Escape from Morocco!

So, things are starting to get concerning. More closures of shops and restaurants so food is going to become an issue. Also, the Moroccan government has implemented a curfew that goes from 6pm to 6am daily. We will find flights out of Morocco but the bigger concern is for the locals. What will they do with no tourists, no work, no income? These people have been just wonderful to us, sharing what they have and being so pleasant, it’s hard to see where this will turn out good for them.

Collette had enough of my stumbling around trying to find a way home. Her Mossad training kicked in and things went to level 4 quickly. She made contact with an old Army buddy who flew C-130’s to arrange for an exfill from the local airport. O-dark 30 tomorrow morning we were to slip from our Riad dressed as spice merchants. We would go to a local safe house where we would change clothes, get our assumed passports and identification papers then travel by moped to the edge of the airfield. Collette would neutralize any guards in the area while I cut a hole in the fence. We would rendezvous in a small hangar to the right of the field. At O-notsodark 30, we would commandeer a truck, drive to the edge of the runway and wait for the C-130 to show. Time would be of the essence!

Jemaa el-Fnaa square – deserted

Instead of all that…

Karima, our Riad manager, had been sending us notes asking for us to send our US information to her friend that works at the British embassy. At first, we were a little reluctant, what good would that do in getting a reply from our embassy? But it may have worked.

Soon after we sent our passport numbers to Karima’s friend, we received an email from our embassy stating they had arranged a few evacuation flights to London from Marrakech beginning at 1130am tomorrow morning. They requested that we send them a time when we could be in Marrakech so they could possibly get us on a flight. Absolutely great, right? Except we received that email at 1235am while we were sleeping. When we woke the next morning, we showered, went to breakfast and then checked our emails. Somewhere around 9am!

Assuming we would make a flight at some time that day, we packed our bags and made ready to go. All we needed was a confirmation email from the embassy before we could go to the airport. Got it! About 20 minutes later, we got an email saying we should go to the airport, 20 Mar 20 and we’re on our way back home!

We said our goodbyes to the staff at Riad dar Essalam, got into a taxi and 10 minutes later were standing in line with maybe 300 other people trying to get home. The embassy personnel handed out a couple of forms you had to complete before they would assign you to a flight. These were promissory notes. Seems that the government had chartered several flights and wanted to be repaid for their efforts. So how much is an evacuation flight from Marrakech to London….$1,400.00 per person. Not too bad but my RyanAir flight was only $285.00 for both of us! But, if you want to get home, you’re going to pay.

After a little confusion,you’re not on this list, go see those people over there and see if you’re on their list kinda things, we were allowed to go inside the terminal and yes, get in line. This line was to check your paperwork to make sure you signed it (promissory note). Then we proceeded to the check in line. Yes, finally we’ll find out what flight were on. Little confusion here as well. The two embassy personnel at the front of the line didn’t speak to each other when assigning a tourist to a check in agent, so there was a bit of “go there”, “no wait, go there”, “no how about there”, “wait”, “go there”, “how many are in your group”, “go there”, “OK come back here and wait”.  So, even in spite of all the help, we managed to get to a counter and check in for a flight.

The counter agent (not a counter agent but the counter agent) handed us our tickets, seats 1A & B, on British Airways flight 1330 (that’s the time as well as the flight number). Now off through security. Sailed through in less than 10 minutes and walked into an empty terminal. Kind of scary to see about a dozen people in an entire terminal. Like the Zombie apocalypse has happened.

Since we had about 1.5hrs before our flight left, it was time for a snack. The cafes were open so we had a sandwich and coffee before strolling along waiting to see what gate flight 1330 was assigned. Surprise! Flight 1330 was also flight 1230, and they were boarding at gate 32 right now. Seems the boarding time, 1230, was how they showed the flight gate status. Mind you there was also a flight 1330 waiting for a gate assignment, somewhat confusing but we managed.

Awesome flight! The British Airways crew was absolutely wonderful. Cheerful, pleasant, helpful, all the things you don’t normally experience on a flight. They even scrounged up snacks and drinks for everyone. Great experience.

Once we landed, we walked the standard 5.5 miles up and down stairs, through narrow corridors, around blind corners, over walkways, under stairs to reach our COVID-19 inspection station (and baggage claim). We each received a small suitcase of information on the virus and had our temperatures taken. 97.3 for me and the Misses, so we passed.

The embassy had thought of everything. On arrival at Heathrow (UGH!!!) we were given transfer vouchers for the shuttle; overnight accommodations at the Renaissance hotel; dinner buffet and a breakfast buffet. Amazing! Time to find a space at least 6’ from others and have a gin & tonic. Welcome back to London!