozaya fish with his bow and spear from the edge of the boat!

We arrived at our fourth stop of Nego at sunset, bought 11 liters of fuel, and sped off to try and reach Lewada with the smallest amount of light. Unfortunately we hit road blocks coming in. A huge mud bank has taken up residence in front of the village and just a narrow waterway has been carved out to allow boats to come closer to the shore. The long drive was filled with huge outrigger canoes and other vessels that we had to push our boat around or under. I was not allowed to get out of the boat so I felt like a strange princess being pushed through a sea of mud, trying to use my weight selectively to assist the struggle forward. We finally came to the end of the line and after a slog through the mud we were on dry land looking for our hosts.