Hipolito

Last night was an especially hot and humid night, at least for this trip into the jungle. Basically that meant that I had quite the hard time sleeping, and it didn't help that my hair was wet when I went to sleep already, which added the the humidity underneath my mosquito net. I had to leave the comforts of my net once around 11:30PM to use the baño, but luckily other than that stayed within its protection. It may increase the heat and humidity, but at least I'm safe from bugs for the night (for the most part). In awakening I found all the lovely bites I presumably acquired on the hike yesterday. My thighs and the dorsal portion of my right hand were pretty well enjoyed by various insects. Itchy itchy itchy. I put some of my after-bite on them, which helped but smelled awful since it is 3.5% ammonia! 

We woke up around 6:30 for a 7AM breakfast and a 7:30AM departure for the community of Hipolito. The boat ride was about and hour and a half (from what people said it would take before we left, I didn't time either way, but definitely one of our longer rides) and had a few bits of eventfulness. The first was the discovery of "the" spider. I never saw it since I was up front, but apparently our boat had a huge meaty black spider in the back that was carrying eggs on its back. No one was super pleased. The second was the send off of one of our residents, who went back to the US today, which was planned. He did a mid river boat change where our boats diverted from the route to Nauta and went on his way back to Iquitos to journey home. After that we got to the community of Grau, where we hopped in vehicles thy were like a hay bale ride, but instead of a pickup the front was a motorcycle front. We piled in in groups of around six and were driven roughly a mile to Hipolito. 

Since all of the clinic stuff made the journey to Hipolito yesterday, clinic was set up and ready to go when we arrived. We got settled and got to business. Today I worked with one of the British medical students and an attending form Washington who did residency with the attending who brought us all down here. I saw a lot of general wounds and fungal infections today, but also saw the usual dehydration, MSK pain, and diagnosed a case of diabetes. We also helped a woman get out of a domestic violence situation today, which was good. Overall a good day. Lunch was chicken today with the same sides and apple and lemon juice, which was fabulous. I learned today that all of our juice out here has been made entirely by hand and from scratch without any juicers or anything. Nancy is amazing. We saw one or two patients after lunch and then headed back. 

Clinic in Hipolito

Hipolito

Hipolito

View out our clinic window

Before getting on the boats and while waiting for the rest of the group we climbed the tower in Grau to get a great view of the Amazon, both jungle and river. It was super nice, and also had a bathroom which was key before the long boat ride back. On the ride back I did some stats, chatted, and watched the scenery. Bird watching was attempted but I didn't see that much that was new. Mostly swallows, kingfishers, and ani birds. No more toucans yet, and still no wild macaw or sloth, jaguar, tapir, or anteater. Pretty sure I won't see most of those or any of those at all really, but I can always hope. 

The view from the tower was stunning

Amazon River in the background

When we got back I changed and hung out in the common area for a bit enjoying an Inca Cola, the kind of weird bubble-gummy drink that is growing on me. We did four presentations, then had dinner (beef, rice, yucca, potatoes, and beans) followed by one more lresentation. We are now all done with our talks, so tomorrow is supposedly movie night instead. After presentations we played a game of mafia, and I was killed first so I mostly watched. We hung out of a bit after and got to see a small caiman under one of the cabins, which was cool. Now it's bedtime and tomorrow is our last clinic day. It's amazing how fast it's gone, even in the sweltering heat!