Been There and Headed To

We’re finally getting around to writing about the last of our adventures in Chile. The post about our amazing visit to El Tatio in the Atacama Desert is coming soon. We have some wonderful pictures of the geysers and thermal pools with us bundled up and freezing at high altitude. We visited El Tatio on 28-May, spent a last day in the desert, and then embarked on some travel adventures trying to get out of Chile. After spending nearly four months moving every three to five days and flying and driving all over South America, we decided it was time to sit somewhere for a couple of weeks, and we rented an Airbnb in Costa Rica near the Panama border on the Caribbean coast. To get from San Pedro to San Jose, we had to cover a bit of ground. Our travels planned out like this–flight from Calama to Santiago, flight from Santiago to Panama City, flight from Panama City to San Jose. What could possibly go wrong with an itinerary like that?

Well, it certainly wasn’t time. After our flight from Calama to Santiago, we had about 8 hours to spend in the Santiago airport before we could check in for our flights to Costa Rica. Turns out that due to COVID restrictions still in place, there were no alcohol sales in the main terminal. No beer and cards for us. Don’t quite remember exactly how we passed the time other than complaining, reading, and probably working on a travel blog post. When it finally became time to go wait in line to check in for our flight, we got up and promptly got in the wrong line. Not sure how long we stood there before we discovered that there were different lines for the same airline for different destinations. Who knew? We switched lines and ended up spending about 2 more hours waiting to check in. Good thing we had the time! Every person who approached the counter to check in had some special problem and the process was taking forever. We just didn’t understand why it could take so long until we had our turn at the counter.

We had been through all of the Costa Rican entry requirements, had all of our declarations and paperwork in order. We presented our passports and were ready for a quick check-in so we could get through security and to the beer on the other side. Yes, apparently beer is only a COVID risk if you consume it before going through security. Don’t want people drunk and belligerent when waiting in line to check in! And for good reason. As the agent entered our information and pulled up our reservation, she informed us that the computer system would not let her check us in for the flight. We had booked a one-way ticket into Costa Rica because we didn’t know how long we’d stay and what we wanted to visit. Apparently, even though it isn’t documented ANYWHERE, Costa Rica requires you to also have a ticket OUT of their country. They want to know exactly when you’re leaving before they let you in. For most American tourists on a two-week golf vacation, this isn’t an issue. Of course you book a round-trip ticket. For us nomads making it up as we go along, it was suddenly a barrier to leaving Chile! After going through the the pain of quarantine entering the country and questioning why we had bothered to visit Chile at all, we were now being prevented from leaving! I’m hearing the refrain to Hotel California in the background.

We were nonplussed. We argued. We sent the poor agent off to get her supervisor. She explained there really wasn’t anything she could do unless we bought a ticket to somewhere outside Costa Rica. She suggested we buy a bus ticket we would just eat later so we could get on the plane. Really?

All along this adventure, we’ve done some pretty last-minute travel planning. Where are we flying next week? Where will we sleep tomorrow? Hope they have a room. Now, we were standing at the check-in counter in the airport about an hour before our flight and couldn’t get on the plane. Ande got on her phone and started browsing flights. In the time that it took the agent to come back with her supervisor, Ande had found a reasonably priced flight from San Jose, Costa Rica to Denver, Colorado in late June and booked it. Decision made about our Costa Rican travel window so we could get out of Chile! It was an amazing feat only possible in our internet age. The reality of the Costa Rican requirement is that we could have purchased any ticket with a 24hr refund window with no intention of using it and cancelled as soon as we cleared immigration. A good tip for all you last minute planners. Anyway . . .

Finally the Beach!

We made it to Costa Rica and spent a lot of time doing nothing but swimming and laying on the beach. We took some tours and traveled around the country a bit. We’ll catch up on that part of the trip by sharing some of the amazing wildlife photos we captured. Here’s a picture of us sweating our asses off at a local cafe waiting for breakfast after a 4:30 am howler monkey chorus woke us up before sunrise. We have that “did we really get up that early” look in our eyes. Yes, we have lots to share about that!

Home…such as it is right now

After traveling for more than 4 months, you start to run out of things: clothing, shampoo, deodorant, Kind bars . . . energy. We were definitely running out of gas and getting a little tired. To recharge and resupply, we spent about 10 days in Colorado Springs at the Cummins compound (A’s brother’s house). When we arrived, there was a pile of Amazon packages we had ordered to supply us for the next phase of our journey. It was actually amazing timing because we got to spend our second night in Colorado at Ball Arena with 20,000 other crazy people watching the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup. It was an amazing and joyous experience. Here’s that moment when the final horn sounded.

We enjoyed the family visit and thank Chris and Sheila for hosting us and continuing to receive our mail and store our stuff. We ended our trip to Colorado with several days camping in Leadville over the July 4 holiday. Jake got to drive his truck! We got some rain and a big hail storm and froze to death in the tent. It was all good fun. Gave us some fun times with the Murphy dog.

The Journey North

The goal of our travels North was to eventually make our way to visit our friends James and Sandy in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. To continue our theme of extremes, we swapped hemispheres and headed to the 52nd parallel North. To get to Saskatoon, we had another crazy travel day–Denver to Vancouver, Vancouver to Calgary, Calgary to Saskatoon. Our previous multi-flight day was full of adventure, so we expected the same on our journey North. Turns out, everything was relatively on time! Go Canada! We only arrived about half an hour late in Saskatoon. It was a good thing that we ate in the Calgary airport earlier that evening because at about 8:30 pm in Saskatoon on a Wednesday night all the restaurants were closing. We enjoyed an extended evening on the patio of a brew pub to start our Saskatoon visit.

So, that gets us to where we are now. We’re on a farm about an hour outside of Saskatoon where our entertainment is a big jack rabbit and the occasional car (like once a day) passing on the road half a mile away. We’ve gardened, read, fetched water from the duck pond, and enjoyed 5-star cuisine at Chez James for every meal. Yes, this is the first time we’ve seen them in person since they moved from Seattle three years ago! We never guessed it would be so long!

We’re in Saskatoon/Hawarden until 20-July. Then we’re off to explore Atlantic Canada. We’re spending a week in Montreal and the Eastern Townships and then taking the train to Quebec City. From there we’re planning on exploring Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI and anywhere else the wind may take us in the month of August.

Thanks for following our travels! We have much more to post about Chile and Costa Rica and several more days on the farm to catch up. Keep an eye open for more travel adventures in the near future. Hope you’re enjoying your summer!