CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Sarah and Gabe have been stuck on the Ivory Coast after the Coronavirus Pandemic shut down the borders in Africa. The two said, despite being stuck in place for the most part of 47 days, they are not making any arrangements to come back to North America for some time.
Sarah Saunders and Gabe Foulkes, known by their website as the Nomaddicts—said the first problem with heading back is that Sarah is from the U.S., and Gabe is from British Columbia. This would mean they would have to split up.
We’d have to split up, I don’t think that we could go to the same country, and the other problem, I don’t know that like here, the cases are still pretty limited. It hasn’t blown out of the water like people were expecting it to or like it has in the United States.
SARAH SAUNDERS, ISLE OF PALMS NATIVE & HITCHHIKER
The couple said when they initially heard of the shutdowns, they attempted to make their way from Liberia to Ghana. They reached Ghana a mere 18 hours after the border had closed, leaving them in the Ivory Coast.
Despite a 9 p.m. curfew issued for the Ivory Coast, the two said that life is almost business as usual in their part of the world.
Some bars, and some businesses are closed, but the markets are open, people are still on the street doing shopping. Like nobody really wears a mask.
SARAH SAUNDERS, ISLE OF PALMS NATIVE & HITCHHIKER
While many are not wearing masks—Sarah, Gabe, and their fellow travelers are when they enter into public. They note that overall they are in great spirits.
The travelers are all keeping busy by gardening, making videos, baking banana bread, and playing games.
I mean it started out as this kind of joke yah know we’re going to be a here awhile and we might as well get the lend going. But now we actually have a couple of vegetables going and the compost is like looking great. So we’re like oh sweet.
SARAH SAUNDERS, ISLE OF PALMS NATIVE & HITCHHIKER
It gives us something to do yah know, at first we were just playing ping pong all day. So it’s made us naturally a bit more proactive.
GABE FOULKES, BRITISH COLUMBIA NATIVE & HITCHHIKER.
The couple’s original plan was to make it to South Africa by Christmas. While they say that timeline is no longer feasible, they are now trying to figure out their next move which could be in the U.K. or traveling throughout Asia.
To follow the Nomaddicts journey on WordPress, click here. To follow their Instagram, click here. To follow them on Facebook, click here.