Christmas in the Caribbean
10 December 2015 | Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola BVI
Pamela/Warm and sunny
US citizens visiting the British Virgin Islands with proof they have a way to leave can get a thirty day travel visa. Our visa is good until December 23 and we have to leave before it expires. St. Thomas and St. John, quite nearby, are US protectorates so going there would be an easy option. But we aren’t quite ready to go yet so the next option is getting our visa extended.
We knew getting a travel visa extension was possible, but figuring out HOW do it became a priority. We knew we had to go to immigration (wonder where that is?) to fill out some paperwork (what kind/how long) and pay a fee (how much?) Through a combination of reading online and print materials and talking to other cruisers we made a plan.
Our plan might have been a little aggressive: tootle over to immigration to get our visa extended, do our Christmas shopping at a nearby bookstore, and finish off by going to the supermarket to get all the stuff we can’t find in the local grocery. Maybe grab a little lunch and a cab ride home with bags and bags of newly acquired larder.
You might picture Caribbean culture as laid back where anything goes, and on some islands I’m sure this is the case. But the islanders here are traditionally conservative in both attire and demeanor. Bathing suits are fine for the beach, but shouldn’t be seen on the street. Same for skimpy tops and short shorts. And when you are going to a government office, you should dress appropriately. So we put on our Sunday best, including closed toed shoes for the captain, seldom worn underpinnings for the mate and hats for both of us.
Man plans. God laughs.
Planning to save cab fare we struck off on foot hoping to get a ride. We were luckily picked up a half mile from the marina and got a ride all the way into town by one of the business owners in Nanny Cay. She left us at the corner with a vague gesture in the direction of immigration: our first stop. But we came to the supermarket first and decided to check their facilities and get a soda. Getting to town was thirsty work. Next we walked up and down and all around the next block before finally asking directions to “Immigration.” It was about 20 yards across the parking lot right behind us. I could have kicked a soccer ball through the window.
We turned to look and there it was. The queue for immigration. Snaking out of what might even be an air conditioned room, at the front of which some people might be getting visa extensions, was a long, long line. This line was filled with a hundred people who arrived hours before we “tootled over to immigration.” We shouldered our way inside to see if maybe it was just lunch time and therefor a little “slow.” A number dispenser on the wall , like they have at the deli, stood empty of paper tickets; long since removed by the knowing staff, that more numbers had already been taken than could be served in a day. The neon sign on the wall said, “Now serving number 20” We checked our watches it was 11:20am. Time for some Xmas shopping.
We sweated ourselves back out onto the street and cooled off a little bit in the supermarket, switching to beer. Going to town is thirsty work. Gathering our bearings, we climbed up hill to the bookstore. What a place! Hands down the coolest bookstore I have been in since we have been aboard Big Frisky. Upstairs from the bookstore was a terrific café for lunch with Bollywood favorites on TV which we were glued to and all mostly air conditioned! Over lunch we counted our wins and losses. Christmas shopping done! (How will we mail the packages?) We know what is in the supermarket. (And get it when we come back to immigration!) And most importantly we know a little more how immigration and can come back first thing in the morning more prepared.
Morning came early on Big Frisky. The captain put on his closed toe shoes, this time with socks because of the blisters they wore the previous day. We put on our second best Sunday clothes with chafing underpinnings. The cab came at 0730 and we were at immigration by 0800. We drew a number placing us 9th in the queue and we took a seat. For the next hour or so everyone who came into the room announced, "Good Morning!" and everyone inside replied, "Good Morning!" The Captain and I soon joined in, which I can tell you dear readers, certainly passes the time when you are waiting in the line.
About 0900 an official came out and called for all those wanting an extension for a travel visa. There were only four of us. We relinquished our number and took a seat. About an hour later they call our names. We went through the coveted doors where officials did their work and it was completely air conditioned. Take your sweet time officials.
We met Officer Collins and after sizing us up she asked, “Why do you want to extend your visa?” We replied that we just wanted more time to explore the islands. “You want to spend the winter with us?” “Yes,” we said nodding and smiling. Looking over the documents we presented for Big Frisky, she asked over her glasses if we had paid the temporary import fees for the boat. We had not. We wanted to make sure our visa would be extended before we imported our boat to the BVI. Keeping our passports, she sent us back to the customs office, a few blocks away, to pay the $200 boat import fee.
When we came back we went to the front of the line, looking much more friendly than it looked the previous day at the same time. Within a half an hour we had our extension to come and go in the BVI until we return to the states next May.
After lunch in a really cool café, we made our way to the taxi stand for the ride back to Nanny Cay. One pistachio ice cream later, we negotiated a two leg trip back to the marina with a stop at Tortola Express for organizing a way to send and receive US mail and a short stop and the grocery next door to look for (and find) galley provisions
Here is a picture of our holiday decorations! We are feeling a new understanding of the Holy Family this holiday season: travels, negotiating governmental bureaucracy, and finding a place of peace with love. We hope your season is equally blessed with new understandings of beliefs you hold dear.