Standing up travel by plane

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On this outward flight there are about 50 passengers on the Air Force transport plane, a Ukranian made Antonov AN-30. Here they call this plane the Buffalo. Everyone knows its distinctive sound when it flies over the jungle.

The passengers sit along each side facing the centre where there is a pile of bags, boxes and packing cases. Today there are no spare seats, so I and about ten others have to stand up during the first leg of the journey. The motors are roaring during take off and I grab at a box to steady myself. Inside the box are three geese. I'm startled when one of them picks at my hand. The freight is stacked so high that I can't see the passengers on the other side. The assistant needing to collect the fares can only reach us by clambering over the piles of luggage and freight.

The next leg of the flight is over the Andes and to Chiclayo. We begin to climb. Two of the crew clamber across the legs of the passengers on each side adjusting the rubber tubing that hangs from the ceiling. The tubing now all connected, the tap of one of two large oxygen cylinders is turned on. Everybody sits quietly, holding the nozzle an inch or two from their noses.

The worst part is the descent. My cold makes matters worse. My ears begin to ring and become very painful. As the plane looses height, slowly the pain decreases. We arrive in Lima, the flight taking 3 hours 20 minutes. The same journey overland out of the jungle takes four days.

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