Nanga Bulik
When I start a new week here in Palangka Raya, I usually have no idea what adventures that the week is going to have for me. Yesterday I found myself flying to a village called Nanga Bulik. Nanga Bulik is a bit larger than most villages, and it is actually a capital of a small province in Kalimantan.
Nanga Bulik is about 1 1/2 hours away from Palangka Raya by air. I had never been there before but it's a big wide river so landing there was not a problem. When I got there and my passengers left about a hundred kids started to crowd around the airplane. Everybody wanted a glimpse of the white pilot.
I didn't get my camera out until about an hour later once the kids started to get bored and disperse.
When I wait for passengers I usually never leave the floatplane. When I flew a wheel plane I didn't mind leaving it alone, but with a wheel plane we always flew to the same places so the kids and people were used to us. Since I fly a floatplane now, I find that I can land at dozens of places that may have never had a float plane land there. I have to be a lot more careful, because the airplane would be easy to damage by a boat wanting to dock next to it for example. People here generally don't understand how easy a floatplane could be damaged.
All the kids in the pictures would just stare at me and ask me all kinds of questions. So, even though it would be easy for me to be annoyed by all the attention, I decided that this would be a great opportunity for them to see who I really was. I engaged these kids and answered most of their silly questions. After all, I had to wait for 1 1/2 hours for my passengers to return for their flight home.
Too bad I didn't take a picture right away when this whole dock was almost completely full of kids.
Nanga Bulik is about 1 1/2 hours away from Palangka Raya by air. I had never been there before but it's a big wide river so landing there was not a problem. When I got there and my passengers left about a hundred kids started to crowd around the airplane. Everybody wanted a glimpse of the white pilot.
I didn't get my camera out until about an hour later once the kids started to get bored and disperse.
When I wait for passengers I usually never leave the floatplane. When I flew a wheel plane I didn't mind leaving it alone, but with a wheel plane we always flew to the same places so the kids and people were used to us. Since I fly a floatplane now, I find that I can land at dozens of places that may have never had a float plane land there. I have to be a lot more careful, because the airplane would be easy to damage by a boat wanting to dock next to it for example. People here generally don't understand how easy a floatplane could be damaged.
All the kids in the pictures would just stare at me and ask me all kinds of questions. So, even though it would be easy for me to be annoyed by all the attention, I decided that this would be a great opportunity for them to see who I really was. I engaged these kids and answered most of their silly questions. After all, I had to wait for 1 1/2 hours for my passengers to return for their flight home.
Too bad I didn't take a picture right away when this whole dock was almost completely full of kids.
posted by Steve and Laura at
1:47 PM
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