The Private Traveller

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Journeying Through Uncertainty: Long-Haul Travel Tales in the Era of Covid

The Private Traveller

Travel has obviously been severely restricted since March 2020 with Covid lockdowns/travel bans, but as well as some local trips we also managed to get away (short-haul) to Croatia in August. Travelling to the Seychelles at the back-end of the year would be the first long-haul trip and I plan to write about various aspects of this trip - Covid-testing, quarantine periods, what it was like at airports and I was able to reach out to the legend that is Captain Chris to get a pilot’s view of the current situation.

The trip

We originally had flights booked with British Airways to the Seychelles for November, but with the UK lockdown these had to be cancelled and we rebooked for December, meaning that we would actually be away for Christmas. There were also some changes with how the Seychelles Government were approaching entry requirements and mandatory quarantine periods, so I held off finalising hotel bookings until nearer the departure time, albeit I’d already identified that we would hopefully stay in three different resorts across three different islands. First stop was Hotel Raffles Seychelles where we would undertake our quarantine period on Praslin island; second Denis Private Island, a remote but utterly fantastic small island to the north of the main islands of Mahé and Praslin; and third back to the main island of Mahé where the international airport is located, to the Constance Hotel Ephelia. All were absolutely incredible, all very different, and you can read all about them in my various detailed hotel reviews (all on the website).

Covid testing

For the Seychelles, when we went we had to have a negative PCR test (lab based) within 48 hours of our departure from the UK. I looked at various options of where the testing could be done, how quickly we would get results and what the various tests available were. Initially we had assumed that we would be able to use the ‘Test and Rest’ facility at one of my favourite locations, the London Heathrow Sofitel at Terminal 5, but unfortunately this wasn’t going to be acceptable because the test used by Halo was saliva based and not swab based.

I booked appointments for us at the local Vivo Clinic - travelling on a Saturday evening we would get our tests done on the Thursday, with results due back between 8pm on the Friday night and noon on the Saturday. Worst case, this would mean that we would have about 6 hours to get the online applications done for Seychelles entry. It was an easy process, we just had to complete a form with some basic personal information (which the clinic upload to the testing site) then the dreaded swabbing of the throat and nose - we did this ourselves, there was instructions shown in the clinic, and the attendant also talked us through what to do. Not the most pleasant thing to do, especially when swabbing around the back of the throat and tonsils, but it was a quick process, albeit even the thought of it now, weeks on, still makes me gag. The things we go through for travel!

Once the tests had been done and registered by the Clinic (they were using Randox Health for testing which we had also bought direct as a backup), we both immediately received emails to advise that the tests had been registered, we then subsequently received another email on the Friday to advise that the test had physically been received by the laboratory (around noon). On the Friday evening, about 9pm ‘Mrs’ ThePrivateTraveller got the negative result back, but mine (from that test) didn’t actually come through until around 6am on the Saturday morning - both though were well within the expected guidance.

As back up, and to trial the process for another trip, I had also bought testing kits direct from the Randox Health website; there was a bit of delay in these being received (issue with UPS, not the dispatch from Randox) so they didn’t arrive until theThursday too. We did the same test ourselves, registered them on the Randox website and sent them back to the lab (the kit you buy also includes free return delivery by either UPS or DX Delivery). After the problems with UPS and delivery of the kits, we opted to use the DX option - I’d expected it to be more complicated, but basically it was just a case of dropping it in a testing mailbox at the local DX office and making sure that it was in there before 5pm for next day delivery. For those tests, we both received confirmations around the same time about 1pm on the Friday that they had been received, then the test outcomes themselves that evening, around 8pm; again thankfully negative. I think in future, the learning would be to have bought the kit further in advance, but I would just do it myself direct with the lab rather than going through a clinic - the only benefit would be if a local clinic could offer same-day results, but this seemed to only be an option in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester for now.

Applying to the Seychelles Government for entry

As soon as we had our negative test results (you’re sent a PDF attachment to the emails) we were then able to apply for entry. The confirmation shows the outcome of your test, the test method and your basic details - depending on where you’re going and the requirements, you can opt to have the test time and date shown, or not. Some countries also require passport details to be shown, but for the Seychelles this wasn’t a requirement. You’re able to apply through either an app or direct on the website, as well as entering some basic information about you, your trip details (dates, flights, accommodation etc.) and obviously the test results you also have to upload accommodation vouchers for everywhere you plan to stay (and must have booked), flight confirmation, a scan of your passport and upload a photo. You also need to make some appropriate online confirmations that you have valid travel insurance for your stay, answer some health questions and also details of any other recent travel, as well as paying a fee - this was 45 euro (about £40) for the standard processing (meant to be confirmed within 6 hours) but there was also a more expensive fee if you needed faster processing. Staying overnight at the Sofitel, we assumed that getting approval overnight would be fine; back well in time before our flight the following evening.

On waking up the next morning, ‘Mrs’ ThePrivateTraveller had the confirmation email from the Seychelles Government regarding entry and was able to download a Passbook confirmation to the Apple wallet, which would be checked on arrival into the Seychelles. Despite being outwith the 6 hour window, I didn’t have any confirmation but on interacting with Travizory (the company used by the Republic of Seychelles to process applications) through live chat (which is available 24 hours to help with any queries, and worked really well) I found that my approved application came through within minutes. We were then both approved for travel, and just had to show these to the British Airways staff at check-in, as well as once we arrived in Mahé the following morning. Overall the system worked really well, unfortunately (as I write) the UK are no longer approved for entry, having been moved out of the Category 2 approved country list at the end of December, once we were actually in the Seychelles, due to the new variant Covid strain identified initially in both the UK and South Africa.

Airports

It’s amazing how quickly you can get used to mask-wearing, constantly using hand-sanitizer and keeping distance - in London the airport was exceptionally quiet when otherwise it would have been very busy in the run-up to Christmas. Not all lounges were open in Terminal 5, and we made the mistake of moving from the lounge in the main terminal thinking (for a change of scene with a couple of hours until our flight) to relocate to the lounge at the B-gates. As soon as we got there we realised how exceptionally deserted that area was, so rather than returning back to the A-gate area we just hunkered down and spent a couple of hours at the boarding gate, but I did get some good airport shots.


The pilot’s view

Credit: Instagram @captainchris

As I’ve been writing this blog about travelling with Covid, it made me start to think about travel from a pilot’s perspective and who better I thought to reach out to but the legend that is Captain Chris. Captain Chris Pohl rocketed on to my Instagram radar last year with his strapline ‘Buy airline tickets like you would toilet paper’ - not only did this catch my attention and it seems like several thousand others too as I’ve been seen his account rocket to (currently) over 60,000 followers and that’s literally increasing day by day. I’ve been following him ever since, looking at the great posts he makes regularly about travel (he’s a full-time pilot with Virgin Atlantic)  and he allowed me to share some of his fantastic cabin shots when I was running an #avgeekweek section on my Instagram feed last year.

I was going to add in some Q&A with Captain Chris here, but I’ve realised that having his thoughts definitely merits a separate blog post so I will do exactly that. Watch out soon for the upcoming post, I’ll be asking him all about travel during Covid times and find out a bit more about the man behind the profile.

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