Breaking news – Madrone and her crew have been reunited in Chile!
TL;DR: More than five months after leaving Chile, we were allowed to return. There were a lot of things that had to go right in order to make it back to Madrone, and they all did. As is usually the case, all of the time and energy we spent worrying about things that could go wrong was wasted.
Challenge 1
In mid-November, we were spending a pleasant afternoon basking in the sun on the patio of Topa Topa Brewery in Ojai, California. Without much else to do, it was time for the daily Chilean border status check. Much to our surprise and delight, the government announced a limited reopening of the border – they would open only the airport in Santiago to allow international flights (land and sea borders would remain closed) and they would allow citizens of any country in the world to enter as long as they had a negative PCR test within 72 hours.
Getting ready to take a nasal swab for our pre-travel coronavirus test
That was the best news we’d heard in months! The border was scheduled to open on November 23, so we immediately booked tickets to arrive on November 23.
A couple of days later, the government announced that while they would still allow international flights starting November 23, they had forgotten to mention that anyone from a country with community transmission of Covid (nearly every country in the world) would have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Santiago. However, this requirement would only be in place for the first 14 days of reopening – after that, quarantine would no longer be required, even if you came from a country with community transmission.
It seemed to us to be a very strange rule, but in our travels we’ve come across our fair share of seemingly strange rules. No problem – we just rebooked our flights for two weeks later, arriving December 7.
A couple of days later, the government announced that while they said the quarantine requirement would only be in place for the first 14 days of reopening, they actually meant the first 15 days. No problem – we’ll just rebook our flights again. Only this time, flights are completely full – we’re apparently not the only folks hoping to get back to Chile.
The next available flight is scheduled to arrive on 12 December, so we booked it. Problem solved? Not quite – see Challenge 2.
Challenge 2
Many countries around the world have a rule that visitors are not able to stay for more than six months on one trip. The general rule for international travel, then, is that passports must be valid for more than six months after the date of departure.
The morning before our flight to Chile we first drove over the SF Bay Bridge to get to our coronavirus testing center in Pittsburg, CA
With the multiple changes in the dates of our arrival in Chile, Angie’s passport would now not be valid for six months after we arrived in Chile. Uh oh.
After swabbing our noses for our coronavirus tests we drove over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to make a stop at a donut shop near where we used to live in Sausalito
A quick check of the passport renewal system showed that even expedited passport renewal is only possible in 4-6 weeks (because of Covid, of course). With our trip only 2 weeks away, that was not a good solution.
Yay, time for donuts!
There is an emergency passport renewal service, but only for people who are traveling within 72 hours, and no appointments were available. Over the past few months, Angie got a lot of practice at finding campsites in otherwise full campgrounds. She brought that experience to bear on the passport renewal system – after multiple days of checking the system hourly (or sometimes more often), she was able to get an appointment the day before our flight, and the appointment was luckily in San Francisco instead of the other two options, Los Angeles or Seattle.
After fueling up on donuts we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco for Angie’s passport appointment
But could a passport actually be renewed, printed, and bound in a couple of hours? It wasn’t clear from the website, and no one answered any of the multiple phone numbers we called to ask.
After the passport appointment we had 2 hours to kill before her new passport was ready for pickup, so we headed down to the Marina District to stretch our legs and take in the view
After a lot of worrying, passport appointment day came. We made the drive to San Francisco, Angie showed her paperwork and paid the renewal fee, and the new passport was available in 2 hours. Success!
Challenge 3
Chile’s strategy to control the spread of Covid is called Paso a Paso (or Step by Step). This strategy includes five increasingly strict restrictions on movement depending on the number of new Covid cases in an individual town.
Angie’s parents dropped us and our 8 bags (packed full with boat parts for Madrone) off at SFO at the beginning of our journey home
Unfortunately for us, Madrone’s temporary home of Valdivia is currently in the most restrictive step – full quarantine. Travel is not allowed in without a special pass, and nobody is allowed to leave their home without a different special pass. So, what does that mean for incoming international travelers?
Checking in at SFO- little did we know that all of our bags would make it to Chile with no problem
The Chilean consulate in San Francisco didn’t answer our enquiry, and the manager of the marina in Valdivia didn’t know. We checked online and found conflicting reports. Some places said travel was allowed for international arrivals, some places said travel was not allowed, and some places said travel was allowed, but only for the first 24 hours.
Ready for our first leg- San Francisco to Houston
What to do? Without any other option, we chose to hope for the best.
When we arrived, we received a travel pass that was valid for about 14 hours and would allow us to board the flight from Santiago to Valdivia. That didn’t match anything we read online, of course, but we were just happy to have permission to come back to Valdivia.
With these challenges, we spent a lot of time worrying about all of the things that could go wrong. Would the flight be delayed, so that our PCR test would no longer be valid? Would Chile change their border restrictions again so that we wouldn’t be allowed to enter? Would the passport renewal process work quickly enough? Would we be stranded in Santiago?
Mike in coronavirus sleeping mode en route to Santiago
In the end, everything went exactly right. The entry process to Chile was efficient and professional. Before the normal immigration and customs checks, we had to pass through a health checkpoint. Here, a government agent reviewed our paperwork (negative PCR test, signed affadavit that we didn’t have any Covid symptoms, agreement that the government can track our health for the first two weeks in Chile, and proof of health insurance). The agent then approved us, and we immediately received an email with approval to enter the country and to travel for ~14 hours.
Final flight- Santiago to Valdivia (nearly home!)
We presented that approval at least five more times as we worked our way from the international terminal to the domestic, and then again when we boarded our domestic flight to Valdivia. Once we landed, there were more checkpoints on the road into and out of town.
Taking a taxi from the airport to Marina Estancilla in Valdivia, Chile
We are exceedingly happy to be back aboard Madrone. Aside from being very dirty, she survived her solitary confinement well. We’re hopeful to never spend another 5 months away!
Opening Madrone for the first time after 5 months away. We were so relieved to find her just as we left her, only dirtier on the outside. We have never been happier to be home!
