SICK at SEA
We have been back at the Summer Estate for almost three weeks. We have things up and running, and are mostly back to our normal routine. The hot tub is hot; the water filters replaced; the waterfall hooked up (most important!); and our pantry and freezer are being replenished. Mrs. T has been planting more things - spreading mulch, manure, and topsoil. And the whip-poor-will has returned with its incessant calling at dawn and dusk. (Listen here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/eastern_whip-poor-will/sounds) So all is well done here in the holler.
In our last posting we had traversed the Panama Canal and were heading up the west coast of Central America. I asked the muse if she was ready to post another story about some of our stops and she said, "No." She is 'storied-out'. Seems her creative fire is smoldering embers at the moment. Maybe it was the Tuesday snow we had, the grey skies, or the lack of green in our forest. In any case, she delegated the story authority to the editor. So I will cover a bit more of our cruise adventure.
Although, as you may recall, I thought the doctor from Colombia was well worth a visit, I really did not intend to be a patient. But as it happened I did get sick. I am almost positive it was an allergic reaction to something. I had a bit of congestion and some difficulty breathing. I took a generic antihistamine tab of diphenhydramine - you probably know it by its brand name starting with "B" - which we had brought with us. I thought we would possibly need it for a bug bite or sting encountered on one of the excursions, always a possibility for R who is a mosquito magnet.
The pill worked. I cleared right up and felt fine. Except, as normally happens with this drug, I was dried out like a prune. I thought it was a onetime thing and I did not need to do anything else. Wrong. The next day I was again congested, perhaps even worse, but I thought it would pass. But I got worse and worse to the point I had severe problems breathing. Obviously I had a significant bronchial problem. When I could not make it to the elevators to go to dinner, Mrs.T insisted I go see the medical staff. With all the stories about cruise ship illnesses it seemed the prudent thing to do.
The infirmary was actually around the corner from our stateroom. It was a very modern and clean facility, very similar to Clinica Santa Rosa. But I did not see an operating room. I wanted to take some pictures, at least of the staff, but Dr. Colombia would not let me; she did not want me to take pictures of the equipment. Hmm.
I was diagnosed with a case of acute bronchitis and some pneumonia. I underwent treatments similar to what Mrs.T had in January. But I was not in quite as severe a condition. I was given some antibiotics and needed to come back another day for some additional breathing treatments and followup. The very competent Dr. Colombia was assisted by as equally qualified Dr. Pretoria and a couple of nurses. The trip to the infirmary was definitely a good idea. I improved significantly and finished the cruise with few problems, although a bit weaker perhaps.
But we made a mistake. For this trip we had purchased insurance. We thought it was just for trip interruption or cancellation should we have a problem or the cruise line have some difficulties. As it turned out the insurance also covered illnesses. We wish we had remembered the insurance while we were on the ship. Instead we needed to file a claim when we returned. We hope we will be reimbursed for at least some of the cost of treatment. Oh well.
Once through the canal we made stops in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and then Mexico. We scheduled excursions in most of the stops. Rebecca took a suspended cable car excursion through the rainforest in Costa Rica and a visit to a botanical garden in Nicaragua. As you know, Mrs.T is the plant woman. And while I like flowers and plants very much, I took a pass on those two side trips - a bit too much plant overload for me. And the idea of being several hundred feet over the jungle canopy did not play well with my phobias about high places. I might have enjoyed the serpentarium she visited. Rebecca took a lot of photos in those two places. Here is a pared down group of them: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157644336963205/
But we took a trip together to a restored sugar cane plantation hacienda in Guatemala. (Cane is first refined to sugar, then molasses, and finally to rum where the real money is made.) As always, the rich people lived quite well. The house was large and well-furnished by the standards of those times. It had a well-tended garden with several species of flowers and plants that interested R. Now it is being restored to its former glory by a doctor who lives in the capital. He feels it is important to preserve the history of the country.
Here are some pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157644336324594/
Our guide was quite good and knowledgeable. It was a bit of a bus ride to the site but that provided one of the highlights: We saw a couple of active volcanoes, one of which was smoking at the time. Another excursion had offered a trip up to the top of one of them. But as it was listed as a strenuous five-hour trek, we both decided that we could skip that. So being able to actually see the same volcano, albeit from a distance, was a nice bonus. Our bus driver is to be given extra kudos for being able to back up a narrow alley to the hacienda entrance.
Finally we got close to home when we anchored at Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa is southern Mexico. We sometimes refer to this as the 'real' Ixtapa because this is the one most tourists think about. There are literally hundreds of towns named Ixtapa throughout Mexico; we even have one near Bucerias. It is like the name Springfield in the US. But the Ixtapa in southern Mexico was designed from the ground - or rather beach - up to be a resort town to bring in some extra pesos to this part of the country.
I passed on a chance to visit another botanical garden. Rebecca actually hired a taxi to drive her to an archeological site and the botanical garden, both of which were somewhat out of town. Although the beach was busy, the pyramid and museum were essentially empty. Mrs.T has a personally guided tour by the people responsible for the area. They were hoping to get more funding to do additional digging and restorations. The garden was closed when she arrived although someone at dinner said they had gone there earlier in the day.
Here are some of R's pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157644325771921/
Next stop was home for a couple of weeks before our trip north. Now we are hoping spring will finally arrive.
Warmth to all of you,
Dan and Rebecca
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