Planets aligning
We’re allowing ourselves to get a bit excited about going, and being, home. It seems like the planets are aligning. The ship is zeroing in on Montevideo and will rendezvous with a pilot tonight to be guided into harbour. It seems we can be berthed for the 25th and 26th at least. That is the perfect window of opportunity for us, with our flight on the afternoon of the 26th. The trip home, if it goes to plan is a marathon with 19 hours between flights in Santiago airport.
However it is all uncertain, but less uncertain, than before. Shades of uncertainty! And we are the lucky ones with a flight.
The ship itself has been bedlam. Those without flights desperately trying to secure flights, with very mixed success. Passengers will not be allowed to disembark without a confirmed flight to their final (home?) destination. You can imagine the stress levels, with unstable wifi, overloaded systems with apps like skyscanner in meltdown, trying to cobble together a charter flight out of Montevideo to airports with more (relatively speaking) plentiful options such as Santiago and São Paulo. Those with flights have been forbidden to use the wifi, to allow those without, some decent bandwidth. However some people seem either clueless or flagrant rule breakers. Someone just remarked to Jode how a friend had sent her health guidelines as an attachment via Facebook. Social media is forbidden, attachments are forbidden!
We have just had a COVID 19 briefing from the ships doctor. Apparently we will disembark with gloves and a mask on! Gloves is a bit of a nonsense really, and a mask effectively lasts about 2 hours, but will have to do for the 2 day journey home. So also nonsense. We accept that planes and airports are less than ideal environments. So we will be carefully following the 2 week self isolation rules. The main ‘take home’ messages; wash your hands and don’t touch your face, the world has changed while you were on the boat, and get your head around changing your behaviour, all delivered in a typically blunt Dutch style.