Destination Sumba Part 3

This guy was really trippy. His lips were stained red from years of Betel Nut chewing, he just had that amazing look about him. 7 years ago, before digital cameras were prevalent, it would have been a heavy scene for me to take pics like this in the village. The people of Sumba are extremely nice and welcoming, but there is that full on warrior side to them. My friend explained to me that years ago, they really didn't like things pointed in their face by foreigners and cameras almost caused some serious problems (real serious, not just getting your camera confiscated). I think they have become more accustomed to the cameras, but just in the past few years because we can immediately show results to them.
The reason for my trip to Sumba was to shoot some surfing, document the Sumbanese Lifestyle and raise awareness for the Sumba Foundation which has been making good progress in alleviating poverty, bringing clean drinking water and reducing malaria in Sumba. There is a long way to go, but things are looking up.
Some statistics show that only 1 in 3 children make it to adulthood in Sumba due to malaria, malnutrition and other circumstances. Sumba has one of the highest occurences of Malaria in Asia. It's a scene that is improving with help of the foundation. It's really heavy to go into the villages and see sick and hungry children, it makes one feel very fortunate.


Water Buffalo horns.
Check out this guy's shirt, I should sell it to Grenade for an ad.
Maybe if more kids I know had to hike to carry the family water instead of drive to the ski hill in their parents SUV, they would be more appreciative of everything they have.
Sumbanese Village, tucked strategically away in the trees.
Our original flight was cancelled on the way out, so we waited 6 hours till we could find a plane to take us back to Bali. Pelita Air Boarding pass was epic, just a xeroxed piece of paper.
This is one of the funniest photos of the trip. We really were all quite nervous as Indonesian Airlines are notoriously unsafe, especially the small ones. We were flying on a Fokker jet from the 70s and Sal crossing his fingers just about sums up the mood.
Okay, so here we go, to add insult to injury, I get these photos in my inbox 2 days after we left after surfing head high and sectiony surf for two weeks....

Look at Christian tucked deep into the right. What I wouldn't have given to be able to stay just two more days.
Yes, that looks good.