Arrival
Now I never really thought I had a
particularly strange name. Unusual, yes, I knew that. But not strange.
Of course, some people get my name
wrong just because it is unusual. I’ve been called “Bob” more times than I can
remember. “Bose” is another favourite. An Italian friend insists on calling me
“Boroo”. And when I went to Germany on business I was called “Bopsy”, but that
might have been a joke because everyone at the meeting giggled.
Not until I came to Fiji did my name
actually cause me any problems.
Like most people coming to Fiji, I
arrived at Nadi Airport. I came in around dusk on Air Pacific and had been
travelling for over 20 hours. I was tired, very tired. Knowing this was likely
to be the case, I had a hotel room booked so I would not have to face anything
too complicated on arrival. Get a taxi and head for the hotel. Then a quick
bath and straight to sleep. Lovely! I’d leave finding the company flat in Suva
until tomorrow. It could wait.
Like so many others, I made my way
to the immigration hall, had my passport stamped and declared that I had no
prohibited animal products in my luggage. Then I slipped past the white,
glass-panelled doors and grabbed my luggage from the carrousel. After again
assuring a smartly uniformed guard that I had no honey, meat or bonemeal in my
suitcase, I emerged into the crowded arrivals lounge.
People swirled around the stark hall
in an endlessly shifting pattern. Some walked with determined strides to where
they were going. Others wandered about looking for family or friends. One
elderly lady in a sari sat on her suitcase regarding everyone around her with
complete disdain - including me.
That was when I saw my taxi driver.
Very nice of the hotel to send a man to collect me, I thought. And a very smart
taxi driver he was too. Dressed in the bright blue and red shirt which forms
the uniform of Tulip Travel, he stood watching the passengers as we drifted out
of the luggage reclaim room. In his hand he held a sign reading:
“Collecting Mr Bobo Worth”
It was fairly close. I’ve certainly
been called by many names over the years. And I have seen my name written in a
variety of ways. When you read them out they always sound pretty much like my
name. This was close. I’d been told the Fijians were reliable. Excellent.
“Here I am,” I told the driver.
“Beau Bosworth”.
The driver smiled broadly. “Bula,”
he said. “Nice to meet you Mr Bosworth. I am here to collect Mr Worth.”
The young man had a small badge
pinned to his chest telling me his name was Sanjay. “That’s right, Sanjay,” I
smiled back. “That’s me. People always get my name wrong. Beau Bosworth - Bobo Worth.
Same thing. See?”
Sanjay grinned again. He pulled a
sheet of paper out of his pocket and looked at it. He frowned. Then he smiled.
“OK” he said. “No worries. You follow me, yes?”
Within minutes my suitcase was
safely stashed in Sanjay’s car and we were off. The car glided past the long
lines of people queuing to get into the airport’s departure area, past a clump
of palm trees and out of the airport.
“Are you tired?” asked Sanjay.
I agreed that I was, almost too
tired to do more than nod my agreement.
“It’s not far,” Sanjay said. “We at
Tulip Travel look after our travellers. You need a nice room. This hotel has
very nice rooms.”
I nodded again and peered out of the
car window. It was almost dark now but I could see the shapes of tall trees
gliding past and, every now and then, a brightly lit shop or house. Everyone
seemed to be having a good time chatting to each other. I was, I thought, going
to enjoy my time in Fiji.
Sanjay was still talking. “And if
you want to go anywhere, you just ask for Tulip Travel. We have a man in your
hotel. His name is Dhani. He is a very helpful man. We can take you
anywhere. And at Tulip Travel we have guides to show you round Nadi or
Suva.” Perhaps I looked uninterested - I was tired. “Or you might want to see
the animals,” continued Sanjay hopefully. “Many people like the forest. Tulip
Travel can take you to the forest. We have a very clever man who knows where
the animals live. He will show you. Oh. Here we are.”
The car glided smoothly off the road
along a short drive. As soon as the car stopped in front of a welcoming
doorway, Sanjay was out of his door. He had my luggage out in a second and was
smiling at me. “Here we are,” he declared. Then he pointed past the approaching
member of hotel staff to an empty desk set against a wall. “That is the Tulip
Travel desk. Dhani is not here. He will be here tomorrow. You ask him anything.
Tulip Travel are always going to help.”
Well, Sanjay had certainly been
helpful. I slipped him a few coins and thanked him.
He grinned. “You ask for Sanjay. I
look after you. Yes?”
I nodded as my suitcase was expertly
whisked off on a trolley by the hotel porter. I followed him to the reception
desk and gave the woman on duty my name. She tapped expertly on a keyboard and
studied her computer screen. She frowned and tapped some more.
The woman looked up at me. “I am
sorry Mr Bosworth. You have no room booked here at the Domain Hotel.”
It was not what I needed. I needed a
hot bath and a soft bed. I fished about in my jacket pocket and pulled out the
slip of paper confirming my booking. I held it out to the receptionist.
“Here,” I said. “I confirmed the
room by email before I set out. Here is your reply.”
The receptionist took the sheet of
paper and studied it. Then she tapped on her computer again. Suddenly I
realised what had happened. They must have me down as Mr Bob Worth, just like
Sanjay did. That would explain it. “Try looking under ‘Worth’”, I said
helpfully. “Sometimes people spell my name wrong.”
The receptionist smiled at me and
went back to her keyboard and my sheet of paper. She tapped some more. She
nodded. She frowned. She looked at me. She said something to the porter in
Fijian, which I did not understand. He laughed and wandered off through a door
leaving my suitcase looking rather lonely in the middle of the entrance hall. I
was beginning to feel lonely as well. The receptionist tapped some more.
Finally she looked up.
“Now I understand,” she said. “This
is the Domain Hotel, part of the Tapoa Group of Hotels.” She looked at me as if
this was going to mean something. It didn’t, of course, because I was almost
asleep and wanted my room. She realised that she was going to have to explain
more. “You are Mr Bosworth. You have a room booked at the Nadi Sun Hotel, also
a part of the Tapoa Group of Hotels. Vilimoni will drive you there. It is not
far.”
Even as she spoke the porter came
back carrying a bunch of keys. He took hold of the trolley and began pushing it
towards the front doors. I turned to follow him, eager to get to my hotel.
“Oh yes,” I heard the receptionist
say. “Mr Beau Bosworth, a room at the Nadi Sun. Here it is on the computer. It
is Mr Bob Worth who has the room here at the Domain. I wonder where he is.”
And that was when I realised what I
had done. I had been so convinced that Sanjay had got my name wrong that I had
not stopped to think. I suppose it was because I was tired. While I was being
whisked off to my wonderful hotel room there was a Mr Worth standing
around at Nadi Airport looking for his taxi.
I knew I should tell Vilimoni the
porter to go to the airport to collect Mr Worth, but right now I needed a bath.
I’d tell him when we got to the Nadi Sun. I hoped Mr Worth would see the funny
side.
Well, perhaps.
*****************
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