We made it to Lima! But boy the adventure it has been leading up to getting on an airplane to go to Peru. The stress in getting a Covid test, wondering if we would get on a plane and then wondering where we would stay if we got there for the first night led to a few sleepless nights.
To start with, Peru requires a negative PCR test within 72 hours before leaving for Peru. So Utah has a free service for doing Covid testing but for a PCR test they only guarantee the results back within 96 hours. Most people said it would be back in 24 or 48 hours. So we went to Bountiful to get our test on Monday after 5 PM so that the test would cover flights to Lima on Wednesday and Thursday. But there were no guarantees we would get the results back before any of our flights. So on Tuesday at 5 PM, I decided to call them to inquire if there was any way to know when the results would come back. The fellow indicated that that he could tell me and guarantee anything. But he did say that we could drive to Salt Lake to get a free rapid PCR test for those traveling. But he said they would close at 7 PM. So we dropped everything and drove down to the Department of Health out by the Utah State fairgrounds. No one was in line and the test was quick. But they kind of got mixed up on Denises citing my birthday for hers when they asked. We got them corrected and they then got the right test kit with her birthday on it. She tested, they said we’d have results sent to us in 45 minutes. So off we went for home. At about 5:45 PM, I got my results (really fast)…I was negative. At 6 PM, I received another email saying my results were in. Denise had received nothing at this point. So our minds started to turn. At about 6:15 PM, we decided they had messed up. So we jumped in the car headed back to Salt Lake City to get her tested again. About the time we got near the fairgrounds, her results showed up. Negative. Yahoo….but we had driven twice to Salt Lake City in 1.5 hours. But we were glad that we had results. And…a few hours later, Monday’s results showed up. So we really did not need the rapid one. But whatever, such is Covid life and all the crazy rules in place that in my opinion, don’t do much for anyone.
Later that night, I checked status on our flights. We needed to get to Houston. United had lots of planes with lots of seats available to Houston. Pretty odd. So getting there was going to be easy. But the flight to Lima was tightening up. The 48 seats that were once there, were down to 26 and there were 20 standby’s listed. Denise was 17 in the queue. I was just a bit higher. But it caused my mind to wonder what the morning would bring and if we would not get to Lima. But all my worrying was for naught. By the time the Lima flight left, there were 39 seats open and Denise had only moved to #20 in the queue. We ended up getting a whole row in Economy Plus to share. It was nice. The flight left a bit late, but arrived on time at 11 PM. As we ate lunch in Houston, I was working with Scott Hayden on getting an AIRBNB that we could get to after landing and clearing customs. He grabbed one and coordinated a person to pick us up at the airport to take us to the AIRBNB, which was close to the airport.
Getting through customs was pretty easy. They directed Denise and I to the old people line (Scott and Michelle, who came in later at 1 AM, were not allowed in that line). This line moved quick. After clearing customs, we ended up outside where there were lots of people looking for people of offering Taxis. We were approached many times for a Taxi and just told them that we were looking for ‘Enrique’. One man came up, understood what I was saying and starting yelling Enrique to the crowd. I just smiled. No one responded. I then told him that I had a WhatsApp telephone number for him. So he called him for us. He coordinated a place to meet up and within 5 minutes Enrique was there taking us to his car. We tipped the man who helped us a few bucks and got in the car and off we went to the condo.
We arrived at the condo pretty fast. There was a security guy there. It was about 12:30 AM. He took our credentials and then escorted us to the condo. We are in Peru. Where we are at seems to us…pretty run down. Anyway, we got to the door and we needed a code or a key. The security guy did not have this and we did not either. Hmmm…..so Scott had sent me the number of the host. I thought the number was a Peru number and had the security guy try calling. Turns out it was a USA number and the host lives in Jersey. Denise tried calling…but that did not work. So she sent a text to that number and low and behold she responded with the door code….we were in.
The condo has 3 bedrooms. One room had a full size bed, another was supposed to be a bed for two…but it basically a twin bed. The other room has bunk beds. So we chose the biggest one. Since Scott and Michelle were landing at 1 AM…I kind of stayed awake to text with Scott on what I had learned about getting here. I was in bed when he started texting. I responded. But his last text, asking me how much I had paid Enrique, I never saw until the morning. I must have fallen asleep. And I never heard them come in! It had been a long day, with a stressful sleepless night before. But we made it to Lima, Peru!
Unfortunately…no pictures from our flight down. Nobody wants to see pictures of Bush airport!
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