I had originally planned to offer up a really thorough trip report of our week on SXM, with helpful info on meals, food and gasoline prices, etc. However, as the saying goes, “Man makes plans and God laughs.”
We flew to SXM on Air Transat from Toronto, arriving late on Saturday, March 4th. We picked up our Daihatsu Charade, the cutting edge of East Asian automotive technology, and made our way to Le Flamboyant, where we checked into our “suite”. We had paid for a room but, as return guests, were given a suite. Sometimes less is more and a room would have been fine, but we appreciate that they try to reward return guests.
Sunday, we drove around the island, checking on changes, looking at all the construction, saying “Hello” to our friends on Orient Beach and promising to get there for the day on Tuesday and the rest of the week. We also did our grocery shopping to stock our kitchen/fridge for the week.
On Monday, we went into town and while in the bank, my husband realized he was having some serious trouble seeing out of one eye. A very pleasant lady working in RBTT Bank in P’burg looked up the name and phone number of an eye specialist in Marigot. We called and got an appointment for the next morning.
By now, the car was giving trouble – we were thinking brakes and transmission – but neither of us had the motivation to deal with that just yet.
On Tuesday morning, we were told by the specialist that my husband had a detached retina and needed to get home ASAP for surgery. He was also told that he could not drive, could not lift or carry anything and should be careful on the bumpy SXM roads. I then become the driver of the Charade. We headed first to the airport, to see about flights. No help there. We passed by the car rental where we eventually get another car in exchange for the Daihatsu. We went to Travel Planners on Airport Road. The rep there tried to contact Air Transat to see if we could fly home from another island. She also booked us on USAir, just in case. We ultimately flew home with USAir on Wednesday, through Charlotte, N.C. arriving in Toronto at midnight.
Calls to family members had gotten us an appointment with an eye specialist/surgeon on Toronto for Thursday morning and the surgery was done on the Friday.
The good stuff:
The lady at RBTT who took the time to help by locating contact info for the eye specialist.
Special thanks to Dr. Cals at the Ophthalmology Centre in Rue General de Gaulle in Marigot. He fit us into a very busy schedule and provided a letter to help us to get a seat on a flight as soon as possible. We were told that people travel from many other islands to see him and I can believe it.
United Car rental, for refunding the unused days on our car rental. Totally unexpected but much appreciated.
Kudos to Maria at Travel Planners on Airport Road, Simpson Bay. She worked hard for us, to try to get a fast and reasonable flight home. When we went to pick up the tickets on our way to the airport, the office was closed for the lunch break when we arrived. Maria was inside, working on a package for another client. She saw us, let us in and completed our flight arrangements right away, greatly reducing my stress at this point.
<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/usflag.gif" alt="" />Special thanks to a great couple from Baltimore, who we met in the departure lounge at SXM. They were flying home from St. Bart’s on the same flight as us, through Charlotte, N.C. When they heard why we were going home that way, he took charge of my husband’s carry-on bag, bringing it right to our seats. When we got off in Charlotte, they were looking out for us, directed us into the correct immigration line, saving us much time and frustration. When we got to the baggage pick-up, they were already there, with any extra luggage cart. He lifted the bags off for us and directed us to the baggage re-check-in. People like these folks from Baltimore and Maria and the lady at RBTT Bank restore my faith in humankind.
Not so good stuff:
The staff at the airport, none of whom knew where their ticketing agents might be or where there were any travel agents or if they were the island rep for Air Transat. They could not offer any help at all and truly were not in the least concerned.
The traffic! Aaiieee! Aaiieee! Aaiieee! This is our 17th trip to SXM since 1992 with 12 trips since 1999. I have never seen traffic so bad, even taking into account that is was high season. It took 30 minutes on Airport Road (No, the bridge was not up) to get around the end of the runway and down to Travel Planners (near Pizza Hut). It is the traffic that made us say, for the first time, that perhaps we should vacation somewhere else next time. We may try again in the off-season, to see if the traffic is any lighter.
We spoke to the car rental folks, who seemed genuinely concerned about the issue of traffic and should be. We are repeat visitors and we are thinking about going somewhere else because of the traffic or staying in one spot and not renting a car on the island. If we were first-timers and had to deal with that traffic, before we had built up any real affection for the island, we would probably not consider going back at all. The traffic situation needs to be dealt with by the powers that be on SXM before it takes a serious toll on tourism.
That’s my rant, that’s my strange little trip report and more note - the patient appears to be getting better each day.
Best Regards.
