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| Full moon over Maalaea Beach. Check out the shadows of that crazy trimmed tree in the condo’s yard. |
Today’s photos are from this date while staying in Maui, Hawaii for six weeks. For the story and more photos from this date, please click here.
After another fitful night, awakening at 1:30 am and not falling back to sleep until 4:00 am, it wasn’t until 8:30 that I finally got out of bed to begin my day, feeling sluggish and unmotivated to begin the daily walking regiment. Forty minutes later I was out the door to begin the first mile. I never finished it.
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| The Maui shoreline is a photographer’s dream. |
While walking in the corridors on our floor, no less than 12 new guests arrived, searching for their rooms. I stood at a distance of no less than 15 feet, (5 meters) from each group when I spotted no less than five people not wearing face masks. In addition, I spotted two room attendants wearing their masks below their noses. What’s the point of that?
With people checking in from the toxic outside world in Mumbai, who haven’t necessarily been tested in the past 24 hours, the risks of contracting the virus from such people could be high. At no point did I get close to any of them. This hotel has been meticulously careful in avoiding a single case of COVID-19 all these months. But, with this rash of new guests arriving and staying on our floor while not wearing face masks, that could change quickly.
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| The Hawaiian Islands, like many other tropical islands, has an ever-changing weather phenomenon. |
While Tom was walking, passing by me from time to time, he took a photo of a guest waiting who’d come from his room, heading to the elevator from our floor without a face mask at all. Once I was back in our room, I sent the manager-on-duty an email with the photos explaining the situation. Not only is this type of negligence and arrogance dangerous for us, but what about the other guests and hotel staff?
A Covid-19 outbreak in a hotel certainly wouldn’t be good for business, let alone the risk to many hard-working people who’ve continued to live here, away from their families, to protect the hotel guests and other staff members.
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| The subtle colors in these hills are breathtaking. |
After sending a very polite and diplomatic email, I ran into the manager in the corridor who’d come up to inspect the floor. He graciously apologized to me stating from here on, a staff member will guard the floor off and on throughout the day, to ensure no one is violating the face mask policy which requires a mask in all public areas. He asked that we inform him if we see any infractions.
In the meantime, the restaurant is open to the public as well as the hotel guests. Although the tables are socially-distanced, there is a lunch buffet seven days a week. There’s no way in the world we’ll ever eat in the dining room under these circumstances.
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| It’s odd at times to find lush vegetation in what appears to be arid and desolate areas. |
And then, the next thing happened, and although seemingly a small issue, most hotel guests may never think of, we were both furious, still maintaining a sense of diplomacy and kindness when bringing it to the attention of our room attendant and the wandering manager-on-duty. You may think we’re too picky bringing this up, but please think about it. Here goes:
After our room was clean, when Tom did the usual inspection to ensure we had plenty of everything provided, (towels, toiletries, coffee and tea supplies) he noticed a partial toilet paper roll was placed on one of the two toilet paper holders, one of which we knew was empty, Where did this partial roll come from?
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| The swirling ocean below the ravine where we stood and watched. |
Certainly, it was from another room. There is no way we’d want a “used roll” of toilet paper taken from the partial use of another guest, Covid-19, or no Covid-19. Good grief! Under what circumstances would this ever be acceptable in a hotel or public facility?
I put my mask back on and walked the corridors searching for our attendant and once again, kindly explained, “We do not want partial toilet paper rolls placed in our bathroom, please).” Immediately, he replaced the “used” roll with a new one, removing it from our room.
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| This orange buoy is a marker for a nearby scuba diver. |
Oh, dear, we sound like nags. But, our health and well being are at the forefront, not only now, but as we continue to travel the world, should we ever be able to begin again.
Today, in dire frustration, we discussed the possibility of returning to the US until things improve. But, with a record-breaking 124,390 new cases in the US in the past 24 hours, which is three times more than they had in India yesterday. We’d prefer to stay put, feeling safer here than anywhere else we could be at this time, of course, providing everyone wears face masks in the corridors.
We continue on…
Photo from one year ago today, November 8, 2019:
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| The digital display on our table at Qzine Specialty Restaurant on the ship left us totally in awe over not only the visuals but also the fine food. For more photos, please click here. |
I have always thought that you should book a home somewhere and get out of that hotel. I have not personally known even one person who has contracted Covid 19. Well, things are now worse here and yes, you should probably stay put. I’m in Ohio and our number of cases when from around 1,000 to over 5,000 in just a very few weeks. People becoming complacent? More people inside due to the cold weather? Who knows. But I now know 4 people who have Covid and they are from different areas of my life. Stay safe and stay sane.
Terry, please read my long response to Jan’s comment which addressed why we won’t rent a holiday/vacation home, nor return to the US. I, too, believe people are becoming complacent. We see it here in India and also in the US. We are the safest right where we are now and will stay put until we can leave for Africa. Thanks for reading our posts and for writing. It means the world to us!
Warmest regards,
Jess & Tom
Hello from Houston. Your blog is the first thing I open every morning…..I really enjoy reading your posts. I do want to ask in the kindest way, as to why you are still in the hotel? There must be much safer/better places (Air B&B homes) in India that you could rent that would be safer and healthier for you while you are waiting out the Covid and your return to Africa. It seems like your hotel isn’t as Covid safe as it has been in the past. At what point have you and Tom decided that it will be time to go? My 97 year old mother with Alzheimer’s, other health issues and lives in a nursing home just got Covid and survived. Don’t be afraid of it, just be careful. Thank you for bringing such joy into your readers lives. Jan Kirkman
Dear Jan, we have chosen to stay here for many reasons. Mainly, if we moved to a holiday/vacation home we’d have to go out to shop for food. Hardly anyone here in India wears a mask and there are huge crowds in the streets and shops. It’s not like there is a big US type grocery store with foods we can eat. Also, it’s not possible to rent a car. The roads are jammed with vehicles and there is nowhere to park. We previously spent two months touring India and even the smaller cities were packed with crowds and vehicles. There are 1.3 billion people here. COVID-19 is rampant here with millions of unreported cases, poor hospital conditions. If a person gets the virus here and requires hospitalization, there are no beds available and patients are left on cots in parking lots. It’s not that we are so terrified. It’s that we know too much to take such a risk. We are safest here in our hotel room. Hope this makes sense to you. We have 3 immediate family members in the US who suffered dearly from the virus. Going there is not appealing, nor is flying through so many airports to get there. Thank you so much for sharing our story with us and for taking the time to write. We so appreciate you!
Warmest regards,
Jess & Tom
Thanks Jess for your reply. The two of you are so amazing during these times…doing your best to stay safe and positive. It really makes sense as to why you are staying put in the hotel.
Thankfully we are retired and are able to use “curbside” ordering at Walmart, Lowe’s and Home Depot as well as Amazon Prime. We haven’t been inside any store since March 15. My husband is a diabetic and is at the beginning of his Parkinson’s journey. Thankfully we still live in our “Texas McMansion” (lol) which gives him plenty of room to putter around inside and out. He is so funny with his clipboard and yellow legal pad with his “to do list”. But, it works for him.
What I long for most is to someday again to be able to go inside the nursing home and give mom hugs and just spend time with her in person. Door visits and video chats are what we continue to do since they had 10 more Covid positives yesterday. No way will I go in there anytime soon.
My best to you and Tom.
Jan, so sorry you haven’t been able to see and hug your dear mom in person for so many months. This is hard on both of you. Plus, with new cases in her nursing home, you must be very worried about her. Our love and prayers for her safety and also for you and your husband.
Warmest regards,
Jess & Tom