Recap

As I have nothing better to do I thought I might do a recap of our efforts to leave here.

It was an almost normal season until the middle of March when they were advising everybody to go home. There was a kind of panic, people re-booking their flights getting last-minute bus tickets. The town emptied out pretty quickly. We got pictures of the airport showing huge lineups and crowds.

It was a bit different for us though. We had a car and a lot of stuff to put into storage. So we decided to wait until things calmed down and take our scheduled flight in April. We had discussed the situation with a lot of other Canadians who are in the same boat as we are and they were doing the same.

We were able to move into our new location in Pinal Villa early so we had somewhere to leave our stuff for the Summer. Also, it’s isolated so we knew we would be safe there if we had to stay longer. We just had to wait until 26 April for our flight to leave.

Early in April, we were notified that our flight had been cancelled and we got credit from the airline. We immediately re-booked with WestJet to fly out on the 22 April. Two weeks later that flight was cancelled and we booked again for 6 May.

During this time we contemplated alternative ways home. We weren’t in a panic as we know that we are safe here. We talked about driving but dismissed that idea as we had to go through the states and didn’t know if hotels would be available or not. Also, our car is reliable and great for down here but I wouldn’t want to take it on a 5,000 km trip.

Rosalie checked into various other airlines and we thought we might go via Aero Mexico. We discarded this idea as we would have to book the flight to Comox separately. Aero Mexico has been known to be late leaving so if we missed our connection we may end up in a hotel in quarantine for two weeks. Our flight to Comox would also be forfeited.

We even looked at a flight to Vancouver via Toronto but that would take between 19 and 45 hours. So we discarded that one.

A few days ago we heard that our 6 May flight had been cancelled. It took a few days for confirmation but we were finally able to book for 6 June. Who knows, that one may also be cancelled. All we can do is wait and see.

As I’ve said many times: we are safe here. The Mexicans are taking all the measures to protect people. We are self-isolating and are in good spirits. we would like to get home as soon as possible but if we have to stay longer then we have no problem with that. Also, as I’ve said before: there are no cases in our area so far and the virus doesn’t do well in the heat.

Although we want to get home we have concerns about contracting something on the plane. Also,  we are coming from an area with no cases to an area where there are known cases. We can’t see the difference of being sick down here to being sick there. Contrary to what some people think, they do have a good inexpensive medical system here. If we need it.

My one concern is that Rosalie has to have carotid artery surgery. So that’s the main reason I want to get us home. If she has to have it down here it will cost a lot but we can handle that and the care will be just as good.

We hope to be home soon and look forward to seeing everyone.