So this is kind of a special blog for two reasons;
- This is the last blog for the foreseeable future and;
- There’s no map at the bottom showing the route we have driven for the past month, because at the end of March our van went into a container to be shipped back to the Netherlands, so no driving was done in April.
With the van on the boat we still had over two weeks in Cartagena before flying back to the Netherlands. Cartagena is a nice city with enough to do for about 3 days, but we spend three weeks here in total and it was our second time. So we mostly filled our days with tv, internet, some necessary shopping and every now and then we went into the old town to wander the streets one more time. A week before flying we started to arrange all the paperwork for Finnley. We needed the export permit from ICA (Colombian ministry of agriculture and animals) and the European health certificate filled out by a vet. Arranging this took 5 days, where basically everything that could go wrong went wrong, vets making mistakes and failing systems (part of the process has to be done online), but we had already planned for this and got the paperwork on time.
And then on Tuesday the 15th of April, we packed our bags and headed for the airport. Here the check in took 1.5 hours because of system failure… So yeah, typical South America one more time? It was a bit surreal boarding the plane, knowing that after three years we would leave this continent, probably for good. Finnley flew with us as pet in cabin and sat quietly in his bag under the chair in front of me. During the 9,5 hour flight we offered him food and water but he didn’t want any. He also didn’t use the foldable litter box we packed. He just meowed every now and then as he wanted out and explore the plane, which of course wasn’t allowed. The cabin crew was really friendly and asked a few times how he was doing, which I really appreciated! Food was good too and there were plenty of shows and movies to watch. But of course we were happy to finally land on the 16th. It then took another 45 minutes to actually get off the plane. With the plane coming from Colombia, customs had decided on extra passport checks, immediately at that end of the gate even though there was another passport control further down the airport and there’s really nowhere else to go. Welcome to the Netherlands I guess. But we eventually made it to the exit, with all our luggage as well! There was a small welcoming committee waiting for us which was nice! We all had drinks together and then my father drove us to the Airbnb in Vlaardingen.
We had booked this for two days. Normally it takes 2-5 days before you can pick up the van. The boat had arrived on Monday, so we hoped to pick up our van on Friday the 18th. Alas it was not to be. After landing, Kilian got a message saying our container had been selected for additional inspection by customs. This would add five working days. And with the Easter weekend it would take even longer. We couldn’t stay longer at the Airbnb and with the two week spring holiday (which we hadn’t thought about when planning everything), we had a bit of a problem. Most accommodations were booked and those that were left, were extremely expensive. Fortunately we could stay with good friends of us where their teenage son kindly lend us his room. They made us feel at home and we’re really greatful for that! Finnley had a good time too as he was immediately obsessed with the gerbils and spend days watching them. They were safe in their cage and couldn’t care less about this predator lurking around 🙂
We hoped to pick up the van on Wednesday after Easter. But with Ivvsuk being uncommunicative and apparently not doing a lot, it took another full week and many, mails, apps and phone calls to finally get the van back at Wednesday the 30th of April. We still couldn’t use it though, as Dutch law required a mandatory technical inspection, before being allowed to drive anywhere but the garage. But then finally at Thursday the 1st of May, we got our house back! We were really happy with that. Especially with all the winter clothes, because why can’t it just be 30C here as well 🙁 Finnley seemed a bit confused at first but he’s fully used to everything now. Perhaps he was just missing the gerbils 😉
So now we are back in the Netherlands. Our journey has come to an end. And we have no travel plans for the future. For now we are looking for jobs and we will just see what we will do next.
This website will remain online for a while longer, but unless something worth mentioning comes up, there will be no more blogs. So thanks to those who have followed our journey!