elleflies | No One Knows Where....

Back in January I had the good fortune to finally make it out to a little air base with the airport code NKW. Now, I spend a good deal of time making my way out to small air bases in the middle of nowhere. It just so happens that most of these are in the middle of nowhere in the states. NKW, on the other hand, is in the middle of the Indian ocean.

For those of you curious as to where exactly Diego Garcia is, right below the tip of India is an island chain called The Maldives (becoming more and more popular as a tourist destination for the super-rich and for islamic extremists) below the Maldives, hovering right below the equator is the Chagos Archipelago and within that group of islands is a loopy, twisty bit of land called Diego Garcia.

I really wasn't kidding about the loopy bit. It's a curve stuck out there in the water, with a few twists and turns for good measure.

More boats then I expected, but I imagine it's one of the best ways to actually get here (as there's only the one runway and I know it's been out of commission a few times...)

You'd think this would be the perfect place to go surfing, but I have it on good authority that taking a dip into the waters on the outside of the ocean is just a bit too dangerous as strong riptides flow past. (Or something like that.)

As the outside bit is a tad... rough. The lagoon/cover/harbor/whatever is where everyone (all 4,000 people on the island, every single one of them either a contractor or a member of the military - British and American) jumps in.

Being in the middle of the Indian ocean is all fine and dandy until you start contemplating just how FAR you have to go to get home (and how exactly you're going to go about doing this.)

Diego Garcia is a considered a remote duty station by the military. In case you happen to forget about how remote it is, they have a handy sign to remind you.