A curfew was installed from 6pm and there was a 24
We left Colombia on Saturday 21st March 2020.
hour lock down during the weekends - this was when
Cartagena closed its airport 2 days later. With the news
rumours started circling that the international airport
that backpackers are stuck all over the world there is
was also closing.
no denying we made the right decision. However our hearts are heavy with lost adventures of Huarez,
Never in our lives had we felt fearful of going out but
Macchu Picchu and the Salt flats being big gaping
for the first time we feared the reaction of locals to
holes in our travelling experience. 12 months of
our white skin and backpacks. Tourists had been one
backpacking cut short to just 3 months but we are
of the main reasons for how this virus was spreading
eternally grateful we are for the time we had. We will
globally - would we bear the brunt of the blame?
remember our 100 days of travelling forever and
Fortunately
we
especially thankful for our health - beating our
encountered was nothing but kind to us. However, we
Coronavirus symptoms by the time we set foot back in
can definitely imagine becoming targets should the
the UK. When the borders open back up we will be
situation worsen.
running back into the arms of exploration, magical
we
were
lucky
-
everyone
sunsets and endless new experiences. Oh, how we will Big decision time - do we risk staying in Colombia for an undetermined amount of time, with the risk of having nowhere to stay and no viable options to leave, or do we go home now on one of the last flights? If accomodation hadn't been an issue I’m not sure we would've been so motivated to leave. There wasn't a long discussion - we had to go home. However just because we had made the decision didn't mean booking a flight was simple. Lots of flight options had 3 or 4 connections, long layovers and high cost. The most stressful part was making sure we could transit through certain countries - one flight option through Miami actually got cancelled because there was a transit/travel ban there. We managed
to
get
two
tickets
with
Air
Canada
transiting through Toronto in two days time. We breathed a small sign of relief - but it was at a high cost - £2,000 for both of us to fly back - with the sinking feeling of whether the flight would actually take off before being cancelled?! A flight cancellation wasn’t our only concern. Next was the fact that our flight was on a Saturday right in the middle of a 24 hour lockdown in the city. How would we get to the airport? With taxi drivers refusing to work we had no other choice but to abandon our check in with one hotel and race to another within walking distance to the airport.
never take them for granted ever again!
You can follow Andy & Daniele on Instagram @rememberwhenwewentto Blog is www.rwwwt.com