| By
Gary Scott
Here is a true story about
a recent experience that every traveler should know. This shows
how our tax dollars can work to make our travels more dangerous,
expensive and frustrating!
Last week, Merri and I
left Quito for San Antonio, Texas where I was speaking at a conference. Everything
in Ecuador was friendly, efficient and smooth. No problems anywhere.
Then I arrived in the
Houston International Airport. I should have known. To show
the delegates at the workshop some of the incredible values in
Ecuador I brought 100 just cut fresh and beautiful roses (they
cost $1 a dozen here) and correctly declared these plants on my
customs form.
The immigration officer
was prompt and friendly, swiped my passport through the computer.
All was fine but he informed me that because of the roses I would
have to go through a customs inspection. We were directed
to a large XRay machine with a long line of people (many returning
from Ecuador bring roses).
I handed my passport to
an Afro-American woman customs agent with the name Love on her
name tag. She passed my passport onto another agent who swiped
my passport (again) through the ubiquitous passport computer.
Then I placed my bags
in the XRay machine. The roses were handed to another
agent with the name Wendt on his name tag. Agent Wendt
was very helpful and friendly and carefully but quickly inspected
all the roses. Then he ended with “Welcome back Mr. Scott. You
are free to go.”
They Lost My Passport!
“Thanks,” I
said. “May I have my passport?” He seemed confused
but went back to the XRay machine and spoke with the other agents.
He returned and informed me that they had given me my passport.
“Nope”, I
said. “You have not”. The search began. They
had my customs declaration but no passport. “Sorry’’ was
their reply. “Just get another one.”
“Nope,” I
said. “Let’s talk to a supervisor”.
The supervisor, according
to the sign on his office, was “Mr. Otto K. Boetticher – CBP
Supervisor”. I had to get this data on my own
because he refused to help in any way. He said, “This
happens here sometimes. Nothing we can do about it.” He
refused to give me a statement, note, telephone number or even
his business card so I could call and see if the passport was returned.
I refused to leave and
agent Wendt was kind enough to escort me back to immigration to
see if we could get some advice from the people there. We
spoke with a gentleman who appeared to be in charge and had an
insignia on his shoulder board that looked like a Colonel’s
Leaf to me. His only concern seemed to be that it was not
one of his immigration people who had made an error. Once
this was voiced, his only advice was the same, “Just
get another passport.”
He then led me further
astray by saying, “You can do this in San Antonio. Every
big city can do this for you.” This as we’ll see
in a moment was ever so wrong.
I returned with agent
Wendt to customs and in the time we were gone (Merri had remained
there with our bags) another traveler had lost his passport.
He was not as courteous as I and began shouting and swearing, “I
am not leaving until I get my (explicative deleted) passport.” They
miraculously found it and from this moment on I have been suspicious.
I attempted one
more time to get the cooperation of CBP Supervisor Boetticher
to no avail.
Since my obligation at
that time was to speak at that workshop, we left for San Antonio
expecting (as we had been told) to pick up a new passport in San
Antonio.
One extra note, the roses
which we rechecked from Houston to San Antonio did not arrived
because they were then delayed by TSA (so Continental Airlines
baggage complaints office in San Antonio explained. Are
terrorists now attacking the public with rose thorns? I am
still at a loss as to what security threat a box of checked roses
is, but there you have it.
Of course when we reached
the San Antonio office we were told that they only dealt with cases
of death or illness and questioned me “What had you done
that customs had taken your passport anyway?” Plus we
were informed the only place where we could apply for a fast passport
was at one of the 13 national passport offices. The nearest was
in (you guessed it) Houston.
After completing our duties
at the workshop we returned on Monday (first day it was opened)
and applied for a new passport. This took the best part of
the day and because of the rush and because I did not have an old
passport or certified copy of a birth certificate there was an
extra charge of $120 ($60 for expediting and $60 for a file check).
I had a photocopy of my
lost (or stolen) passport but this did not help.
In the end this error
on customs part cost $300 to change flights, $216 for the new expedited
passport and two extra days in Houston not to mention the travel
to and from the passport office.
In this case my
quick weekend trip turned into a long week trip, but consider
this. When we left Quito, I almost left our driver’s
licenses in the safe. “Why bring them, I am not driving!” Had
I not thrown them in at the last moment I would have not had
photo ID to carry on from Houston to San Antonio. I also had
to have this photo ID to get the new passport.
The silver lining in this
cloud is that we have very dear friends who live in Houston who
offered us their wonderful hospitality and friendship. This
gave us time to spend with these extra special people. Ed and Phyllis
Sabo! They are also our neighbors in the summer in the High
Country of N.C….but it was a wonderful experience to be
in their beautiful Houston home.
So here are the
warnings. First, always take extra photo ID with you when
you travel. Second, bring a certified copy of your birth certificate
and a copy of your passport to store separately from your passport.
Third, if you give your passport to any government official,
KEEP YOUR EYE ON IT!
Finally, be careful if
you carry roses. You’ll look dangerous!
Until next message, good
travels for you.
Gary
P.S. Once
back to Ecuador everything worked smooth and easily again. The
people are so sweet and there are so many hidden wonders. Today
we hiked Cuicocha Crater Lake which was formed by a massive volcanic
explosion 3,000 years ago. This is very similar to Crater Lake
in my home state of Oregon with pure, azure waters are 600 feet
deep and the scenery just breathtaking. The big difference
is that there is no one here. You can walk the entire rim
which rise up over 10,000 feet and never see another soul.
Here is a picture
of Cuicocha. 
This treat is about 20
minutes from our home in Cotacachi. This crater lies at the
foot of the extinct volcano, Cotocachi, which rises above us to
15,000 feet here in the Western Corridor of the Andes. This area
is home to several dormant volcanoes: Mojanda, Imbabura and
Cayambe.
All those volcanoes contributed
with their historical eruptions to the fertile valley and makes
this the most productive agricultural region in the Andean highlands.
So not only short term devastation do volcanoes bring but also
long term benefits to the environment and nature.
This is the beginning
of Carnival so there are many festivities in the village including
fireworks at night (our hound dog Ma hates this) and the children
carry squirt guns and throw water balloons, fun but a bit of a
shock on these warm winter days!
P.P.S. Join Merri,
me and Thomas Fischer of Jyske Bank for our International
Business and Investing Made EZ course. Review where
to invest and do business now and learn which markets and currencies
may be strong in the year ahead.
Or focus on Import-Export
with Merri and me and tour Ecuador
on our Import Export Expedition.
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