BOXES

 At last, my 3 bins have arrived.  They are now at home getting unpacked.

I have to say this arm of the government works well:  DAPA  (Dominica Port Authority).  They have developed a procedure for picking up barrels, boxes, and small containers from the congested and too-small port at Fond Cole.  It is slow, there are many papers that have to get stamped, and small fees to pay but as long as you go where you are told, do as you are told, and just follow the procedure you will eventually get your boxes through customs and onto your vehicle. The various guards, security officers, officials, and customs officers were helpful and even courteous in some cases.  This is remarkable because it is completely different from past years. I have done this now 6 or 7 times and in the past, it was always a guessing game run by diffident workers.  

The port is huge, the sheds are huge, and there are hundreds of huge shipping containers stacked all over and being moved about by huge, huge equipment.  It was hot.  And I was very, very car-sick.  The ride down from Portsmouth did be in.  They don't allow anyone into the compound except the person whose cargo was to be picked up.  So McDowell had to wait outside and I did it on my own! 2 hours!

The customs man who was checking me asked me what was in the bins.  I told him honestly, I don't remember.  It left me on August 25 and it is now October 25.  He chuckled as he cut through the shrink wrap Nick had used to secure the bins.  When he opened the bins he saw books and art supplies and didn't bother to look further.  There was nothing to find anyway.  However, I did have 200 plastic shot glasses and 200 7 oz plastic glasses right on top, which he confiscated.  That type of plastic (#6) is banned.  He explained, showed me the chart, and apologized!  I didn't argue, I had bought them at the dollar store, and I was happy not to have a huge customs charge,  I only paid the basic 100ec,

So that's it until the next trip to my Canadian home.  I now have two nice new large rubber maid containers here.