In our last blog we discussed our reasons for leaving Argentina. The overarching message from the U.S. Embassy was “if you are visiting Argentina you should go home now. Your best support system is in America, and you should leave sooner rather than later because repatriation flights are limited. And contact Eastern Airlines to reserve a seat because we cannot evacuate you or cover your health expenses if you get sick in Argentina.” Have a nice day.

We are not complaining about the Embassy and are grateful that they provided us with the name of a transportation company to drive us to the capital. But, we are not so happy with the charter company they authorized to offer flights.

We booked our seats on Eastern Airlines and paid for van transportation to Buenos Aires where the only operational airport in the country was allowing repatriation flights.

Our return home to Minnesota was a long, three-day journey. Our journey began early in the morning on Tuesday, May 19^th and we finally arrived at our new apartment in Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon, May 21^st.

This is our last “adventure” for now. But we vow to return to Argentina and continue our adventure right where we left off.

Trek across the country

Highway travel still is not permitted in Argentina without government authorization, and each province has installed police checkpoints to verify that travelers have permission to be on the road. We had to receive permission letters from the U.S. Embassy, the Argentine government, a confirmed flight reservation to leave Argentina, a confirmed hotel reservation to spend the night in Buenos Aires and our exact cross-country route from Mendoza at the western edge of Argentina to Buenos Aires on the Atlantic coast.

We hired a transportation company that specializes in this type of travel. They told us exactly what we needed to do and the required documentation. We initially planned to ride in a van with 10 others to Buenos Aires for the repatriation flight. The day before we were to leave, we received notice that we would have our own private transportation in a car. Well, maybe the long drive would not be as bad as we thought.

Rueben and Emanual, our two drivers, picked us up from our apartment on Tuesday at 8 a.m. The first two hours went smoothly. There was very little traffic and we did not encounter any checkpoints.

However, the situation changed as we entered the next province of San Luis. We were warned ahead of time about San Luis’ strict monitoring to control the spread of coronavirus. But we did not expect what was to come.

As we approached the border, we were stopped by the province police. They asked for our documentation and permits. Our driver also showed them his license and the pre-approved route information. As we drove away, Kathy said, “That wasn’t bad”. But a quarter-mile later we were stopped again. These officers also asked to see our documents. Then they told us to pull over on the shoulder of the road and wait for the police escort that would take us through the province.

The coronavirus regulation of San Luis requires all vehicles crossing the province to be escorted for the full 200 miles to the next province. There were four other vehicles already on the shoulder. So, we pulled over and waited…. And waited…. And waited. More cars joined our little caravan on the side of the road. After about an hour and a half, a small orange escort vehicle drove to the front of the pack to lead us across the province. I asked our driver why this province required an escort. He said that San Luis is like a different country, different from the rest of Argentina.

Less than fifteen minutes into our trip into San Luis, we were stopped again. All ten cars pulled over to the side of the road and waited while dogs sniffed each vehicle in search of cocaine. As we began moving again, we were detoured off the road through a disinfection station. Each car was sprayed with disinfectant as it passed through the checkpoint. This was done not for the virus but to prevent the spread of fruit flies. Less than half an hour later, we stopped again. This stop was for the one and only bathroom break allowed during the 200-mile trip across the province and to get gas if needed.

Could this take any longer? Could all these stops be any more ridiculous? Yes! Again, we were back on the road for half an hour and we were stopped yet again to change drivers in the orange escort vehicle. Of course, the other driver was late in arriving, so we waited for him.

It finally felt like we were through with all of this, but we had two more stops. At both stops we waited for police approval to pass through small towns. Finally, five hours later we were through the province.

The drive through this province was very frustrating. This quarantine process had been in place for two months. Why couldn’t they combine some of the checkpoints? We parked along the side of the road for an hour and a half waiting for our escort. Couldn’t they check for cocaine at that time? Wouldn’t it have been more efficient to change drivers at the gas station instead of stopping five miles before the gas station? Thankfully, the rest of the drive to Buenos Aires was uneventful. We had no other stops or checks the rest of the way to our destination.

We drove 658 miles from our apartment to Buenos Aires. According to Google Maps, the trip should take a little less than 12 hours. But our total time was 16 hours. We began at 8 am and arrived at 12 am.

Although it was a very long trip, our two drivers were going to take a quick nap in the car and head straight back to Mendoza. The coronavirus rules do not allow the city of Buenos Aires to accept hotel guests except those leaving the country on repatriation flights. So, our drivers had to turn around and drive another 16-hours back to Mendoza with only a short nap in the car.

We hope that the high fees we paid for this transport meant the drivers were paid well because they work in the tourism industry and they don’t expect tourists to return to Mendoza until March, 2021 for the wine harvest.

Are we there yet?

We felt relief to be in Buenos Aires with the first leg of our trip behind us

We checked into a small bed and breakfast hotel near the airport. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 11:30 am the next morning, so we went to bed and set our alarm for 6:30. We wanted to eat breakfast and arrive at the airport by 8 a.m. We had been told to expect long lines.

The hotel provided transportation to the airport for the 10-minute ride. With over 3 hours before takeoff, we felt comfortable that we would have plenty of time.

As we entered the terminal, our temperatures were checked. Our flight was a charter flight from the U.S. We brought our own food, snacks, and water since no stores in the airport were open and there was only limited service on the plane.

Everyone in Argentina is required to wear a mask and all the passengers at the airport complied. The airport was eerie and mostly empty. Except for one check-in desk the entire airport was shut down. The only flight checking in was our flight.

There was a long line of people waiting to check in. We walked to the end of the line and thought that we must be one of the last people to get in line. But as more people arrived, a long line formed behind us and we realized we were about at the midpoint.

We waited for three hours to reach the check-in counter. There was only one person checking in passengers. Three other people were handling baggage, tagging, and other functions. Many passengers had a lot of luggage to be checked in and it looked as if they had been planning on staying in Buenos Aires for a long time but were forced to take all of their belongings back to the U.S. Ten to fifteen people were in wheelchairs. Several passengers had pets and there were a lot of families checking in. This all contributed to the long wait.

No one social distanced from the person in front of them—there was no room in the roped-off area where the line formed.

We learned afterward that some people waited in line for over 4 ½ hours. We also learned that the staff who was checking us in flew from the U.S. along with the flight crew to pick us up. No Buenos Aires airport personnel were on duty. Needless to say, the plane did not take off on time. I think all of us in line would have gladly paid $5-$10 more per ticket to add local staff to assist at the check-in terminals.

We finally took off over three hours late. The late takeoff was totally the fault of Eastern Airlines. They could not blame the weather, air traffic, plane malfunctions, or any other reason other than there was only one check-in stand to serve 375 passengers. And for the high price we paid for the flight, we should all have been in first class. It was hard to believe how bad this was handled. This was not the airline’s first flight to Miami. They had at least four repatriation flights in the last several weeks. We would have hoped they could have managed this process better.

When we boarded the flight, all passengers and crew wore masks and kept them on during the entire 9-hour flight. We landed in Miami at 11:30 p.m., well after the 8:30 scheduled time. We were glad that we opted to stay overnight near the airport before flying to Minneapolis.

Final Destination

The following morning, we took a shuttle back to Miami International to board Sun Country Airlines for Minneapolis. Our last leg went smoothly, without any delays. The Miami International Airport was partially open with very limited services.

When we arrived at the airport, there was no one taking passenger’s temperature or asking where we had been before arriving. (When we entered Argentina in March we had our temperatures taken and were asked about what countries we had been in before Argentina).

There were roughly 20 flights landing or taking off on May 21^st. Sun Country attempted social distancing by blocking off middle seats. Only about 40 passengers were on board our flight to Minneapolis. The temperature on the plane was much cooler than usual and there was no food or drink service provided during the 3 ½ -hour flight. Both measures were to avoid spreading the virus. Many people on the flight wore masks including the crew. Sun Country requires passengers to wear masks but the rule is not enforced. We wore our masks.

We arrived at our apartment building in Minneapolis at 3:58 pm, just two minutes before the time we told the landlord we would arrive. Now that’s good planning and a lot of luck.

Because we had less than a week to plan our trip back home, we did not have much time to search for furnished apartments. Luckily for us, we found an apartment in the building where our adventure started 20 months ago. We are back at 110 Grant Apartments overlooking Loring park and the Loring Greenway. Our unit is different, but we have the same great view and close proximity to downtown.

The Summer

We are looking forward to living the urban Minneapolis lifestyle without a car and will walk, take buses and the light rail. Our plan is to spend the summer in Minneapolis and then go to Chicago. In the meantime, we are looking for a couple of inexpensive bikes to use for the next couple of months.

We were sad to leave Argentina without the opportunity to explore Buenos Aires. Although at times we were frustrated with the strict quarantine measures, we were impressed that Argentina has successfully minimized the number of coronavirus cases and deaths. We were dismayed to enter the U.S. in Miami and see that no 14-day quarantine is required for persons entering the country, no one taking temperatures and few people wearing masks. We plan to self-quarantine in Minneapolis for 14 days and to wear face masks whenever we encounter others.

Even though our adventures have come to a halt, for now, we plan to continue traveling once the pandemic is behind us. There are so many places in South America we have yet to explore. This current pause in our travels will give us some time to reflect and remember our amazing experiences.