Wednesday, March 18 – Salta

It’s been a crazy 18 hours here in Salta!

So, it all began last night when I went to meet with the hotel’s travel coordinator to enquire about taking a tour today. After trying to confirm a spot with the various companies, he discovered that all of the tours had been cancelled indefinitely. Not a surprise. But then came the bombshell – he also told me that he had been informed that as of Friday all public transportation services (planes, buses, etc) within Argentina would be suspended. Whoa! With that, I quickly determined that I needed to get back to Buenos Aires pronto. The travel coordinator suggested I head to the city center to book a flight at the office of one of the local airlines. Fortunately there was just a short line there, and even better, one of the representatives was outside answering questions. He told me that the airline had not yet officially been informed by the government about the suspension of service. Mmmm. I’m thinking I need to head back to Buenos Aires, regardless. He also told me their office only handled changes; and that I needed to make new bookings online. Back to the hotel I went, and was able to book a flight with no issues for $130. I guess this news hadn’t been fully disseminated yet.

This sudden action made me realize that I shouldn’t wait until April 4th to return to the States. Air Canada was offering a partial refund on any unused portions of their bookings, so I decided that instead of paying their exorbitant one-way prices, I would cancel the rest of that trip and look for an alternate (and hopefully inexpensive) way back. After a fair amount of searching I came up with a trip from Buenos Aires to Chicago, with a connection in Panama. It’s on Copa Airlines, but I booked it through United using 33k miles and paying an $87 fee. I’m pretty happy with that! The flight departs Buenos Aires late morning Friday and I arrive in Chicago a little after midnight.

I was feeling pretty good about the way things were coming together. Until this morning! After breakfast, I went to the hotel reception desk to ask about the timing for going to the airport tomorrow. After that conversation ended, I was told that I would need to get a medical certificate that would clear me to board the flight. What? Really? I was informed that a police medic could come by in the morning to give me a quick exam and then provide the certificate. This just seemed odd, so I decided to head back to the airline office again to get their take on this.

Well, the line was pretty long this time (the flight cancellations beginning Friday had become official), but what the heck, I needed to get this sorted. It was interesting too in that the police were on hand to make sure that everyone in the queue kept a safe distance from one another. Thankfully, after about a half hour wait a representative again came outside to make sure everyone in line needed to be there. He had no clue about the certificate requirement, so he brought in the police officers to ask them about it. Well, it turns out there is a questionnaire I would need to fill out at the airport tomorrow, but they offered to do it today while I was there at the office. Nice! And with the help of a very nice local woman acting as a translator, we got it done and I was given a copy.

Okay, once again I’m feeling pretty good about things. Not so fast! After meeting with the police, I was given the opportunity to go to the head of the line and confirm the situation with a representative in the airline’s office. She too had no idea about the medical certificate requirement, but she did say I may have a problem getting on the plane tomorrow. The issue was my trip to Brazil. I traveled there on March 4th and returned on the 12th. Well, on the 16th the Argentinian government declared that everyone arriving from Brazil would need to be quarantined for 14 days. (the CDC does not list Brazil has a hazard country; I think this situation stems from a country rivalry thing). So even though the requirement came into being after I returned, she thought the issue would be that I had not yet been back in Argentina for 14 days. Ugh! She said it was just her opinion though, and I should go to the airport tomorrow and see what happens. Brother! (She also mentioned that I should have received a form when I entered Argentina, explaining that I was required to be quarantined. I didn’t receive that, and there were no issues about quarantine brought up when I went through immigration)

When I got back to the hotel I told the guys at reception about my exploits, and after they heard my story they offered me something that I’m hoping will be my ace in the hole! The hotel has a team of medics on retainer, and a pair of them happened to be coming by this afternoon to check on another guest that may need to be quarantined. They said they could exam me as well, and if all was good, provide me with documentation I could present at the airport tomorrow (and Friday). So, the two medics arrived at my room dressed in full hazmat gear. Very strange times! Well, I passed the exam and have the document, of which the medics said would allow me to sail through the airport inspection (hope so!). So I’m feeling a little better again! And afterward, I spoke with the hotel manager to thank him for offering the medic services. While talking, he mentioned that he was confident the Brazil thing would not be an issue because I had returned before the quarantine order was in place. I’m with him, let’s see what happens!

Hopefully I can provide an update for you tomorrow from Buenos Aires!

Sidenote: When researching return flights, I came across several one ways from Miami to Chicago on Sunday for around $20 each! On American Airlines. Crazy!