The Boeker family flew to the sunny south
”Slow and steady wins the race” is an Asian saying. We doubt whether Tim and Miriam Boeker thought about this sentence at all.
Two weeks before leaving for Peru their evening flight to Madrid was cancelled! So they had to travel earlier that day, knowing full well that spending ten hours at Madrid Airport with their children Sem (5), Joah (3) and Liah (4 months) was going to be great fun!
They left their parents’ house – they live near Heidelberg – early on the Thursday. The motorway A67 they had planned on driving on was unexpectedly completely closed. A transfer journey of 35 minutes turned into a 90 minute nightmare: ideal conditions heading towards the check-in counter and then taking off!
“Having survived” 80% of their time in Madrid they heard by mere chance that their onward flight to Lima had been cancelled. The airline “Latam” had been aware of this fact the whole day, but did not bother to tell their passengers. So, instead of spending the night above the ocean, they spent it in an overcrowded hotel. A handful of sleepers in a double bed; 4½ hours sleep; unpack what you need for the night and then pack everything again early the next morning before heading back to the airport.
Upon reaching security control, they discover with horror, that their boarding passes are suddenly invalid: the ensuing seconds seem like years and their stomachs churn. Finally the staff let the family go through. Then the loudspeakers bring the Boekers back to reality: “the flight has been delayed indefinitely.” At this point blood-pressure and pulse are no longer in the red-zone!
After a mere 44 hours travelling (!) the five Boekers reach their destination, Lima. Miriam Boeker writes: „The Diospi Suyana Guest House is lovely and the caretaker family welcomed us with pizza and Inca Cola. We felt at home almost immediately. Klaus John says that working at Diospi costs blood, sweat and tears. We experienced the latter two, fortunately not the former! But all in all we are truly thankful: it did not all go to plan, but we are healthy and, meanwhile, also happy.”
Traumatologist Dr. Tim Boeker and gynaecologist Dr. Miriam Boeker plan to spend 3,5 years working at Diospi Suyana. Picture above: As a bone surgeon Tim has many muscles: 2 suitcases and three bags are a walk in the park for him!
