Above all else, it was a great trip. Easily one of the best ever (in competition with New Zealand, Grand Canyon, Iceland). But it was not flawless. We left from National Airport on Friday (needing to meet the boat in Baltra on Sunday, we had an extra day built in). But the flight to Atlanta was delayed. Fortunately, the flight from Atlanta to Quito was delayed. The flight times pinged back and forth: we'd have plenty of time; the connection would be tight; we might make if the arrival and departure gate are close; we're going on the next day's flight; we might make it.

We ran from our Atlanta arrival gate to the departure gate thinking we were short on time. But found out the Quito flight was delayed. Waiting at the gate were five others we going on the same trip: David's brother, sister-in-law and nephew along with former Southeastern Expeditions raft guide Jerry and his with Nancy. So we got hugs all around. Then the gate changed. Then we boarded, drove off to be de-iced, queued up to take off and aborted due to a fuel pump gauge error. That was a three hour Boeing 757 drive from gate F4 to gate F31.

Lots of rebooking chaos: Sarah and I ended up on the next day's flight (which is OK as we had that extra day for travel issues). Steve, Helen, Aaron, Jerry and Nancy ended up on a flight scheduled to leave earlier the next day but going via Bogatá. With it being really late and having an early flight, they opted to stay at the airport. Sarah found a hotel for us.

By the time we got back through security, the Bogatá flight was canceled but they were all rebooked on the same flight Sarah and I were on. Which was only delayed a bit more, but did actually take off and get to Quito. However, the checked bags stayed in Atlanta.

We were in Quito and could enjoy (briefly) the hotel (showers for those stuck overnight in the Atlanta airport). The hotel shuttle got us back to the airport where we met Tony, who handed us our boarding passes and tourist cards and got us pointed to the flight to Baltra. And we learned the flight stopped in Guayaquil on the way.

The trip was initially planned by yet another couple of former Southeastern Expeditions raft guides: Hank and Sally. They asked us if we'd be interested in joining them just about the time David stepped down from USPTO. We said, "YES!" Of the 14 guests on the boat, 12 were invitees from Hank and Sally. It was a great bunch of folks to be on a trip with. And the one extra couple were nice and fit in well.

We arrived in Baltra and were met by our new best friend, Jonathan, the naturalist who would be with us anytime we were off the boat. He works for several companies and we were very glad he was assigned to our trip on the Nemo III from Nemo Galapagos. The crew were fantastic, the food plentiful and tasty and, obviously, the scenery was out of this world.

The one drawback: there was a pretty bad smell on the boat, especially in the two cabins on the kitchen side (ours and Hank and Sally's). We learned friends of friends are going to be on the Nemo III later this year, if I hear from them, I'll update this note about the smell. It's enough to not recommend Nemo III if it's consistent.

Other than the smell, which got gradually better over time and we got gradually used to — but never really went away — the Nemo III served us well. The cabins have A/C (which Sarah noted really needed a thorough vent cleaning) and most were in the two hulls of the catamaran so you knew you were on a boat. While they have sails, the schedule is such that we motored everywhere we needed to go. They did unfurl the foresail one afternoon — but mostly for show.

On the right, two of the Nemos with the airport in the background and the "panga" (or dingy or tender or zodiac) coming to pick up us.

We had a bit of time to find our rooms, notice and complain about the smell, meet the crew and then we were off on our first panga ride to a beach and wet landing. On the beach, before a quick swim, we happened across a really colorful lobster tail — the lobster was an ex-lobster.

When we got back on board, we learned the rhythm for the coming week: The boat would move from spot to spot, island to island overnight. Each morning we would wake up someplace new. And each day would be broken into morning and afternoon activities with tasty meals before and after — and snacks between the meals. Each evening, Jonathan would brief us on the next days events.