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A sleepy band of divers crawls into the Marshall Islands
Resort van that is headed to the Majuro International Airport
a while before dawn. An assortment of luggage follows in the
back of the truck assigned to handle the heavy load of dive
gear, fishing equipment, photographic equipment and coolers of
fresh produce. Ultimate destination, the Oleanda live
aboard ship, currently docked on the island of Rongelap,
the main island of the Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. |
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 The tour guide and
expedition representative, herds the group toward
the airline counter as she discusses the luggage situation
with the airport staff. One by one, the group members
step on the luggage scale, cringing as the numbers are read
aloud and summed for the flight crew who will take us to
Rongelap on the Air Marshall Islands
Dash-8. Our leader keeps us all in tow with promises of coffee and
offers of fresh fruit & pastry to help us wake up. |
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 We're an eclectic group
that hails from Hawaii, Kwajalein, Hong Kong, California,
Japan, Florida and Frank Sinatra's old stomping grounds of Hoboken,
New Jersey. Our Oleanda hosts are from Tonga, the
Marshall Islands and Australia.
We spend our flight time gazing at the
islands and turquoise ocean and trying to memorize the names
of our mates on this adventure and suddenly the island of
Rongelap appears below us. We have arrived and adventure
awaits. |
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