My wife and I planned a two week holiday to South America to attend our friend’s wedding in Cartagena, Colombia. Prior to that, we spent a week in Peru. I will discuss what happened and my observations during that time. There were only 2 or 3 cases of Covid 19 detected in Peru and Colombia so we thought it would be low-risk travel considering we would only be in South America for two weeks, how quickly things can change…
Peru. My wife is Peruvian and her parents live in Lima, Peru. We first went to Lima for a few days and I had an opportunity to attend a football match with my brother in law, the bathrooms at the football stadium are not the most sanitary, hand towel or hand dryers didn’t seem to exist here. None the less the game was a great experience which I thoroughly enjoyed and I was thinking about how easily disease could spread in a place like this.
We traveled domestically to Ayacucho with my wife’s parents for a few days before coming back to Lima, my wife got a stomach bug from something she ate and had diarrhea before we were supposed to travel to Cartagena, Colombia. We made the decision to travel as my wife was feeling much better on the day of travel and we thought we should continue to attend our friend’s wedding, there was some news in the newspaper about the Coronavirus but nothing extreme to suggest that Peru would close their borders.
Cartagena, Colombia. On the day we arrived in Cartagena, Colombia I discovered some information from a news site that Peru was closing its borders (Entry and Exit) for the following day for all travelers. We could not have planned our flights more precisely to get out, it was if someone was looking out for us. However, our flights back to Aus were via through Peru and we had to change them, which proved difficult as we used Flight Centre in Australia and the timezone difference to call them meant we had to wait and we could not use the 24/7 emergency as that was reserved for flights impacted in the next 24/48 hours. My wife ended up calling Latam Colombia and was put on hold but eventually, we got flights back to Aus arriving one day earlier to Aus than originally planned, via Bogota instead of Peru. I ended up getting through to my local Flight Centre agent to see if he could book us on an earlier flight. He told us that there was nothing earlier and that Latam had done a good job getting us on another flight. We even went to the Airport to see if we could rebook and found the queue for the line was out the door for Latam sales/information and one customer was yelling and complaining that Latam would not change her flight for free even though it was advertised on the Latam website that they would.
Then came more news, this time about Colombia, I received an email from Latam airways that Colombia was closing its borders which meant that all flights for foreigners who wanted to enter the country were suspended and only Colombian nationals, residents, etc were allowed to enter. This was heartbreaking news for the Bride who’s brother was still traveling and could have entered but had to return back to Australia as his Wife was not Colombian and their two babies are not Colombian either.
All the activities planned prior to the wedding ceremony in Cartagena started to be canceled as tourist operators shut down and night-time curfews began to take place. This was followed by 24-hour lockdown over the weekend and the Monday public holiday, then there was other news that Colombia was shutting down all domestic flights on 25th March, which put increased pressure on airlines and people to get out while they could. Luckily we had our flights booked prior to all this happening and that our flight was scheduled to leave Cartagena to Bogota on the 22nd March.
We still tried to enjoy Cartagena as much as we could, but we found that more and more places were closing, tourist attractions were being closed down and the hotel we were staying in moved us to its sister hotel up the street as more tourists departed. They gave us free breakfast and the new accommodation had access to a rooftop pool which was a bonus.
An underground wedding was held with only a few family members allowed in the church due to restrictions put in place by the government we waited outside avoiding police attention as much as possible. We all met back at the Bride and Grooms parent’s accommodation for an intimate ceremony and reception of about 15 people. Catering of food was organised by a friendly local restauranter and provided us lots of Colombian cuisines. That went well until a neighbor took a photo of us taking some wedding photo’s in the street and before we knew it the police showed up asking questions and asking for passports. Celebrations continued but the music was turned off, we left before the cake was cut as we wanted to make sure we got back to our Hotel before the 6pm curfew.
The wedding was on Friday and on the morning of Saturday 22nd March I received an e-mail from Latam stating that our flight from Cartagena to Bogota had been canceled.. We packed up our belongings and checked out while at the same time on the phone to Latam to see if we could get out that day. We spoke to the Concierge at the hotel and we were told that once all the guests had left the hotel they were shutting down for the rest of the month at least. So returning was not an option, all hotels were not accepting foreigners for bookings. What a nightmare.
There was a 2pm flight and it was just before 1pm when we departed the hotel and headed for the airport, Latam could not give us a seat over the phone our only option was to see someone in person at the airport.
Once we arrived at the airport only persons with valid flight bookings/boarding passes could enter. We showed our passes and my wife went to the check-in line and I went to the Latam sales desk, I told the salesperson that our flight had been canceled, she told me to go to the check-in line, I ran over there and found my wife at the desk of the counter and the Latam staff member was changing our flight, she said that our Sunday flight was still on? but we were already here and didn’t want to risk it. The Bride and Groom and some of their family where at the airport as well and they were waiting on a Delta flight back to Aus via US. We quickly said goodbye and ran to our boarding gate and got on the plane and made our way to Bogota. Another crisis averted.
Bogota, Colombia day 1. Once we arrived we collected our baggage we went straight to the check-in line, the information and sales desk for LATAM was long as was the information desk. we waited at the check-in line for a few hours before we eventually got to speak to someone, during that time people were yelling at staff as they were clearly upset, frustrated and angry at the whole situation. I heard a familiar accent, Australian, I started a conversation with him and said he and his two friends were trying to get back to Aus via same route as my wife and I, he was checking to see if his 11.30pm flight was canceled, which he found out it was and had rescheduled to a 2.30pm the following day and that he was put on a waiting list for the flight from Chile to Aus. Once we got to the Latam counter we just wanted to check-in, and were told that we had to come back at 3am to check-in as our flight was for the following day at 10:29am, it was about 7pm by that stage. We went and had some dinner and slept where ever we could find space along with all the other people waiting.
Bogota, Columbia Day 2. We arrived at the Latam desk just after 3am, checked our baggage in and got an updated boarding pass, went through Customs and Security and freshened up had a bit more sleep. We went to our boarding gate and approached Latam ground staff and asked about our ticket and flight from Chile to Australia and was told that we had to get our ticket from Chile that it could not be processed in Bogota despite being a connecting flight all the way through to Australia.? So we boarded without a ticket, online check-in was not working for the Chile-Aus flight using the Latam app, I attempted to self check-in via the app several times at different intervals without success.
Santiago, Chile. On the flight to Chile, I was sitting next to a Kiwi and she was traveling back to NZ, her 4 month holiday was cut short by a few weeks, but she told me that she and her sister (on the same flight) work in Darwin, NT, Australia. Now because she was not an Australian resident or citizen she or her sister could not go back to work in Australia. What a blow, back to living with parents for a while no doubt.
We arrived at the airport and were directed to a long line at Santiago, Chile for connections. We had a 6-hour stopover so I wasn’t too concerned, however that changed fairly quickly after we realised the line didn’t seem to move unless people left the line as a lot of flights were canceled and people were trying to book other flights. My wife started hunting for information while I held our spot in line while she went to the front of the line to ask other passengers what the situation was, she met another Australian woman who had been waiting for hours who had already approached Latam staff several times and was told that Latam could not process the passengers for the Chile-Australia flight as it had a stopover in NZ and that there was an issue with NZ processing Australian passports for the flight? or the system was not accepting Aus passengers for some reason, there seemed to be mixed messages and was not clear on the reason. The two Kiwi sisters were in front of us in the line and the female at the front of the line came and spoke to us a few times to give us updates about tickets etc when one of the Kiwi’s said that they already have a ticket the Australian woman said they could go straight through security without the need to wait in line…..
During that time I was communicating with my wife’s sister (my wife had lost her phone in a taxi in Cartagena days ago) who lives in Chile and asked if she could check us in online as another passenger had done so successfully after 4 times, that wasn’t working and eventually received a website error which looked like the site was down, I attempted to self-check-in again using the Latam app, I received the same error as my wife’s sister.. At this stage I dont know if we are getting on the flight, I ask for my wife’s sisters address to start to prepare for the worst-case scenario, (even though we cant enter Chile) and she tells me curfew starts at 10pm, its 9:30pm now, not going anywhere tonight given that Military is enforcing the curfew so would have to wait for the following day. I start thinking of other options, Australian consulate for Chile, I find the 24/7 phone number and update my parents on the situation and ask if they can call on my behalf since its an Australian number and I dont have much phone battery and the Wifi keeps dropping in and out, I don’t have a Chile SIM card and there is no place to buy one where we are.
In the end my wife and the Australian female at the front of the line somehow got to the Latam desk. There was about 4 Latam staff trying to service at least 200 people, with more people arriving from other flights as time went on. My wife and the other woman explained that our flight was on and not canceled and asked if we could get a boarding pass. They were told that boarding passes had to be processed manually and that they needed passport and baggage tickets and names produced on a list as there were about half a dozen Australians with us. My wife and the other woman started writing all the information down for the Latam staff and Latam started handwriting our boarding passes for us and the other Australians. Our flight was due to leave in 2 hours. During that time, some rowdy South Americans got quite angry and verbally abusing (swearing) the Latam staff and appeared to throw something at one of the Latam staff I think it was a pen or whatever was on the counter.
Another flight arrived and I see the Australian and his 2 mates that got on the 2.30pm flight from Bogota to Santiago and I approach them and tell them to get in line with us and to hand over their passports and other information so that Latam could provide them with a handwritten boarding pass.
I update my parents and tell them no need to call anyone, we have a ticket and are on our way to the boarding gate. Crisis averted once again..
We meet some of the other Australians in the same situation as us and they said that one Australian woman couldn’t get on the flight as she had a Qantas flight for the following day and that Latam would not get her on this flight..
We get on the plane and I realise that the plane is not full, its probably only at just over 1/4 capacity. That woman who was left at the Latam service desk could have easily got on the flight instead of waiting for a Qantas flight that might not arrive the following days. We stopover in NZ for an hour and get on another plane and arrive in Australia no problem.
Australia, Sydney. We have a bus ticket for the following day and not sure if the bus service is running, I walk past the car rentals agencies and see half a dozen to choose from but only 2 are staffed, not even sure if that would be an option. I check out the bus service page and see that bus services from Sydney to Canberra are impacted by Covid-19 I call up and tell the woman on the phone that I have a fully flexible ticket and when the next service is running, she gets me on the next available which is only 15mins away. Finally, something going right and don’t have to drive with jetlag. I didn’t want to take a domestic flight with the possibility of infecting more people and the bus only had a dozen people on it and was able to social distance ourselves from other passengers appropriately.
I tell my parents that we are back in Australia and on our way home, my parents are house/dog sitting for us and they leave before we arrive home so there is no possibility of us infecting them. We arrive home and find the fridge fully stocked with food and supplies to last us for hopefully the 14 days of quarantine and self-isolation. Thanks, Mum and Dad!
I have to say a huge thanks to the staff at Allure BonBon and Allure Chocolat for their amazing hospitality, understanding, and patience. They were always available able to assist us even in these tough uncharted circumstances.
Also, a shout out to the Bride and Groom, to be able to put together a wedding ceremony and reception during evolving and ever-changing circumstances. I can’t imagine how stressful and tiring it must have been. You guys did an amazing job. Congratulations!