On the road again: IO, Indian Ocean

Expedition preparations to remote areas are reliably intense - we don't get a second chance to prep, and we can't go to a local Radio Shack to get a fiber optic modem or a low-loss coax. So there is a sense of finality in boarding the first plane out: ready or not, he we go. The Chagos archipelago fits the definition of remoteness. Before boarding the first plane at the crack of dawn, we did get the good news that our on-island support crew is back on contract, a good thing as othwise we'd be hacking through the jungle with machetes for most of the trip. So off we go into the blue, via Japan, Singapore, and other vessels yet unknown.