Cyril Cook (left) and his niece Rachelle Puls during their shortened trip through the Peruvian jungle earlier this week (Photo: Cyril Cook)

By Shaun Penner

Stuck in Peru

Grande Prairie residents stuck in Peru staying positive while awaiting return home

Mar 21, 2020 | 2:43 PM

With the COVID-19 pandemic halting travel around many parts of the globe, some Grande Prairie residents are unsure of when they will be able to return home.

That’s the case for Cyril Cook and his niece Rachelle Puls, who at this moment are two of the many Canadians who are sheltered-in-place in the City of Cusco, Peru, which is about an hour-and-a-half flight southeast of the Country’s capital of Lima.

As of Sunday, the Peruvian government is set to fully halt the repatriation of foreigners. Learning of this development within the last 24 hours, Cook is fully prepared for a lengthy stay in South America.

“Other Canadians who are here, they have tried booking flights, even for when the restrictions on travel are supposed to be lifted (on March 30). Those flights are getting cancelled,” said Cook. “So, they book them, and the next day they get cancelled.”

“And we’re hearing a lot of stuff from the airlines that Air Canada is not flying until June and WestJet is cancelling flights.”

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It’s been a surreal week-plus for the pair, like many us. But this situation they find themselves in was not one they projected when they set off on their vacation.

The decision to take the trip to Peru came back in January, when they booked their flights out of YQU for March 12 to begin their adventure. Leading up to the time of their flights to South America, Cook says there was no indication from the Canadian government that travel to Peru was not a good idea. He recalled that at the time, there were more reported cases of COVID-19 in Alberta than there were in Peru.

After two days of travel to Cusco, the pair set off on a trek through the Peruvian jungle on March 15. That first day in the jungle, they learned that the Alberta Government had decided to close all schools back home to help limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. That’s when he and Puls realized the gravity of the situation.

“Over that night, we got word in the morning (of March 16) that all international travel is done. They were not letting anymore flights in or out of Peru,” said Cook. “So, of course, we’re like ‘We’re really in it now’.”

Where they were in the jungle as the situation was unfolding was about a four-hour drive back to Cusco. With the Peruvian government saying foreigners had just 24 hours to vacate the country, Cook knew it was not realistic for them to think they could get a flight back to Lima, then back home in that span.

Things became even more sticky for the pair on March 16, as they learned the government had put a shelter-in-place order over the entire country for 15 days.

“We basically had to scurry back to Cusco, to where our stuff was, before all the roads closed.”

The two then learned upon their arrival back in Cusco that their hostel had given away their room, since they were allowing others already there to extend their stay with nowhere to go. That left Cook and Puls having to hike around the city to find a hostel that had vacancy for them to isolate in.

They did have luck finding one, where they now are limited to their room, unless they go to the grocery store, the bank or the pharmacy. All other businesses and services are shuttered, while the police and military patrol the streets to enforce the national lockdown.

Now that they are settled in, Cook says he and Puls are looking at the bright side and seeing the positives.

“It is a nice hostel. We have food, running water. It’s a comfortable place,” said Cook. “We’re definitely fine here, for whatever time we are going to be required to stay here.”

Now the two, as well as another Peace Country resident named Nadia Marie who is also in Cusco at this time, await further instruction from the Canadian government as to how they plan to get them home now that international flights will be barred from Peru.

Cook says they have registered on the Canadian government’s Registry of Canadians Abroad (ROCA). Despite receiving daily email updates from the government, Cook says they still have few answers about what the government plans to do to get the hundreds of Canadians stuck in Peru home.

“Really, there is not a lot of information coming from them besides ‘we’re working on it’.”

Despite feeling safe and comfortable, the father of three would still like to return home to the Swan City sooner rather than later. He is urging the Canadian and Peruvian governments, as well as Air Canada and WestJet, to find a quick solution to get all Canadians home safely.

But that is something he is confident will come about.

“Really, since the whole thing started, we never really expected or planned for the government to come swoop in and get us,” said Cook. “From day one, we were looking to keep ourselves safe, keep ourselves healthy and keep ourselves mentally well.”

“The government will take care of the things they need to take care of, and we just have to take care of ourselves while we are here.”