Saturday to Monday 28th – 30th August 2021

The time had come to travel back to Sri Lanka, and despite the island being in total lockdown again as deaths and Covid cases are rising, we were committed to return.  Lots of people asked us if we wanted to go back but the truth is it is home.  As Rennie explained to her friends, she was looking forward to going home, where she is now settled, where she has made a comfortable nest for her family in a completely different environment, and where she feels at peace; free from the pressures of commuting and full time work as well as full time Mum, and with a different sense of belonging and making a real difference.  I will admit that it was hard to leave the UK and Loved Ones because none of us knows what the future holds, but I share Rennie’s sentiment about home from home; we are very settled in Sri Lanka and although currently completely constrained will have all the experiences and opportunities as a family again at some point, as well as being back in the office that I look forwards to professionally; I am privileged to lead a fantastic team globally, but with Colombo by far the largest element I came here to be in the office that courses with energy and talent, not working from home.

On Saturday we went to the airport and after the anxieties of “have I prepared everything?” with all the extra formalities associated with Covid as well as an entry visa for residence as opposed to tourism, we were checked-in and ready to fly.  Thanks to my bank privileges I managed to get all four of us in to the business lounge so we had a quiet and relaxed start to the journey. 

Our big surprise was turning up at the gate on time to find… Nobody apart from the gate staff.  Why?  Everyone was already boarded bar one passenger as we learned later.  Just 15 passengers in economy class and 6 in business class – on a 300 seat aeroplane.  Such a sad state of affairs for the Sri Lankan economy, the airline, and the planet with the burning of over 30,000 Kg of fuel to fly 21 people to Colombo.  There was certainly little, if any, cargo too given the very sprightly take off roll even though aircraft use computer models to reduce thrust and save engine wear and tear according to weight.

As we sat down, I did my usual mental count of the bags and then realised something was missing.  The TV sound bar we had asked not to be put in the hold.  It was still in the business lounge!  Each of us had a responsibility and Emi’s was to be Sound Bar Girl, but in the excitement she left it in the lounge and nobody else noticed.  Thankfully, with such an empty aeroplane one of the staff escorted me back to the lounge to collect it – in the process also sweeping up the last passenger!

The flight departed early, and with us each deep in our thoughts, almost like watching a video England faded away underneath us before we were above the clouds and with just over ten more hours in front before we’d see the Sri Lanka coastline.  We each slept well, and aided by the departure and arrival times suiting the body clock, those hours were soon up and with us feeling quite fresh and ready for whatever was to follow.

The airport system in Colombo was very efficient on arrival, and no sooner had I had bought some whisky and gin than we were processed through to the correct handling point and put on a bus with about 20 other people to be taken by the slowest bus driver ever on a 3 hour long journey to a government mandated hotel for quarantine. This was at Hikkaduwa near Galle in the South of the island, my Board of Investment visa not allowing us to choose our quarantine hotel like tourists can when they arrive in a ‘bubble’ together.

We don’t need five stars but the quarantine hotel was a shock; somewhat shabby, we ironically felt at the most risk of contracting Covid during the entire trip – in Rennie and the kids’ case this having started in May. We didn’t even want to think of what was living on the manky plastic sheet hanging between the reception desk and the entrance lobby.  Rennie asked if we could have some late lunch to which she was told “rice and curry”. Having been reassured that she and the kids could have it without ANY spice, we went ahead.

Soon after arriving in our room – which to be fair was clean and had quiet and efficient a/c – there was a knock on the door; a houseboy carrying four aluminium takeaway boxes with cardboard lids as part of precautions not to spread Covid on food. What we didn’t expect was that each one contained the full meal (so a soggy mess rather than fish curry in one box and rice in another to be put together just before eating), they were stone cold – and the spices were a good 9.5/10 even on my high threshold.

I love spicy curry but intensely dislike it even lukewarm (it has to be piping hot) but ate half of mine through hunger, though Rennie and the kids decided that they preferred to be hungry and left theirs alone. Delicious fresh fruit was however brought later and nice omelettes for breakfast. Above all, the staff were unfailingly polite and helpful and the manager apologetic that we were the first foreigners he had seen in over a year so he was not ready to cater for Rennie and the kids with a non-spicy menu option; we felt sorry for him and the clear impact on his business.

The kids started school and I commenced work at about 8am, and at 10am we learned that our arrival PCR tests were all negative, so we could leave. We packed our bags and waited for our driver who was one hour late picking us up. Unusual for him, and today was the one day we would have liked him to be early! When he arrived, we couldn’t recognise him; by official instruction he was clothed from head to toe in full hazmat gear and had to drive us home dressed like this, too.

The kids finished their online schooling during the drive and Emi then had a little sleep, but we Other Three were awake for the whole drive, mentally processing being back home. It felt surreal – and then on arrival, a brief calmness was shattered by finding the aftermath of a flood from the apartment above that had happened whilst we were away!  I won’t go in to details here, but suffice to say we were extremely grateful for the home made cakes kindly left by two friends to welcome us home – and the Maccy-Ds from our honorary family member Rajeev, delivered as a surprise soon after we arrived; time to pause and take stock, enjoying the food with a drink before the hours of work to get things habitable, suitcases unpacked and the washing machine on.

We were back!

Steve