Well, it’s been a while since we’ve written anything here and we know some of you out there have been holding your breath. I could give you some excuses about too much work or illness ….so I will. We’ve been busy. And sick. In fact, that’s what this blog entry is all about; our experiences with illness in the jungle.
Jess had been feeling mildly ill the Sunday before our most recently scheduled trip after getting back from the nearby reserve, Allpahauyo Mishana, for a birding trip with our visiting professor, Dr. Haven Wiley. However, she seemed to have recovered and we had made preparations to go to the village of San Antonio on a Friday morning for one of the final chambira weaving workshops. On Thursday night, unfortunately, while eating dinner with friends, Jess came down with a very bad fever and we decided that it would be better for her to stay in Iquitos than head 4 hours up the river. So early the next morning I headed off in the boat, waving goodbye to Jess and hoping that it was only a passing bug. She gave me a little bottle of Tylenol in case I started to get sick in the field.
My first afternoon in San Antonio passed without incident and our rapido (the fast boat) returned to Iquitos. Saturday’s chambira workshop was a lot of fun and I enjoyed learning how to weave baskets and trying to take detailed pictures of people’s hands while they did so. Unfortunately, towards the end of the afternoon as the workshop was trailing off and it was turning into community/soccer time in the village, we got word that a young boy had broken his leg playing on the field. I’ll spare you the details, except to tell you that there was a large group of people crowded around the window of the same hospital room where I had some stitches put in a couple months ago. After stabilizing his leg, the nurses decided that he needed to be sent to the hospital in Iquitos. So, at about 6 in the evening, with rainclouds approaching, they carried the boy down the rotten steps to the edge of the river and loaded him in an open canoe with an engine on the back for the 8 hour trip to the big city. I decided that the boy could probably use the Tylenol more than I could (I was feeling fine), so I offered it to the nurses who quickly accepted it.
The next day I woke up not having slept very well and got progressively sorer in my head, back, and throat. It became so painful that I had to leave the workshop and lay down for most of the afternoon. After a mild fever that evening, our boss, Didi got me to the posta for a few pills (I’m not entirely sure what they were). And I slowly began to improve, although I did have a runny nose and cough for the next several days. Unfortunately, I think I might have started an epidemic in the village with my infirmity. However, while I was suffering through my own illness, I found out that Jess was having even more fun in Iquitos…
(Jess): Malaria is not that bad.
Well, that’s all Jess has to say. Things are better now in Iquitos, but they seem to better equipped to treat Malaria than anywhere else in Peru. They are spraying for Dengue though…
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