Now, where were we? As our series of 100 Trips of a Lifetime spreads its wings for the Americas and Caribbean, you might be wondering when, in your lifetime, it will be possible to visit this epic continent. A travel ban remains in place in North America for UK arrivals. And while the doors were beginning to open up in parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean, our Government’s concern about Brazilian Covid variants puts many of them off-limits again – not least while holidays are uniformly banned.
Tough times
This has been a particularly difficult week for the travel industry, which must now navigate the prospect of costly quarantine requirements, hefty fines and even jail sentences for those who intend to travel – and perhaps flex the rules –during an as-yet open-ended period of time. Conflicting messages from senior Government figures about a “great British summer” and not booking holidays further undermine its position.
Danny Callaghan, CEO of the Latin American Travel Association has called on the Government to set out a path to reopening the travel industry based on milestones, rather than dates. While the vaccination drive and virus mutations continue, it is not easy to offer certainty about barriers coming down for holidays to commence in time for Easter, or even mid-July. When they do, it is likely that there will still be plenty of red tape to unravel and procedures to follow.
Start planning
Will it be worth it? The trips suggested in our 25 Trips of a Lifetime by writer Karen Gardiner in Canada, the US, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean, might sway your opinion, even if you decide to wait for a more stable outlook. Karen – who has lived in the US for the past decade, as well as Chile, and has travelled widely across the region – is particularly enthusiastic about winter in Yellowstone, which she says, “is a more intimate experience than the crowd-filled summer.”
The natural assets at the other end of the continent are no less spectacular. Tour operator Journey Latin America is hosting a “Virtual Travel Club” to introduce Argentina’s glaciers, vineyards, plains and rainforests on 23 February. An unrestricted glimpse of what is on the horizon in this sliver of the mighty Americas.
