July 2007, Trip to the Waterfalls;Travelling by Gua-gua we went to the very popular Waterfalls approximately 30 minutes from Luperon. There are 27 in total however, we decide to do the first seven which will take us three hours.
We have a beautiful hike into the hills first crossing rivers. Then we are helped by our guides with the actual climb up the waterfalls..One by one the guides ensure we have good footing and pull us up each waterfall.We are amazed with their physical strength. One guide carries four year old Caitlyn around his neck. She does a fabulous job holding on. Of coarse "what goes up, must come down" and this gets our adrenaline going. We slide down winding rock faces,
disappearing into the pools below. We are to lie down, arms crossed at our chests---Well, I am sure I am doing as I am told but at one of the falls I am tossed onto my side smashing my elbow into the rock face. At the 5th waterfall we have to jump 25 feet into the pool below. I am not a "happy camper". With much encouragement from Randy and the guides I finally take the plunge. The water is cold but refreshing.
Back at the entrance we enjoy a traditional Dominican lunch along with Pina Colada and Presidentes Grande.
Thurs. July 26th.
Evelyn, Virginia and I have hired Steve from STEVE’S PLACE to take us on a provisioning rip to Puerto Plata. We left at 0700 hrs. and were back before noon. As we were leaving Puerto Plata Steve got pulled over by two policemen. They said his vehicle decals were out of date. Phoning one of his wife’s relatives to help him out, (Steve is American ,Annie is Dominican). He explained we had a van full of food that would spoil but the police didn’t care and wanted to put him in jail. After the police communicated with the “relative” Steve managed to get out of his traffic infraction . With a handshake; which held 500pesos for the policemen. (approx. $15US) we were on our way and told to get back onto the main road as quickly as possible and get out of Puerto Plata.
Evelyn, Virginia and I have hired Steve from STEVE’S PLACE to take us on a provisioning rip to Puerto Plata. We left at 0700 hrs. and were back before noon. As we were leaving Puerto Plata Steve got pulled over by two policemen. They said his vehicle decals were out of date. Phoning one of his wife’s relatives to help him out, (Steve is American ,Annie is Dominican). He explained we had a van full of food that would spoil but the police didn’t care and wanted to put him in jail. After the police communicated with the “relative” Steve managed to get out of his traffic infraction . With a handshake; which held 500pesos for the policemen. (approx. $15US) we were on our way and told to get back onto the main road as quickly as possible and get out of Puerto Plata.
July 27th. Happy 5th Birthday to Caitlyn
Monday,July 30th.
We spent two and a half hours at the hospital to-day. Randy thought he would scrape the hull again. We joked prior to him going into the water because he put our very sharp filet knife in his shorts pocket “just in case” he needed to protect himself. I went back down below as I had started a major cleaning (thinking about you again Joy). Not five minutes later Randy was back on board rinsing his back with fresh water. He said he was really itchy and had a burning sensation on his back. Within minutes his back and along the backside of his left arm was a mass of bubbles. He said he initially thought it was jelly fish but there were no tentacles to remove. We tried our pouches of anti-sting for jelly fish, anti-histamines, and an anti-sting spray to no avail. Within half an hour he started to have tightness in his chest and started looking quite grey. I said we had to get him off the boat while I could still move him. At the hospital we had to wait for what seemed an eternity; probably a good hour. While waiting to see a doctor one man ( a hired painter) wanted to know what was wrong and wanted to see Rand’s back. He seemed to know exactly what it was and told Randy to take off his shirt immediately as it was only making it worse. He said he was learning English right now and he in fact spoke quite well. When Randy was finally put into a cubicle this man constantly returned to see how Randy was doing and then he would communicate with the doctor on our behalf. The doctor ordered three different shots for Randy and Randy was not to move from the “emergency” bed. Now you have to understand the beds are not anything like at home. The bed was padded but the sheet is not changed between patients. People sit on them, lay on them. The floors are dirty and the garbage can, which is like our outside large cans has no lid. If the nurses miss their throw into the can they just leave the garbage on the floor. At one point Randy thought he was going to be sick and they said just to throw up into the can. Yuck!! Trust me you don’t even want to touch the sides of the can.
Randy seemed to not be feeling any better. He continued to have tightness in his chest and incredible pain in his lower right back area. The doctor decided to give him one more shot. At this point the doctor decided to write out four prescriptions. A pain killer, allergy medicine, hidrocortisona crème, and Sona-B-3. The Sona B-3 is a intra-muscular shot that has Dexametasona?? plus Vit B1, B6 & B12 in it. The total cost 200 pesos (around $8). We also again left a “gift” with the doctor.
Randy tried to sleep and rest for the remainder of the day. By early evening he said he was starting to feel hungry which I felt was a good sign.
The next day we pulled up the wire we have hanging over the side of the boat that has a zinc attached to it and sure enough it too is covered in flora. We think Randy had rubbed his back along this flora.
Tues. July 31st.
Randy is already feeling much better and we cannot help but be impressed with the medical team.
We spent two and a half hours at the hospital to-day. Randy thought he would scrape the hull again. We joked prior to him going into the water because he put our very sharp filet knife in his shorts pocket “just in case” he needed to protect himself. I went back down below as I had started a major cleaning (thinking about you again Joy). Not five minutes later Randy was back on board rinsing his back with fresh water. He said he was really itchy and had a burning sensation on his back. Within minutes his back and along the backside of his left arm was a mass of bubbles. He said he initially thought it was jelly fish but there were no tentacles to remove. We tried our pouches of anti-sting for jelly fish, anti-histamines, and an anti-sting spray to no avail. Within half an hour he started to have tightness in his chest and started looking quite grey. I said we had to get him off the boat while I could still move him. At the hospital we had to wait for what seemed an eternity; probably a good hour. While waiting to see a doctor one man ( a hired painter) wanted to know what was wrong and wanted to see Rand’s back. He seemed to know exactly what it was and told Randy to take off his shirt immediately as it was only making it worse. He said he was learning English right now and he in fact spoke quite well. When Randy was finally put into a cubicle this man constantly returned to see how Randy was doing and then he would communicate with the doctor on our behalf. The doctor ordered three different shots for Randy and Randy was not to move from the “emergency” bed. Now you have to understand the beds are not anything like at home. The bed was padded but the sheet is not changed between patients. People sit on them, lay on them. The floors are dirty and the garbage can, which is like our outside large cans has no lid. If the nurses miss their throw into the can they just leave the garbage on the floor. At one point Randy thought he was going to be sick and they said just to throw up into the can. Yuck!! Trust me you don’t even want to touch the sides of the can.
Randy seemed to not be feeling any better. He continued to have tightness in his chest and incredible pain in his lower right back area. The doctor decided to give him one more shot. At this point the doctor decided to write out four prescriptions. A pain killer, allergy medicine, hidrocortisona crème, and Sona-B-3. The Sona B-3 is a intra-muscular shot that has Dexametasona?? plus Vit B1, B6 & B12 in it. The total cost 200 pesos (around $8). We also again left a “gift” with the doctor.
Randy tried to sleep and rest for the remainder of the day. By early evening he said he was starting to feel hungry which I felt was a good sign.
The next day we pulled up the wire we have hanging over the side of the boat that has a zinc attached to it and sure enough it too is covered in flora. We think Randy had rubbed his back along this flora.
Tues. July 31st.
Randy is already feeling much better and we cannot help but be impressed with the medical team.
No comments:
Post a Comment