Here, There and Everywhere!
17 November 2012 | Funafuti Atoll 08 30.823'S 179 11.707' E
Linda
Our first stop for taking care of our arrival paperwork was Immigration at the government building. A couple forms to fill out, stamps in our passports and then we were off to Customs. Well, of course it's not the customs office located in the same building, but one at the shipping pier near the north end of town. We ran into friends from 'Street Car' who told us it was a long, hot walk so we opted for a dinghy ride instead. The office was locked when we arrived, but Brad rustled up the officer from the warehouse downstairs. More paperwork, but it was air conditioned and the fellow offered us big bottles of cool water that we gratefully accepted. Next Agriculture/Quarantine. Just down the street, in an unmarked building with the interior gutted for some sort of remodel. Now that was easy to find!
Back in the dinghy and we're off to the center of town to drop off our health forms at the hospital. Wow ... I've never been to a hospital where the parking area is wall to wall motorbikes and the reception area floor is wall to wall people! The staff, including the Chinese doctor we finally found had no idea why were there and had never seen the forms we'd been directed to give them. Fortunately, they had plenty of medical problems (seated on the floor) so they smiled, took the papers and sent us on our way.
We're legal now and it's all free of charge.