Ushuaia and beyond: the journey back home begins – 19th March 2020
Thu
19 Mar
2020
Normally today would have been the day to say goodbye. Our passengers would have left the ship, new ones would come in the afternoon and so on and so forth. But not today. Not in this world which now seems to be fully controlled by the Corona virus.
We maintained a slim hope that we might still be able to get off. Hondius was alongside just opposite and we could watch their passengers leaving the ship, getting on to buses and to the airport, where planes were landing and taking off. But not so here. People were sitting on their luggage with valid tickets in their pockets. It did not help.
The difference between Ortelius and Hondius? Hondius just made a trip from Ushuaia to Antarctica and back to Ushuaia. So, in an Argentine (!) perspective, they never left the country, other than some open sea passage. And Ortelius? We left from New Zealand, so it was an international voyage. Of course we have been on board for 32 days without any symptoms of any kind of serious infection and we have not seen a soul in all these days – but who cares?
Thank you, Argentina!
So the day went and so did the hope that we might be able to leave. Finally the bags were unpacked again.
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last modification: 2020-03-24 ·
copyright: Rolf Stange