Up at 4:30 after a bad nights sleep. Boarded the plane on time, but four trips to the runway then back to the jet way for repairs to some "Navigational Equipment" meant that we sat on the plane for over two hours before taking off. The first island we landed on was Majuro - absolutely incredible - from the air it looked like a perfect ribbon of sandy beaches with a green stripe that formed a giant loop. The widest spot on the entire atoll seemed to be the airport - maybe 200 meters wide! Unfortunately I did not have my camera so while the plane was refueling I got it out. When we took off some clouds prevented the incredible view we had landing - but at least I had the camera ready for the next islands.
The next island we landed on was Kuajalein - a similar type island, but not nearly as picturesque. Kuajalein is almost completely leased by a large US military contractor (Raytheon I think) so access is very restricted. The third island, Kosrae, was a different kind - mountainous with no barrier reef - no lagoon, so that surf breaks directly on shore. This is opposed to the first two islands which were all barrier reef - the land part is just where the reef has risen above the water. We got held up another extra hour in Kosrae while some airplane mechanics removed three rows of seats so that a stretcher could be brought on board.
Finally, three hours late, we arrived on Pohnpei. Pohnpei is a mountainous island with a barrier reef - I think I got some good photos coming in. Immigration and customs were pretty easy. Waiting at the baggage claim was hysterical. Baggage claim is just a counter and a guy in a large pickup truck would drive over to the airplane (maybe 50m away)and load four or five suitcases in to the back of the truck then drive over to an office for someone to look in the truck, then put the luggage on to the counter, then repeat. Luckily both my bags came in the fourth trip - I imagine it would not have taken long for the humor to disappear.
Stacy was waiting and had booked a room at the nearby Misco hotel - almost adjacent to the airport. She'd even splashed out for a room with air conditioning! Unfortunately it was hot - very hot and the AC unit was fighting a loosing battle. Stacy made a few phone calls trying to arrange a boat ride for tomorrow, but was mostly unsuccessful. We made diner (well cooked some rice then thawed some chow mien that she'd already made), dropped some cables off at Simon and Eileen's house, and tried to do some shopping in case we were able to go camping at one of the nearby islands (Black Coral) tomorrow. I say tried to shop because the previous two day's time changes and lack of sleep were starting to catch up and I crashed hard.
