Wednesday, November 8, 1995 - Trinidad

Roy talked with Tim this morning and was assured he could do any work he wanted on the boat, so we went up to the office to sign the contract. The woman in the office wanted to see our Customs papers. We hadn't brought them with us, so Roy went back to the boat to get them, but he brought the wrong papers, so he had to go back a second time. Then it turned out we didn't have anything from Customs but a receipt. The woman in the office said we should have a long form. She accepted our application anyway, but in the confusion, Roy didn't sign the contract. I registered in the office and got an access pass and two passes for the free bus. Also got a key to the restrooms and bought a dozen tokens for the laundromat. We decided we had better try to find the Customs form we were supposed to have. I thought I might have inadvertently left it at the Immigration office in Port-of-Spain in all the confusion. We rode the free bus into town at 12:30 and walked towards the waterfront. I had a bunch of postcards and Diane's birthday card that I wanted to mail, but we didn't find the Post Office. We didn't see any decent-looking fast-food places to eat lunch, so we decided to go to the restaurant at the Holiday Inn. We had seen it near the waterfront, so it was easy to find, and they always have good food. We enjoyed a first-class buffet in first-class surroundings. The desserts were especially delicious. We really pigged out. Cost 156 TT's, which is less than $30 U.S. Went to the Immigration office, but they didn't have anything of ours, so we went to Customs. The officer had our file, but he told us we weren't supposed to receive a copy. He assured us everything was in order and there were no problems. By then it was 3:15, and we were supposed to catch the return bus at 3:30. Luckily we had noticed a Richmond Street which went through to within a block or two of the bus. I'd forgotten to bring the map, so we'd have been lost without Richmond Street. We walked as fast as we could but were seven minutes late. Nevertheless, the driver had waited for us. We thanked him, and Roy tipped him ten TT's.