When I checked in my bag at Port of Spain, I was flying to St. Lucia via Barbados. I was in transit for three hours in Barbados, so I asked for my suitcase to be checked through to St. Lucia.
Suffice to say my suitcase didn’t arrive. This applied to eight other passengers too and there was some confusion at LIAT’s lost baggage counter. Remember to give them the completed customs declaration form so that the bag can be cleared by customs. I did this and then drove to my hotel 1.5 hours away, arriving at 11:30 p.m.
I expected LIAT to deliver my luggage the following morning. This didn’t happen, so my hotel phoned the airline. Customs wouldn’t clear my suitcase because LIAT had lost my customs declaration form.
I had to hire a van from the hotel (the wonderful La Haut plantation – more in another blog) and be driven to the airport. I had to wait an hour as customs wouldn’t clear my suitcase while there were other passengers in the arrivals hall. All LIAT could say was that I should have come at a quieter time. The customs official searched my suitcase and apologized for what had happened.
Julian has written articles on Middle Eastern and European architecture for the US magazine Skipping Stones. He has written travel articles that were published in The Toronto Globe and Mail, Fate Magazine, National Catholic Register, and Northwest Travel. Julian has also written articles for the In The Know Traveler, Go Nomad, InTravelmag, and Go World Travel websites. He has also taken many photographs that have appeared in travel guides by National Geographic, Thomas Cook and The Rough Guides. Examples of his work can be found at http://www.photographersdirect.com/sellers/details.asp?portfolio=13734
