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Our last week in Rio Dulce and Guatemala was quite hectic. I did the usual pre trip preparations making sure all was readied on Aeeshah and for Chico. Plus getting all the online applications for travel arrangements sorted, confirming what used to be simple easy trip plans and such.
John went with Steve, Muriel, Tutty and the rest of the team on a Friend’s of Rio Dulce mission. They were to tear down and build a home for grandparents and the three young children in their care. He returned tired, filthy but very happy to have been able to help.
I also enjoyed my continued walks around Catamaran Marina, discovering that cormorants have blue eyes.
In the city
Our drive into the city was as usual with Otti tours, William being our driver and it was a quick, easy drive. Straight after arriving at our hotel we went to Blue Medical where we had our PCR tests for travel. Thank goodness the results arrived about 4 hours later. I then submitted them to the Bermuda Travel Authority for our travel permits.
To travel home we had to have applied with a clear PCR test no more than 3 days before and no less than 24 hours before. This makes the timing of traveling quite challenging. John received his within 6 hours, but mine didn’t arrive until nearly 24 hour later. Basically we were at Guatemala Airport on our way to Atlanta before I finally received my Travel permit!
Atlanta airport was an unbelievable mess of humanity. They had shut one terminal so we had to walk to another, along with hundreds of others, queuing up in corridors, then packed into a large arrivals hall with hundreds of folks. The USA really doesn’t get the whole idea of how contagious covid is….. We are vaccinated, but I bet many others there weren’t and there were many not wearing their masks over their noses…..
Our over night in Atlanta passed quickly and then we were on our way home to Bermuda. Flying into Bermuda one passes over the beautiful reefs and turquoise waters before glimpsing the island’s spread out before you.
It is always wonderful to fly in. The airport was amazingly organised, you show your covid documents, pass down immigration lines, collect bags, pass through customs no declaration line and out to the testing line. There you leave your bags aside, go into the testing area, have a PCR and then out of the terminal. Overall it didn’t even take 1/2 an hour, and everyone has a mask on, everything is clean and there is no crowding.
To Gavin and Katie’s home
Gavin picked us up and took us back to the apartment which is attached to his and Katie’s home. There we awaited our all clear from the landing test, which came via an email the next morning stating negative. We did have to have tests on days 4 and 10, but again this took 10 minutes, was painless and negative.
Caring for Lily and Evie
At Gavin and Katie’s home we stayed until August 21st when our last guests left our Airbnb. Our early arrival was planned so that we could care for our granddaughters Lily and Evie while Gavin and Katie travelled to a friend’s celebration weekend in Charleston.
So, we had one full day with them learning the ropes and then they left. We were very fortunate to have the help of Edna the Nanny for the first 2 days.
For the most part all went well, we all went for the day 4 covid test, into Hamilton, (the girls had been in California before we arrived).
We did a walk to Devonshire Bay and the fort, sucking Honey Suckle along the way,
they played, swam in the pool, our daughter Kate visited with our granddaughter May,
everyone played and the days passed. John even took the girls to a birthday party
while I cleaned our Airbnb.
Before we knew it Katie and Gavin returned, did their isolation for results, received negative results and took over again.
Now everyone must be wondering what about Chrissie and Quest, where were they?
Unfortunately, Quest’s pre school was shut due to a covid outbreak. This was just before we arrived, so poor Quest and Chrissie along with our grandson Ethan who lives with them were quarantined for 2 weeks. Now this might seem extreme, but 12 days into the quarantine Chrissie who is vaccinated lost her sense of smell and taste, felt very ill and tested positive. They were then quarantined for a further 12 days! All of this came about due to a family who arrived back in Bermuda and the parents sending their child to school instead of quarantining. We all felt so sad forChrissie, Quest and Ethan as they were missing out on all the cousin fun.
