People tell me they’re worried that we’re going to Peru. But put it in perspective. We don’t stop traveling in regular flu seasons. And last year there were 38000 deaths in the U.S. from the regular flu. 38000. And how many with this new flu? 1. O-N-E. And the unfortunate child was visiting from Mexico. I’m certainly not trying to diminish his death, but to point out the risk. And the risk is minimal. Yes, it’s the beginning of the flu season in South America, where our spring is their autumn. Yes, the WHO is probably going to declare it a pandemic any day now. And yes, we don’t know much about this new virus.
We do know that it’s contagion rate seems to be about the same as for the regular flu. We know about covering mouths and hand washing. And we know that Peru is largely untouched so far. We also know that the pandemic label is one of geography and not of severity.
Travel is always a risk. I had a close call crossing a street in Buenos Aires. If you’ve ever been to Buenos Aires, you know what I’m talking about. I got (briefly) lost in Slick Rock territory once. And we had a great deal of difficulty backpacking at altitude in Yosemite once, and the very next day that very trail was closed for the season by a foot of snow. Travel has it’s risks.
And we don’t take this lightly. A few days ago CNN had the headline “Humanity at Risk?”. Today, they barely mention it. Go figure.
So we’re going. FYI, I bought travel insurance, with an emergency evacuation rider. We’re going.
By the way, in case you weren’t aware that this blog is attached to a web site about learning Spanish and traveling in the Spanish speaking world, you can click on the HOME button above to visit it. Or you can go straight to our Machu Picchu page (http://www.learn-spanish-travel-spanish.com/Machu_Picchu_Peru.html) if you want to know more about Machu Picchu.
If you want to follow the blog once we get to Machu Picchu, click on the RSS feed in the top right corner of this blog. Wish us luck. We’re going.
Tags: Cusco · flu · influenza · Learn Spanish · Learning Spanish · Machu Picchu · Oaxaca Mexico · Ollantaytambo · Peru · speak Spanish · swine flu · swine-bird-flu · Travel SpanishNo Comments
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