Leaving Bonaire abruptly with a travelling circus and fine art road show wasn't really a planned or much considered adventure. When I discovered my mother's cancer had returned, I just dropped everything and began making plans to hi-tail it to the mountains as quickly as I thought I could make it happen. All things Bonairean considered, I decided 6 weeks was reasonable...in reality, no amount of time would have been enough. That's just how Bonaire works :-) And when you want to change an impending flight on American/AE it must be done by making a call back to the US and contacting the international ticketing help line; don't bother contacting the airline in Bonaire. They do not subscribe to the notion that "change is good"....or even possible.
The Reader's Digest condensed version of my grand adventure:
I ran around in circles for six weeks trying to make cargo shipment arrangements and despite my best efforts at enlightenment and efficiency (and many sweaty miles on the bike) I remained in the dark regarding essential details affecting the shipping requirements and cost of my shipment until three days before my departure. I packed and repacked and weighed and measured my posessions no fewer than five times in six weeks. I now have good packing skills and can describe "suitable packaging". I also logged a few hundred miles trying to get everything in order with immigration so my 'intent for difinitive departure' would be signed and I would not be detained at the airport. The governement makes it almost as difficult to leave the island as it does to come there in the first place. I'm convinced this is why many people stay on; it's easier than leaving.
During the time I was probing for freight fee answers, I also discovered that there was no regularity to the arrival and departure of the Amerijet cargo flight. Of coarse Amerijet won't tell you that outright or even admit that it is true. They cling adamantly to the fictitious idea that their flights go according to schedule. The truth is acquired by stealth and sleuth, and through friends with connections at the airport. Under most circumstances the unpredictable arrival and departure would not be a problem. Except in this case, I was shipping live animals and I was going to be on my own flight in transit to Miami, and therefore not available to be an on-call shuttle service to insure their delivery to the plane. I didn't want to bring my pets at 4:30 AM and have them sit in kennels at the airport for an undetermined amount of time in the sweltering heat before they were loaded onto the plane for an 8 hour journey. Somehow, this didn't seem like an important problem for the Amerijet representative. After three weeks of trying to deal directly with Amerijet and making no headway, I finally opted to hire Rocargo to coordinate and insure the delivery of my pets and portraits to the airport on a just-in-time basis - apparently a new and novel shipping concept on Bonaire. Thank goodness for friends who were willing to be on-call to deliver my furry family to the terminal. Somehow, in the 11th hour, it all came together and the pets and the pallet were loaded into the belly of the plane and jetted off towards Miami, uninsured. It seems that insuring pets and portraits on a cargo flight is really risky, and therefore a terribly expensive proposition. I opted to take my chances and hold my breath and keep several thousand guilders in my pocket for the rest of the incredible journey.
In Peurto Rico I gave the US Veterinary Services $350 for a piece of embossed paper for my "returning US origin pet bird"; the veternarian kindly offered to buy a money order for me as he explained, with some embarassment, that he forgot to tell me he could not accept cash when we spoke on the phone. A minor but important detail. After being released by the vet, I was treated with courtesy and dignity by US customs officials, as is advertised on the signs posted everywhere. I think they go to a different training camp than the officials in Miami - where there are no signs posted about kind and courteous treatment. Or maybe they just felt sorry for a weary traveller toting a small bird and way too much oversized luggage for one baggage cart and a bicycle in a box. Getting through the Veterinary inspection and passing the half way point of my journey without a hitch, left me smiling as I boarded my American flight to MIA. My smile quickly began to fade as I discovered that the seats have been changed and pet carriers no longer fit under the seat in front of you, or next to you, or behind you....or in first class, for that matter. Details they forget to mention when you make your flight reservation, telling them you have a carry-on pet! The only thing that buoyed my spirit was compassionate, pet loving flight attendants who stowed my bird safely for take off then delivered him to me for the remainder of the trip. I guess they figured if children can ride in laps, then birds can too :-) Reunited with my lap-bird, I immediately fell asleep and began drooling on myself in a state of total relaxed relief.
Upon arrival in Miami, I made a bee-line for Starbuck's straight-away :-) With a full tank of super-octane expresso, I then claimed my bicyle, two large suitcases and a tool box and somehow loaded these items and a pet carrier onto a baggage cart and transported it all across three lanes of traffic to the Avis shuttle pick-up. I really can't explain how I did this;it involved a lot of balance, brute force and blind faith. I was immensely relieved to discover that a bicycle will fit on the shuttle. After three false starts at Avis, they were finally able to hand me the keys to a Chevy Blazer with a charged battery and rear seats that actually collapsed flat. Thank goodness I had left all the baggage at the curb under the canopy and didn't load and unload it three times in the Miami drizzle before finding a vehicle that was road-worthy. That would have really dampened my mood. Ready to go, I parked the bird on the passenger seat and said "Hang on to your bonnet, buddy. We're off", to which he replied, "are you a duck?"....I just laughed, "no, but I probably look like one now that I'm soaking wet".
Next on the agenda was check-in at the Pet-Friendly Holiday Inn Express where I deposited the bird and checked back with friends on Bonaire to make sure my pets made it onto their flight without incident. I then checked with the warehouse for directions and at what time I could come to claim them. 8 PM, which left about 5 hours to run errands. Off to MBE during, by now, rush-hour to ship the bike, suitcases and tool box and make arrangements for the rest of the cargo to follow. With that baggage shipped and space free for the cat, dogs and kennels, I motored off to PetSmart to outfit the SUV with a pet barrier and stock up on travel supplies. So far, so good. However, the "easy to install barrier", I discovered, required tools...tools which I had just shipped :-( SOOOOO, back to the hotel to beg maintenance for a few hand tools. The maintenance man would not part company with his screwdriver and wrench; he must have thought I looked a little shady and untrustworthy. Indeed, I was more than a little rumbled and sporting a drool stain on my sleeve. In a heavy eastern european accent he said "I help" and set off towards the door clutching his two hand tools. After several minutes inspecting the pieces and looking at the cryptic instructions and associated heiroglyphics, we threw the instructions away and sat cross legged in the back of the Blazer until we figured out how all the pieces 'became' a pet barrier. Pet barrier installed, I ventured off to clear and release my dogs and cat in the balmy Miami night. |
By Dara Walter (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #549) on Sunday, November 16, 2003 - 4:09 pm: 
