Waiting for "de plane"

We're camped out in the Quito airport, Domestic terminal. It's like every other airport terminal I've seen, except that the air reeks of exhaust fumes.

Our Aerogal flight from Quito is an hour late due to morning fog. We're flying to Guayaquil, then on to Baltra in the Galapagos.

Travelling with an experienced group is the best way to travel. Our luggage was handled from the hotel to the plane, and Aggressor is to handle it from Baltra to the boat. Our airline tickets were waiting for us at the airport, and the tips were collected and disbursed for the group.

One nice thing is that everyone seems to be a lot of fun. There are even several guys who share my sense of humor. There are only two women in our group - the rest are middle-aged men. Big surprise: That's normal for dive trips.

One of the guys has been commenting on how clean Quito is. I don't agree: Although I've seen much dirtier cities, I wouldn't call it clean.

Once we arrive in Baltra, we'll be loaded onto the Galapagos Aggressor II and move to our first dive site while we gear up. We'll do a checkout dive to get our weights set, then have a welcome aboard party. As I understand it, overnight we'll sail 200 mi WNW to Darwin/Wolf Islands, where we'll spend the majority of our time. The objective is to be surrounded by huge marine creatures, mostly sharks and rays.

More when possible!