Denver to Dominica
While our quarantine “prison” was a comfortable beach cottage, Anna and I were supposed to be in Dominica in transit only. We signed up to be crew members of a catamaran Elli Di. The catamaran at that time was in Martinique with the skipper and one more crew member. Initially, Anna and I had tickets to fly directly to Martinique. Our flights were cancelled and we bought new tickets to Dominica from where the skipper, Konstantin promised to pick up us the night when we arrived.
Before we boarded the flight Puerto Rico – Dominica, I called Konstantin to remind him that we were coming. I told him how a stranger helped Anna to get on the plane. Otherwise, we would not have been flying together.
‘Great! Well done!’ he said.
‘So, where are you? Are you going to make it on time to Dominica? We have no place to stay there. If you do not pick us up tonight then Anna and I will be placed in quarantine at our own expense.’
‘Um… well, we are not ready to leave Martinique. We will come for you in 3 days.’
‘Excuse me? This is not how we agreed.’
Anna and I exchanged several messages with Konstantin before traveling and he always maintained that coming to Dominica on our arrival day would not be a problem. He said that it was half a day by boat from one island to the other. He would leave in the morning and would be in Dominica by evening.
We tried to explain to Konstantin the seriousness of our situation. His voice was soft, even and devoid of emotion. Konstantin needed more time to prepare the boat for sailing. So, he was not ready to leave. All that caught us by surprise. We had no choice but to fly to Dominica and to try sort out the things from there.
Processing new arrivals in Dominica was slow and tedious. Although the small plane carried no more than 20 passengers, we spent 3 hours at the airport.
First, it was a document check. Second, a rapid COVID test (blood drawn from the finger) and waiting for results. My test showed antibodies, probably after a Pfizer COVID vaccine. I received the second dose 2 days before flying. Then, taking to local authorities about our status there and going through immigration.
Cindy, our good angel who helped us in Puerto Rico, did not leave our side. She arranged for us to stay at the same hotel where she was going to spend her quarantine. She was returning home from the US; a 7-day quarantine was mandatory for her as well before she could see her family.
Cindy and we shared a taxi that was horribly expensive because it was a COVID taxi, specially disinfected to drive people like us. It was 8 p.m. when we settled in a nice cottage with a sea view and ordered dinner that was again rather costly for the same reason. It had to be delivered by a COVID taxi. The meal itself did not cost much, but the taxi did.
We went to bed that night hoping for the best that we would not be required to stay in Dominica for long. There should be a way to get out. Of course, there were many more places much worse to quarantine than a beach in Dominica. The only problem was the cost of staying there.
