Because you asked about the blog
As I reread it, which I have many times I see it brings back for me trip details but it definitely does not paint an accurate picture of events as they unfolded.
It was both traumatic and scary. At the time it was really hard to get a grip on what was going on. It has also been difficult to hear hostility towards travellers (ourselves included) on how we (as in travellers) were the problem. People are not themselves these days. It seems everyone is stressed. In BC we are advised to be kind. I think this has helped.
The travel industry in 2019 was huge. Flights were in and out all the time. Massive websites offered mountains of travel advice. Travel was big business. Many who we talked to on other trips recommended South Africa as a destination. Travel agents and tour packages were everywhere. We were really proud of the way we organized our own travel experience. We researched for a year and ended up with a cobbled together blend of bookings we made ourselves. At the end of our 5 week trip, based on advice from friends we tacked on a final 7 day tour package. The final piece was to see on an excursion to Botswana and onto Zambia before we flew home. We had a tourist agent, a tour operator and we registered with the Canadian government. All this we thought would help ensure things went smoothly. We were careful.
As we were preparing to leave we watched as news of deaths in Wuhan, China were being reported. Someone had managed to get pictures to the press of dead bodies piling up. Upsetting as this was in January, it was still far away. The WHO was not yet in front of the press issuing cautions. Indeed covid never did appear in South Africa until we had left. The day we departed Canada the first case of Covid 19 was reported in Canada. At the time several flights from China were still coming into Canada each day.
As travellers in South Africa we were not watching world events unfold. News channels focused on Trump, bad weather, economic reports etc. We wanted to close our ears to this. South Africa has severe water, electricity, crime and race issues. Immediate concerns for our safety occupied our focus. Crime in the big cities in South Africa was rampant. We were on high alert for the ever present dangers. At the end of our tour of “civilized” South Africa we went into the bush. We both felt much safer amidst baboons, elephants and lions etc.. In the bush we had no tv, and mostly no internet (and therefore no news) for days on end.
We had no idea in the bush a pandemic was about to be declared. We left Kruger National Park and flew to Johannesburg. From there we were to take the next part of our trip, the tacked on tour. We were starting to get cryptic messages from our son and daughter urging us to come home. They were insistent. That day Trump announced only Americans could fly from Europe into the US. This was a stunning turn of events. We could see this would have major impact on all world travel. We phoned the Canadian Embassy in South Africa and asked them what we should do. They told us to carry on with our trip. We had tickets home 7 days hence with British Airways through Heathrow, London. By now all non American European travellers wanting to get to North America had to come through London. What’s more Trump could just as easily slam the door shut on London. (In fact he did this a short while later). We tried that night to rebook our flight to return a week sooner. British Airways was overwhelmed with phone calls and web traffic. We could not reach them by phone or internet. The staff at the airport could not help us. We could not change our tickets to get home sooner. Uneasily we decided to carry on with our trip. My gut told me to go home. My son phoned us in our hotel and pleaded with us to get home. We proceeded with our trip and flew into the bush in Botswana. We were worried sick. Our time there was weighed down with world events and worry. At the end of our second day we decided to try and get home. Suddenly the possibility of getting stuck in South Africa was real. We flew back to Johannesburg airport. Things were changing quickly. Finding help was not easy. No one could reach British Airways. Even the gate agents couldn’t get through to their head office. We watched helplessly as a flight left South Africa for London that had room on it. We tried to reach our travel agent and tour operator. We finally got through but they would not help us. They told us to go back to Botswana and carry on with the trip. They also told us that demand for our tickets to North America had gone up and we would have to send them a lot of money to hold the tickets we already had. To us it felt like extortion. We decided to try to find another way home. The ocean separating the America’s from the rest of the world started to look impenetrable. We wandered the airport seeking help. Nothing. We had dinner in the Johannesburg airport hotel that just days earlier had been filled. We sat virtually alone. That night in our airport hotel room we googled for help. A suggestion appeared. It was to fly to Dubai on Emirates airline the next night, then onto Seattle and finally to Vancouver Canada. We hit the buy button. Nothing. We were stunned. We didn’t know what to do. We started to search again. Suddenly at 3 am confirmation came through we were on the Emirates flights. I started to cry. My stomach stopped hurting for the first time in days. We got up and started printing flight confirmations. We were to fly out the next night. Our son and daughter were elated. Now how to spend the next 15 hours in an airport without getting exposed. We decided to book and stay in our hotel room until it was time to leave. Getting into our seat on the flight was a huge relief. The flight was completely booked. Relief on the entire flight was palpable. We exchanged brief stories on how lucky we all felt. Still concerned we might be exposed to the flu we wore masks on the flight used our hand sanitizer every time we touched something and tried to keep our distance from everyone. We were in the air for 30 hours. When we arrived in Vancouver our son and daughter each driving one car pulled up. Our son got out of our car and jumped in with our daughter. Keeping large distance from them we got into our car and drove home. They had stocked us up on food. Quarantined for 14 days felt like a nothing. Every time I lay in my bed I was and still am overjoyed to be back in Canada. I am just so happy to be here.
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