May 26, 2009 – St Thomas
We spent our last week in Bequia. The boat was starting to feel a little small, okay, make that WAAAAYYYYYY small. And to say this as nicely as I can – I think that this is an experience only to repeat with people I really know very well and really love very much. It is small space to share with the foibles of people you don’t know very well. The last week is a bit of a blur as I spent a good portion of it with high levels of anxiety, ready to be off the boat and ready for it to just be Ryan and me again.
The last week almost was spent in Bequia as it quickly came to pass that our only option for rejoining St. Thomas to catch our flight home was to take multiple puddle jumpers starting in St. Vincent (immediately north of Bequia). I was happy to stop with all the crossings - I do get seasick and without bonine, open water is just no fun.
Bequia was a lovely little island – I could actually see going back there for a little dive vacation. We did very little diving – only 2 dives, but they were positively gorgeous. Their reef is very healthy and we got treated to some nice creatures – a group of 9 juvenile drums, the Flamingo Tongue bush that Ryan found – it was the bush from whence all Flamingo Tongues sprout, I’m sure – 22 of them in all on the same bush. Both dives were fairly shallow and I practiced my wide-angle shots – I like the effect of the surface in pictures.
Tonight we are back in St. Thomas – were our adventures began. This morning the dinghy dropped us off on Bequian soil at 6:15. We caught the 6:30 ferry for Kingstown, St. Vincent. A cab took us the 5 minute/$40 EC to the airport where we waited for 5 hours. I asked if we could hop the earlier flight (it was 7:39, and I wanted to get on an 8:05 flight) only to be told that I needed to arrive earlier. I told the guy that there was no earlier ferry. So we waited for 5 hours for the flight we were scheduled on. We paid $40 EC each to leave the country. We went through our first security check point and I near died laughing when after taking my bag apart to scan each piece of photo equipment separately the nice lady then got treated to the bag with all of Ryan’s scuba gear. Ryan started explaining what everything was as I’m bent over double trying not to pee myself. We took the first puddle jumper to Barbados.
We got off the plane in Barbados, went through security again, did a lap of the airport, came back to the gate we’d just been through and got back on the same plane we’d just disembarked, hosted by the same stewardess, to continue on to Dominica. On the Dominica leg we were offered drinks and each of us got a juice box. We landed in Dominica, but got to stay on the plane this time while they disembarked the Castries passengers and loaded up a few more passengers. And we were off again to Antigua. Kimberly the stewardess – we’re on a first name basis by now – said to push the button if we wanted to “purchase” cocktails. I pushed my luck and asked for another juice box.
In Antigua, we got off the plane, showed a Liat employee our boarding passes and passports, went through security again (was told to take off my flip flops for the first time and my water bottle that had made it through 2 security checkpoints was confiscated – it’s like the closer you get to American soil, the more security gets stupid). We circled the airport twice looking for food and found two junk food vendors. Having already devoured a tube of Pringles, I was after real food. On lap three, Ryan found a “real food” counter and we each got a slice of pizza and some fruit. I’d just gotten about half way through my slice and was handing Ryan the other half that our names were paged to report to the gate.
And it was time to go again. I was randomly selected for a bag check and a very stern woman who took her job entirely way too seriously ordered me to open my bag while she proceeded to take about 5 minutes trying to get latex gloves over extraordinarily long fake finger nails covered in all kinds of intricate swirly designs. She poked around my bag and with a wave of her hand dismissed me. We got on a plane bound for Anguilla. Did the same in Anguilla as we did in Dominica and finally got to St. Thomas as I’m 15 pages away from the end of my book. I’ve been telling Ryan all day that I have more plane time than book left.
As we waited in St. Vincent this morning, the one sparkle in an otherwise dreary prospect of a morning was free wifi! So we did get online and found a hotel in St. Thomas – the Best Western Carib – 200 yards from the airport – walking distance. Not great reviews, but the price was on the lower end, if still way more than either one of us was hoping to spend, and it was walking distance from the airport which meant no mean surprises with cab fares. And the room is way nicer than the reviews announced though the hallways and reception are awful and dingy, so I’m guessing it’s in the process of getting a face lift. It’s a great king size bed, so boy can stay on boy side of bed and quit kicking me all night. I’m going to take two sleeping pills and sleep until my eyes open and then grumble, roll over and sleep some more. Our flight tomorrow is at 2:40, we’ve requested late checkout and 2 minutes later we’ll stroll into the airport and repeat it all over again!
Good night and good luck!
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