March 16- Back to La Paz

I woke up at 5 AM with my brain racing.  I decided I may as well get up and do something so I organized a log of all the arrangements I’d booked, cancelled, COULD cancel, etc. It was helpful- I’d started to mix things up in my mind.

At breakfast one more option closed:  we were all booked to fly to Lima on 3/19, and that was the base for a wide choice of flights to the US.  Lima was now closed to transiting passengers.  I had been SO tempted to grab a flight from Lima to the US that I’d seen on-line earlier in the morning.  I’d decided that I’d made too many knee-jerk decisions when things were in a state of flux.  Now I was very glad I’d restrained myself.  We  were told to skip our flight to the salt flats- a disappointment- and pack up for an 8 AM overland departure to La Paz to wait while the OAT travel desk sorted things out.  We later learned that one couple a tour group member had met managed to get to Lima on their way home to Canada- and they were promptly quarantined for 14 days.

Our hotel in Copacabana had a large group of German tourists, some of whom had arrived only a couple of days earlier.  So…  travelers from Europe, with a large number of coronavirus cases, were permitted to enter a country with fewer than a dozen cases thus far.  What was wrong with this picture?  Still, I felt very bad for them. I was pretty sure they’d have an even shorter trip than we would.

On the way back to La Paz Williams learned that our best chance to get home was a Boliviana de Aviacion flight from La Paz to Santa Cruz and then changing to a flight to Miami.  They’d found a local travel agent and the flights were fully booked for the next day but available the day after.  I cannot repeat too many times how the guide and the OAT staff went above and beyond in this crisis.  I hadn't even booked my flights through them and they still worked to get me home.

When we arrived in La Paz, the travel agent met us in our hotel lobby, gave us our documents for the flights from La Paz to Santa Cruz and then on to Miami, and processed our payments. She was accompanied by her little girl.  Well, the kids were out of school.  Not much else she could do.  We were grateful for her work. 

March 17- Valle de la Luna

It was the usual story- we were to visit Valle des Lunas, a park with unusual geological formations, but it was closed.  (They were, however, using the time to do repairs and maintenance.)  We were able to walk around the perimeter while the guide explained what we were seeing.  The odd formations were caused by water erosion of the mountains, which were composed primarily of clay.  One group member noted that they were similar to hoodoo formations in some of the US national parks.

From there we drove to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in La Paz, with a large, flat area cleared out for gated communities of palatial estates.  One of the largest belonged to a cell phone magnate- others belonged to doctors, corporate executives and the descendants of politicians from previous regimes. 

We stopped for lunch at Oberland Restaurant, which was founded by a Swiss family (hence the name).  The gardens included passionfruit, peach and fig trees.  Our guide explained that the Inn that was part of the complex was a place where people came for peace and quiet- including writers and soccer teams focusing before a game.  As with most of the restaurants we’d visited, the food was excellent.  Lunch ended with passionfruit mousse in a lemon sauce.  Heavenly. 

We had been told that the government was to make an announcement tomorrow about new restrictions, which would undoubtedly affect travel.  They made it today instead- all flights in and out of Bolivia would stop in 48 hours.  It was the first time laws had changed with actual lead time.  We knew of one couple, for example, who were able to get to Lima on their way home to Canada- and were then ordered to be quarantined for 14 days.

The four of us met in one woman’s room for Happy Hour- we’d gone shopping for wine, cheese and crackers that morning.  We then joined our guide for what we hoped was a final dinner and headed to bed early- we were leaving for the airport at 3:30 the next morning.

March 18- the Long Trek Home

All four of us were down in the lobby early and Williams joined us right on time at 3:30 AM.  The streets, he said, had the lightest traffic he’d ever seen and we made it to the airport in record time.  The lines were long but he led us to the “special needs” desk because two of the women were 80 years old.  I hate to pull the Senior Citizen card, but if it improves my chances of getting to the plane on time…. After hugging our guide and saying heartfelt goodbyes, we enjoyed some coffee from an airside shop and a takeout breakfast supplied by the hotel (yes, they think of everything). 

I started to breathe a little easier when we took off for Santa Cruz on time.  One interesting aspect was the very long runway at La Paz- apparently it takes far longer to get the engines running fast enough to take off because of the lack of oxygen at that altitude. 

The flight to Miami was another story.  Boarding, in theory, was at 7 AM and takeoff at 8 AM.   We had to have our bags X-rayed and have Passport Control check our documents even though we’d been through the process at La Paz.  My metal fork (which I take because I like to pick up some meals at grocery stores and want to avoid single-use plastic cutlery) was confiscated.  They let me keep the spoon. They boarded 5 wheel chair passengers at 7:45.  They hand-checked every carry-on bag of every passenger.  Wheels-up was at 9 AM.  I got tears in my eyes.  I was going home.  I’d pictured my departure as the final scene from “The Year of Living Dangerously”, with the giant airliner with "Koninklijke Luchtvaarte Maatschappij" (KLM) looming in the background as the main characters leave Indonesia but the jetway, the bag searches and the constant checking of documents put a damper on that.  I still felt a similar sense of relief.

Inexplicably, I was in the middle seat of a 2-3-2 configuration even though the aisle and window seats to the left were both empty.  As soon as the doors closed I claimed the window seat and ended up having both seats to myself.  While the seats on the 767-300 weren’t bad and had more legroom than many US airlines’ Coach seats, what I really missed was a real-time video display of where we were.  The in-flight magazine didn’t even contain route maps.  It was mostly glossy articles on expensive places to eat and expensive things to buy- more of a revenue stream than real information.

Snack about an hour after takeoff.  I asked for "black coffee"- they added so much sugar it made my teeth hurt.

Lunch

We landed 20 minutes late- not bad for an hour-late departure, but airlines do pad their flying times.  Immigration at Miami was far faster than I feared possibly because international travel was down in general and we weren’t subject to health screening because we hadn’t come from a high-risk area. 

After some bewildering wandering around. I found the concourse I needed, checked in, and paid an exorbitant $35 to check one bag.  I felt bad for one guy whose gigantic bag was going to subject him to overweight charges even after he’d removed a giant load of clothes into a clear, garage-bag sized plastic bag supplied by United.  I had to use the bathroom, I really needed water and I was hungry- but first. The TSA.  Fortunately I got through with an hour before boarding time.  My “dinner” cost more than any of the excellent meals we’d had in Bolivia complete with good Bolivian wine.  The gate area was strangely sparsely populated and there were empty seats on this plane, too.  I had an aisle with an empty middle seat and was very glad I hadn’t paid to choose a better seat.

Passage through Passport Control at Miami, which I expected to be a nightmare, was pretty smooth.  There was no health screening because we hadn't come from a high-risk area, and air traffic in general may have been down.  The remainder of the trip was uneventful- connection in Houston, on-time departure to Kansas City, back in my house slightly after midnight.

I DO have every intention of returning and completing the rest of the tour.  Next year!

Wednesday, November 13- From Kansas City to Honolulu

My trip actually started the night before; since my flight to Dallas departed at 6 AM I chose to stay near the airport the night before, purchasing a park/fly deal so I could leave the car at the hotel.  I was very glad I’d followed my usual practice for mission-critical wakeup calls and had a backup; the hotel call came at 3:45 AM as requested.  My phone, it turned out, was set to go off at 3:45 PM.  Oops.

It was a cold trip in the hotel shuttle but we arrived at the airport in plenty of time; despite the boilerplate advising us to be at the airport 2 hours early (4:05 AM?  I don’t think so!) I checked my bag, cleared the TSA Nude-o-Scope and was airside at before Starbucks even opened. 

I breathed a sigh of relief as the flight to DFW took off on time.  It’s never a given this time of year but fortunately there was no snow to interfere with air traffic- just biting cold. 

The airport in Dallas wasn’t much warmer.  It was 25 degree outside and I swear they didn’t have the heat turned on in the airport.  I was very grateful I hadn’t stashed my ancient fleece-lined shirt-jacket in my checked bag.

 

Finally after I’d amused myself by surfing the Internet for a couple of hours (avoiding shops at DFW selling perfume, expensive whisky, Montblanc pens, perfume, makeup and everything else imaginable), we got onto the plane.

Ah, the plane.  I’d forgotten what I’d paid for Business Class but it was a great decision. I sipped pre-flight Champagne, checked out the noise-cancelling headsets, power ports, the lunch menu and the seat controls, and giggled.

The flight was pleasant but long- a little over 8 hours.  I was grateful for all the space I had and took a couple of naps in between movies. I later switched to an episode of “Expedition Unknown” in which the archaeologists were searching for signs of an ancient city under Lake Titicaca in Bolivia.  I’ll be going to Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and the Galapagos in March.  I lead an interesting life. 

Because the flight was so long, I felt as if I’d need to fill out a landing card and get out my passport for the immigration officials.  No, but they did pass out an Agriculture declaration.  Hawaii is very protective of its wildlife and is also rabies-free.  Apparently you have to go through a lot to be permitted to bring a dog on this flight!  One side of the Agriculture form was a detailed question about what plants, animals, etc. you might be bringing in.  The other side was pure marketing: is this your first trip to Hawaii, how many previous trips, what islands will you be visiting, business or pleasure… I filled it out anyway.  

It was nearly 2 hours from landing to my hotel:  half an hour wait for my checked bag (so much for “Priority Handling”); half an hour wait for the shuttle and 45 minutes through traffic worthy of Manhattan to the hotel.  I had a light dinner in the hotel bar, then slept for 8.5 hours, waking up at 4:30 AM.  Oh, well- Hawaii was 4 hours earlier than Central Time so that wasn’t too bad.

Thursday, November 14- Honolulu to Kona

It’s amazing what a shower, a good night’s sleep, some coffee and some exercise will do for your outlook.  The area where I was staying was definitely built-up and congested but the vegetation was beautiful.  A few anthurium and hibiscus were blooming and I saw birds I didn’t recognize.  With no agenda, I headed down Kalakua Avenue, a main shopping street.  I didn’t get all the way to the beach but it was a nice walk.  The array of designer shops was dizzying- Rolex, Cartier, Bottega Veneta, Oliver Peeples, Jimmy Choo.. and on and on.  I’m guessing it was for Asian tourists, who are known for their extensive shopping trips abroad.  

I returned to the hotel, finished packing, checked out and had a nice lunch before the shuttle to the airport arrived.  I’d checked in on-line the night before and paid the checked-bag fee ($25- I was grateful I was checking only one) but the check-in kiosk, after finding my record and displaying “Please wait”… for way too long, I had to get in the “Expedited Baggage line.  Fortunately that line and the TSA line weren’t too bad and we were soon headed to Kona.

Lava fields on the approach.

Lots of manual effort here; the stairway had to be pushed into place by two workers. Here, one is cranking it up to the right level. 

Kona appeared less-developed although the Uber driver did point out Costco and Wal-Mart on the way in from the airport.  I had a nice dinner at a Thai restaurant near my hotel and was up early the next morning for a day tour of the island. 

Friday, November 15- Tour of Kona

I'd scheduled a full day between arrival and getting on the ship- to recover form travel and just in case something went wrong- but before I left I booked an all-day tour around the island.  As promised, was a very full day and a good choice. The guide, who first visited Hawaii for a friend’s wedding 3 years ago and was so enchanted he left his wife, sold everything and moved here from SC, was a geology aficionado so I was in heaven. He could answer all my questions about how particular formations happened.  We circumnavigated the island, covering over 300 miles.

Our first stop was Joe’s Kona Coffee House, where the beans are grown, roasted and shipped all over the world. We had a light breakfast, sampled the coffees and I bought a lot to take home. Well, I’d passed up the Jimmy Choo spike-heel shoes and the Cartier watches in Honolulu. The coffee is something I’ll use. 

View from Kona Joe's

We made a brief stop at a black sand beach.

From there we stopped at a bakery.  I LOVE sugary baked goods but usually avoid them.  I make an exception when I'm on vacation and the offerings are really high-quality.  I had one of the ones on the top, filled with Bavarian cream.  The Hawaiian word for that type of pastry is "malasada".

For me, the highlight of the trip was the Kailuaua crater, which had been the site of earlier eruptions but which was deepened by over 1500 feet and widened far more than that over several months last year. Enough lava flowed out of the crater and the fissures in the surrounding areas to cover Manhattan to a depth of 30 feet. Half of it ended up in the ocean but an entire neighborhood was destroyed and many areas were evacuated. Our guide had made many visits during the lava flows with an equally foolhardy friend, a geologist and had the videos (with sound) to prove it. 

One of many steam vents at the edge.  The air was so hot I was surprised how many plants survived around them.

This and the picture below show two views of the Kiluea crater left after last year's lava flow.  A very good 7-minute video at this link explains last year's activity and shows videos of the eruptions and lava flows.  At about 5 minutes, they show activity in this area at the summit.  When it was all over, the crater floor, which had been 280 feet deep, was 1,600 feet deep, and the diameter of the crater had doubled. 

You have been warned.

We had lunch at a restaurant and lodge at the edge of the crater.  Below is a view from the restaurant.  It was pretty miraculous that the restaurant was spared.  Before we left I quietly sprinkled a small portion of Ron’s ashes at the rim, commemorating the 3rd anniversary of his death, which happened to be today.

Our next stop was Kiluea Iki, or "Little Kiluea".  There was a beautiful hike leading to a waterfall.  The vegetation, especially the banyan trees, was amazing.

More warnings for the foolhardy.

An impressive banyan tree.

The waterfall.

Giant bamboo trees

I got back to my hotel around dinner time and decided to skip a gym workout.  It had been a full day!

Saturday, November 16- Embarcation

I had a good workout in the gym, then checked out and headed to the hospitality suite to check my bag with UnCruise.  There was still plenty of time before they took us to the boat so after I took care of some business on-line, I went out wandering along the waterfront again.  It was too nice to stay inside!

Finally they put us on the bus for the hour-long trip to the port.  Welcome drinks were waiting, we had dinner soon after the safety briefing, and I got to bed early, rocked to sleep by the waves.  I’d forgotten how nice that was. 

Specs for the ship, the Safari Explorer, are at this link.