Day Five - Neuva Esperanza

Before heading to work Wednesday morning, Debby took a swing over the water. 

Headed to work.

 

Nueva Esperanza

Our clinic for the day, the village church.

People would wait in line for hours.

Debby and Harri prepping a dog.

Dr. B and Luis attempting to deworm a monkey.

At times we would be monitoring multiple patients at once.

Betty examining a dog.

The recovery area was often packed.

 After working all morning we headed to lunch.

After lunch we were treated to a tour of the village's hospital. The hospital provides services to 14 local villages.

Harri and Dr. B

The delivery room

The waiting room

 We had about an hour boat ride back to the lodge and as we were leaving Nueva Esperanza it started to rain. We covered the supplies and ourselves with tarps and continued to head home. 

Then the boat's motor died. Luckily we were near Buena Vista, the village we had worked in the previous day. After about fifteen minutes of waiting in the boat, Christian (our guide from the lodge) was able to borrow another motor.

Attempting to stay dry.

Back at the lodge it was once again time to clean all of the surgery packs.

Scrubbing drapes...

...and hanging them to dry.

 

Scrubbing instruments

Cutting cotton gauze squares.

Our "autoclave" to sterilize packs.

 After making all of the surgery packs for the next day, there was still some time to relax.

Our three doctors, Luis, Kendall, and Betty.

Our final dinner at the lodge.

Since it was our last night at the lodge our wonderful chef made us our very own dessert.

Flan with apple slices...unfortunately it does not photograph well.

Day Four - Buena Vista

The Tahuayo Lodge had three resident kitties. Two of them visited our room one night and slept in Debby's bed. Having them around was a nice reminder of home.

This kitten had recently been spayed by Amazon CARES.

Loading the boat for our second day of work.

Momma woodpecker and baby.

On our way to Buena Vista.

Betty and I

Buena Vista

Once again, we set up in a pavilion in the center of the village.

Anthony and Betty waiting for our first patients to arrive.

Our view from the prep area.

The surgery suite

The view behind surgery.

The villagers loved to watch every step of the process.

Our medication/anesthetic table.

Justin prepping a dog for surgery.

Recovering after surgery.

 

While the majority of animals we treated were cats and dogs, in Buena Vista the doctors also treated a few cows.

The kids of the village were very friendly and very curious. 

Some of the children learned how to use a stethoscope.

One of the villagers brought an agouti (a giant rodent) to visit.

It was a sweetie!

Napping in a canoe.

Headed back to our jungle home.

On the way home we spotted another sloth.

Back at the lodge we were greeted at the dock by a group of butterflies.

After cleaning surgery packs, it was time to relax. Some of us hopped in canoes and hit the river.

Bruno and I

Bruno was a much better paddler than me!

Canoe race! Bruno vs. Luis

Harri and Betty

Another race...Harri vs. Luis

A scary looking pig.

Of course Luis had to investigate.

Justin and Anthony fishing.

I eventually got the hang of it...as long as we were going with the current.

Back at the lodge we had dinner then sat around listening to Luis play the guitar and sing.