Catching Crabs in Papua

Today was another day of hard, backbreaking work. We had to go out into the heart of the jungle and go fishing for several hours. We actually caught some good sized crabs. I didn't actually contribute to catching anything, of course, but it was Darwoto, the lumberjack. He was also the only one tough enough to grab them with his bare hands.

You may not be able to see, but there are actually three crabs in the bucket. Two big ones, and a medium one.

The big guy below tried to make a run for it. We got him though. 

He paid a dear price for his attempted escape, he got his claws pulled off in the process. Of course, not near as bad as what is going to happen to him shortly afterwards.

And now he's dinner. 

While we were down fishing by the river, we had to cover up as much of our body as possible. This island is one of the few places in Indonesia that has Malaria, which can be transmitted from a mosquito bite. But, this is not the reason we cover up. The reason is because of what they call an agas, which is translated as sandfly/gnat. They just look like little harmless gnats, but they are a vicious, nasty little insect.

I tried to cover myself as much as I could too, I had a tshirt on my head and face, lookin like a ninja/terrorist. Plus I had put some strong bug repellent all over my face. 

So, I was almost completely protected, I say almost. Guess where I got about 20 bites. Yup, below my eyebrows and just below my eyes on my cheeks.

We even tried to smoke them out.We burned egg cartons and it made some pretty bad smelling smoke, which I tried to sit right in the middle of where the smoke was blowing, but it only kept the agas at bay temporarily.