COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hundreds of Americans remain stuck in Peru.
The country closed its borders March 16, placing everyone under mandatory quarantine.
Becky and James Patrick of Columbia were among them.
March 8, the Patricks landed in Peru for a two-week vacation to see all the sights and embrace the rich history.
March 15, they got a knock on the door saying they had just hours to leave the country. At midnight, Peru would enter a 15-day mandatory quarantine to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
"It was overwhelming to me," said James. "I really got a little desperate, didn't really believe this was happening."
All flights were booked, so the Patricks rescheduled their tickets to leave April 1. Soon, they would learn flight after flight was getting canceled.
"The president of Peru was going to make another address and close the borders even longer than March 31," said Becky. "So we were really frightened that if we didn't get out soon that we would be stuck there for another three weeks."
The couple immediately enrolled in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program where they let the embassies know their situation, and preregistered to be on a flight.
Wednesday night, they received an e-mail from the state department. Both got a seat on a flight back to the U.S.
"They've been successful, I think, of getting out almost 1,000 people," said Becky. "There's Americans who are still over there who weren't able to register quickly enough to get on the flight. The Peruvian government was making the American government go through a lot of hoops to get everyone on this flight."
Thursday, their excursion company Amazonia Expeditions drove them through military and police checkpoints to the Iquitos Airport where they would hop on a flight to Miami.
"When the flight crew came through the crowd, everybody gave them an ovation and were clapping for them," said James. "We kind of knew at that point that we were getting out of there."
At the Iquitos airport, James says everyone was being checked medically. In total, he says they went through about four different check points before getting on a plane.
"For me, seeing the night lights of Miami was just so heartwarming," said Becky. "'That's the United States!'"
After about a week of vacation, and 10 days in quarantine along the Amazon River, the Patricks landed in Charlotte Friday morning and drove straight home.
"Now we come back home and our Azaleas are out, the Maple trees in the back are fully-leaved, the flowers are out. It's really nice to see all that," said Becky.
"Glad to be home in Columbia," added James.
Becky sends a special thanks to the U.S. State Department, Senator Tim Scott's office, Senator Lindsey Graham's office, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's office and the U.S. Embassy in Lima for helping them get back home.