Day 5 (Friday):
The hotel (Emanuel at The Point) deserves a mention as the manager Nico could not be more helpful. He completely understands that we need to pay day by day and may suddenly disappear if a flight becomes available. He has allowed us use of the kitchens between certain hours so we can keep the price down and use some of our stash. The restaurant next door is still serving food and smuggles people in behind screens so they can eat inside. Their milkshakes are a sweet treat and a simple pleasure that I am going to hang on to. I hope the restaurant remains open.
Today we found out that the LATAM flight that was meant to be leaving this morning was cancelled- something to do with not getting the correct paperwork. How many officials does it take to successfully charter a plane off the Galapagos? I’m still waiting for a punch line that’s funny.
Ecuador are not allowing any domestic flights with the exception of the Galapagos Islands- they allowed 5 days to get everyone off the islands. We are now 4 days into that and no one has got off yet.
The German embassy has started a program to get its nationals home. No word from the British embassy.
Drama is provided to us as tensions rise in the WhatsApp group, people spread rumors or argue. At least we have some form of entertainment.
Through rumor we heard that something was happening at the city hall. We went down and completed a form- completely in Spanish so we don’t really know what it’s for. We were then told that the people who bought a plane ticket with LATAM were being prioritized and were being health screened ready to make their departure whenever that was confirmed. We insisted on being screened too so that we are ready should a miracle happen- we passed! It is so frustrating that certain airline passengers are being prioritized. At this point it shouldn’t really matter what airline people booked with, we all just want to get out and I’m sure we could all get on one plane.
We have a little project to keep a video diary of our experiences here for British TV. It may or may not get used but it gives us something to focus on and keeps us occupied. We have 7 films left on our tablet so rationing will begin if we don’t find decent WiFi soon.
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Dear all,
I met you guys on a walking tour and in a hostel in Madrid. I was happy for you and your wonderful travel plans. I know that being trapped on an island is not as bad as dying from Corona. But it must be sad seing all your plans crushed. However, I am sure that you will try another time. You will be very experienced in crisis management by then and you will know exactly what you want. Also, you are strong because you manage this chaos together.
Take care and kind regards
Nora from Germany
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Thanks Nora! It’s great to hear from you and yes we are now experts at crisis managment so every situation has its silver lining. We are thankful to be healthy and safe and if we could just get home we would have it all.
Take care
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