Well… I am writing to you from Antigua, so that’s good. Captain Lexi is making slow progress but every step is a victory so I’ll take it. Travelling is just as horrible as you imagine it is now-a-days. Smart people don’t travel anymore, but maybe I am not very smart huh.
So Saturday morning my friend Ryan was kind enough to drive me from the safety of his lovely Canadian home and bring me to the highway pickup point for the Robert Q airport shuttle. I was the only passenger for the first ride and when we transferred the second bus had a total of 5 people on it all headed for the airport. Speaking to the bus driver he says their business is very slow since Covid hit.
When I arrived at the Toronto Airport terminal 1 for drop off to meet my friend Troy I was interested to see how empty it is. The airport is like a ghost town with very few people in it. This image is is the ticket counters, usually with hundreds of people in long lines there were only a few dozen people in the whole airport. Canada, being Canada, is very calm about Covid, there are hand sanitizing stations around and place marks on the floor for social distancing, all reasonable measures were taken with nothing extreme.
Originally my flight was set for very early Sunday morning with AirCanada so I had already arranged to get to the airport the day before. Now with my new flight with American Airlines set for Sunday afternoon I had a little more time to wait. Rather than get stuck waiting in the airport my friend Troy agreed to come pick me up so we could hang out for a little while before I flew away. We went back to his lovely home in Peterborough east of Toronto. We had a lovely time hanging out and I have missed my friend dearly.
Sunday at noon we began the second leg of my journey and drove back to the Toronto airport terminal 3 for international flights. There I found terminal 3 just as deserted as terminal 1 was the day before. I got my two checked bags in for only $70cdn and sent them off in the safe care of the airport baggage handlers. I had no problems checking in, getting my ticket or with finding my way to my clearly marked departure gate. They did give me some grief about not having a flight out of Antigua but the very polite Canadian ticket agent understood when I explained that I am returning to my sailboat and will be departing Antigua by yacht in a few months.
The first of 3 planes was one of the smaller ones I have ever flown on. When called we all walked out onto the parking area for the planes and climbed aboard. We were all crowded in and there were very few empty seats on the plane. America and American Airlines have no interest or tolerance for social distancing on their planes if it means sacrificing any profitability. When I flew to Canada a few months ago on the Portugese TAPS air they kept every other seat on the plane empty. This was not the case here, so it makes me wonder why we sat apart, every other seat empty, in the airport gate area for the last few hours, social distancing then cramming tight together on the plane seems pointless to me.
The flight was short, only about an hour and 45 minutes or so and we landed in Philadelphia airport in the dark as it was raining. For whatever reason, American Airlines required me to go get my checked bags and recheck them into the next flight. This meant I had to leave the secured area of the airport to go get my checked bags, thus I could not go to my next gate. I had to physically leave the airport and walk half a kilometre with all my bags thru the parking garage and walk into the departures area.
Technically I was free and in America and free to go visit the city and the country, but I did not have to tell or go thru the American CBP. There were no customs or immigration officers or checkpoints what-so-ever. It seems like a big hole in their security system and I worried about having to explain to CBP officers why I was coming from the city and checking in without ever having gotten permission to wander their country. I should note here that even Canadians are not allowed into America right now because of Covid, still essential travel only. I was not allowed to be in America, I was only allowed inside the secured areas of the airports for the purpose of “being in transit”.
In Canada baggage trolleys are freely provided in airports, in America you have to pay for them. Given that there were so few people around at all I had decided to commandeer a wheelchair at the baggage area to carry my bags. They are too heavy for me to all carry and no I do not have nice fancy luggage with nice wheels, I left WildChild a few months ago under difficult circumstances. So it was all backpacks for me and no spiffy fancy luggage bags with wheels.
When I finally walked into the Terminal B/C departures area pushing my luggage on the wheel chair I found it rather empty too. I spoke with a very kind Jamaican airport information person who explained to me that I would need to wait there until 3am when the ticket counters will be able to check me back in again. Then once I checked in my bags again I could go upstairs to go thru the American TSA check point and renter the secured area of the airport. The nice man did caution me that if I was going to sleep in the airport, in the unsecured ticket area, that I should not sleep deep and keep my bags held tight to me. You don’t want anything to get stolen he cautioned. It was 6pm when man was kind enough to show me a quiet corner where he said I could lay down and wait for the ticket counters to reopen at 3am.
This is when I discovered that the airport baggage handlers had already robbed me. My blue backpack has a front pouch that was full of extra stuff, it has no way to lock or secure it. They just unzipped it and dug thru it and completely stole everything out of there. I lost a bunch of stuff and I was rather upset it was stolen by airport employees, either the ones in Toronto or the ones in Philly. It is frustrating, you MUST surrender your bags to the care of thieves, really the people in charge should protect against such company theft but it seems they don’t.
My night sleeping in the Philly airport did not go so well for me personally, but I was left alone and had no difficulty getting checked back in at 3am, super hungry and super tired. Of course I did not actually sleep on the cold concrete bench in the corner.
Interestingly, I did go down to the other end to talk to the security guard to let him know who I was and ask if he could maybe keep an eye on me, I thought overwatch might not be a bad idea. I was mistaken. I understand that security guards are not a high paying job. I understand that Americans as a whole are not well educated. I understand that the security guard usually sees thousands of people a day, but the place was almost empty.
When I approached the security guard he was immediately rude and aggressive with me. He demanded to see my ticket before he would even speak with me. I was not allowed to say anything else until I produced my plane ticket for him. I did not have a current plane ticket as I had to wait until 3am for the counters to reopen. He started to try to shoo me away like a stray dog. I fumbled with words trying to find a way past his aggressive and rude mindset.
I guess he assumed I was a homeless person, and this was why he was treating me so badly. I wondered why he started from that assumption, and I wondered is this how all Americans treat homeless people, as sub-human? I also wondered why he would assume a person in an airport, carrying bags, would be a homeless person as his first assumption. Although technically I am not a homeless person, I have a home, on a boat far away, I am still a human being. Being treated roughly and sub-human like this shocked me, I was not used to it. This American way to treat people is new for me, unusual.
So after 5 minutes I got my story thru to the inarticulate man and he seemed to calm down and treat me as a human being again. He was still of the opinion that I should not be bothering him with my problems and had no interest in “keeping an eye on me for safety”. Good luck you are on your own. I had to wonder what is the point of security if not to watch over an area for peoples safety and the security of their property and possessions?
Eventually the ticket counters opened at 3am and I was able to get my new tickets for both of the upcoming flights and recheck in my bags, amazingly at no extra charge. When I told them about the baggage theft it was not their department. I was welcome to contact the airline via the website to lodge a claim. My stuff is just gone and there is nothing I can do about it. Interestingly, I did zip tie the main pouch zippers together and zip tied my orange bag shut which seemed to prevent them from stealing out of them. So a word of wisdom, zip tie your luggage closed.
The check in with the TSA in Philly was also an awful experience. Poorly organized and stupid. They cram as many people as possible into the only line open, where you are supposed to remove everything electronic or with a battery from your carry on bag, remove your coat and shoes and hat, without anyplace to do that. I had like 6 of those little trays to go into their x-ray machine and held up the line, so people behind me started pushing past me.
When I finally do walk thru the scanner, where they look at me naked with their machine, while also looking at me in person, I feel dirty and violated. Women do not generally like men staring at us naked. This time I was smart enough to wear a bra without an underwire. I do not set off the scanner but they still pat me down. It is so crazy, the whole stupid process. Just because one crazy dude tried to blow up his shoes 15 years ago we all must remove our shoes. If some future dumbass tries to weave C4 into his underwear does every traveler forever have to remove their underwear “for safety”. (if we extend their reasoning)
What did surprise me was that there was no CBP check point at all asking me any questions about where I have been. So I guess this is a way into the US without needing to go thru CBP at all, just book an “in-transit” ticket thru the US and just leave the first airport and wander away. Maybe I should have went to visit my friend in Texas this way. Alas I am focused on my mission to return to WildChild.
The second flight went well, a bigger plane with more room to stow my carry on luggage below the seat in front of me. Still jam packed and very full with passengers in those tiny seats. We all breathed the same air for the two and half hour flight to Miami as we sat shoulder to shoulder again.
This time my luggage was automatically transferred to the next plane by the airline. I had made a friend named McKenzie on the first two flights and we walked together thru the very busy and very crowded Miami airport. They were not too concerned about Covid there. No social distancing, no covered seats to keep people sitting apart. Everyone did have to wear a mask, but other than that nothing. No hand sanitizing stations no limits on movement or social contact and very crowded, very busy place, as though there was no Covid. Us two girls had to walk almost a mile inside the N terminal from one end to the other.
I arrived and waited in the crowded gate area with a hundred other travellers, no social distancing here. Antigua was making sure nobody could board this final flight to their island unless they had a printed paper proof of their recent (within 7 days) negative Covid test. I submitted my proofs and was granted permission to enter their country. The good news is we know that nobody in the gate area for this flight is likely to have Covid symptoms.
The flight went well, I was starving, as they no longer serve food on the planes and the last two airports did not have any open food places. I had been without a meal for about 37 hours at this point and without sleep for about 29 hours. I was not feeling very good and I had developed a headache. It seems neglecting my body for so long did not please my machine. I could have bought food in the Miami airport but I had a very short layover and didn’t want to risk missing my last flight.
Here is the customs and immigration form if you are ever curious about it.
On the flight they handed out two forms to us to fill out. I have included them here for you to see. I should not that apparently the “health form” is already outdated and missing information.
The flight went fine and by now I was so hungry and tired I almost fell asleep.
We arrived in Antigua by Monday afternoon and we were all funnelled down the ramp way into the “pre screening area” where they inform us about the outdated form they gave us. We have to add in a bunch of extra information for them while standing in a slow moving line.
This slow moving line leads us to the screening area. Even though we were all just crammed together in a plane now we have too stand apart on the special sticker dots on the floor and there is an official to control where we stand. He makes sure we all now suddenly stand 6 feet apart and only on the specified spots moving in an orderly way. I am told no pictures but I took them anyway for you. I will show the big Antigua secret they don’t want you to know about.
When it is my turn at the front of the line I am told to stand in a specific spot, remove my hat for a remote temperature check and to have my picture taken by an expensive machine. I am asked where I will be staying, what resort am I going to be in. I give the name of the building my apartment is in and don’t volunteer anything else. They write it down and connect it to my picture and allow me to proceed.
Next I am herded forward to wait for a health screener.
The area is very organized and nicely laid out. The government here seems to take Covid very seriously and they are very strict about it. They have many screeners wearing all proper PPE and behind plexiglass screens they mumble at you in a soft voice you cannot hear. They took my “health form” to look it over, asked me more questions and added even more information to it.
After a bunch of questions I could hardly hear they asked me what resort I am staying in. I told them Villa Azure, as that is the name of the apartment building. They then started cross checking it against the print out of the official list of approved places. The girl got flustered as she could not find it on her list. I explain it is a private apartment where I can wait. Her eyes light up, “oh… you are going to have to quarantine then… for two weeks…” she says. Done… no other choices. Resort OR quarantine period, even for nationals returning from abroad.
They got both an email address from me and my whatsapp number. They told me that a nurse will be contacting me everyday. They said that everyday a nurse will call me to check on me and make sure I was okay and observing the quarantine procedures. That she would instruct me to be taking my own temperature twice a day and reporting it in to her. I had heard from another sailor they make you text it in to a whatsapp number they give you.
Interestingly, I met with two other sailors from the flight, one in Miami, and one while waiting in the line. They both just sucked it up and booked resort stays on their credit cards. The first guy said he found a cheap one and put the $4600usd on his credit card, he will spend the next few months paying it off. The second one told me the place he found is only $300usd per night. I was not wrong, the government is going to rescue their tourism economy by forcing EVERYONE into expensive resorts. It seems my apartment plan though, like a returning national, was the only sailor loop hole I could use, but they accepted it. I had to explain the whole return to sailboat thing in great detail though and give the boat name and its location.
I am sorry that I did not ask, for you guys, about government “provided”??? quarantine options. Communication was very difficult with the health official, with both of us wearing masks and her being a quiet mumbler. But I get the impression you are responsible for arranging it before you get here. I don’t think they have such a place.
The exciting news is that I had made a local friend here in Antigua when I was here before. Mike has been trying desperately to find me an apartment for rent. Jolly Harbour is a very expensive place and everything to rent is also crazy expensive. Mike did come thru for me though like a super hero just a few days before my departure. He found me a “local” apartment for rent at local prices.
When you finally do come out of the whole complicated and tightly controlled process you are released into the hands of the approved van drivers where they will port your luggage to your designated Van to drive you back to your specific approved resort. I guess the plan is limit your contact with the local population to as little as possible. They assume you are Covid positive even with your recent Negative Covid test results in hand.
They do not test you here in their airport.
I should also inform you that if you say and prove you are going to an approved resort, they only release you to the authorized vans and drivers for the resorts. As I was able to get thru under quarantine rules they did allow me to go and wait outside for my friend to pick me up, I was allowed to be released to him. The police officer stood behind me and watched me from the airport window behind me where I waited for my ride.
See… stubborn strong determined Captain Lexi has found a way. 🙂
So I am now locked down in this quaint little apartment for two weeks. It is my first time living with cockroaches but I love the price. I got this great little space for $400cdn for a month. Think about the miracle I managed to perform, this is an apartment for a month for about $320usd, which would only get you like 1 or 2 days in an approved resort stay. Score one for the young poor people like me.
I found a way around the government money trap. It seems a little evil to me for a Government to institutionalize a resort filling trap like this, with the prompting of the private businesses of the rich people. After all… why should the rich resort owners suffer financially like the rest of the common population. I wonder how many other countries in the world have instituted a “resort only” policy for entry?
I got local prices not gringo babyboomer prices. I am very happy about that. Sure the water is not drinkable; sure there usually is no water pressure at all; sure there are bugs; sure it is hot; sure it is dimly lit; sure this will be my 14th and 15th weeks going thru stupid quarantines this year…. but I am returning to WildChild despite the world wide Covid stupidity, fear of the flu.
With Antigua, it seems like they foolishly believe they can prevent Covid from eventually coming for their people. Like they think Covid will go away when the magic vaccine comes. There is already 23 variations of Covid identified and more evolving all the time, just like the normal flu that goes around every year and they have no universal vaccine for that. We cannot put the genie back in the bottle. Antigua is taking extreme and strict Covid measures and we have to respect their right to do this. I have paid a huge price this year suffering to respect Governments rights to try to slow the spread of this flu.
Personally I’d rather just get the flu and get my freedoms back, but we are not given that option are we. I do not fear the Flu but everyone else does and mass hysteria wins.
My new crew Alex is coming here tomorrow so we can quarantine together. He is in transit now. He had to get 4 flights to come from British Colombia Canada so he will have a long transit too. I have scouted the way ahead for him and I will be here to cushion his landing when he arrives. I will have my friend Mike pick him up at the airport tomorrow exactly as he did for me. Alex will come back here to share my Covid prison with me then we will be free to access WildChild and get her fixed up properly, do all the work I wanted to originally.
I have heard that there are sailors who have recently arrived here and they are completely ignoring their quarantines. I have also heard that the government here is not and is not going to actually enforce their quarantine. For what its worth, I have been here 24 hours now and still have not been contacted by by the nurse as they said. My friend is doubtful they will ever call or check up on me, no follow thru, it seems other sailors are also of that opinion.
Well.. if we think positively… I will have another two weeks to produce more YouTube videos for you guys. I am currently stacked with videos releasing until Mid December, this should put me through to January.
*****ADDENDUM****
So Alex arrived yesterday. Using the same American Airlines flight I used, he arrived from the same country I did. He did not get quarantined…! They said almost nothing to him and just rushed him thru. He told them the same information I had just given them two days earlier “staying in an apartment at villa azure” and they just let him go with no conditions. So it does seem very arbitrary and random as to who will be forced into quarantine and who will not be. It seems whimsical and whimsical is very hard to plan a trip around huh?
Enjoy this weeks releases… my Haiti trip last year…. they are interesting
Cheers Sailors and sailor fans
Captain Lexi
……………………………the hot sweaty and determined girl…