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We left Cuyobeno and drove 20km to Tarapoa. Amazingly we actually found someone who knew about computers in the small village. The woman at an internet café knew her stuff. She tried to get our laptop started and to put a new Windows 7 on but nothing worked. The internal harddrive was totaly shot! Damn! She recommended to either put a new harddrive in or get a new laptop. She told us to go to Quito or Guayaquil to one of the large computer chains because, apparently, we'll probably get knock off computers from Lago Agrio that come from Colombia and don't work properly!!
At least we could get internet again after being offline for a few days and then continued west. We stopped for coffee at a river ferry en route then drove through heavy rain to Lago Agrio. After shopping and getting KFC (too hot to cook! Well, that's our excuse!) we drove back to Balneario El Eno for the night.
We headed south the next day, got our squeaking front right brake sorted out at a small roadside mechanic in Loreto and then drove back to Aguaventura for the night. We put on our bathing stuff and went to the Jaguar Falls for a swim. The water level was a lot higher and the waterfall was a lot stronger than when we were here 5 days ago. There must have been a lot of rain here.
After showers we went to the restaurant for a meal. I had the chicken with boiled potatoes and salad again but Kirsten just wanted the potatoes with a salad. We also got mora juice. After the meal Alexandria, the owner, pointed out the full moon and Kirsten went back to our motorhome to fetch her camera and take photos. There wasn't a problem until she walked back to the restaurant - the dogs just saw someone approaching on foot and raced towards her, barking.
Alexandria and I didn't think anything of it because the dogs bark at everything that approaches, and we both looked at the moon again. Then we heard Kirsten scream!! I raced towards her. Two of the dogs had attacked her, the other three had just run passed her barking. She'd only just managed to raise her right arm in time otherwise the one dog would have got her throat!! The other had jumped at her and scratched her leg just below her knee. But her right arm had two large, bleeding holes!!
I shouted at the dogs to get them away and helped her back into the light of the restaurant to sit down. She had two very deep wounds and was in shock. Alexandria boiled some water, added salt, and cleaned the wounds. I fetched our first aid kit but it was clear that she needed stitches. We asked José if there was a hospital nearby. Yes - in Loreto and I was about to ask him if he could phone a taxi for us but Kirsten asked first. I was impressed that she had the presence of mind to do that despite being in a great deal of pain.
José came with us to the hospital where Kirsten had to have 5 stitches, 3 in one wound and two in the other. The doctor asked if the dog was a stray. José told him he was the dogs owner and the dog had had all its vaccinations. Kirsten wanted me to video everything which is normally not allowed but I was given permission on this occasion. It wasn't easy to film but I think it helped Kirsten to concentrate on being filmed rather than on the anaesthetic injections directly into her wounds and the cleaning process! She was very brave!
I had all our paperwork with us - vaccine passes, insurance, passports, but we only needed her passport and the treatment was free. It only took 50 minutes including a 10 minute wait. Then we needed to get to a pharmacist. They close at 10pm and we only just got there in time. The shutters were already partly closed! José raced in and fetched Kirsten's antibiotics plus ibuprofen for the pain and swelling. He insisted on paying so we have no idea how much pills cost here. I paid for the taxi though which was only $4 each way.
I had to shoo the dogs away again when we got back because they were sniffing the blood on Kirsten's leg! At least the really bad one who'd gone for her throat had been tied up for the night. Kirsten managed to take her tablets and drink a cup of tea but, needless to say, it was a restless night.
The next morning after breakfast, Kirsten went out to get our bathing stuff that we'd hung outside. Almost immediately we heard the dogs barking as they approached and she only just managed to jump back inside before they got there!! In the UK, the two dogs who had attacked and injured her would have been put down straight away but, clearly, Ecuador has different rules. Having said that, José and Alexandria, despite being really nice people, should have kept the dogs tied up, at least until we had left!
We drove to the hospital in Loreto so Kirsten could get her tetanus injection. Her last one was 11 years ago and they only last for 10 years. But the nurse told her they don't have enough for foreigners and she should get it in Germany!!! Well, of course, that's not possible for us so she had to go back to the emergency department. One of the doctors there changed her dressing whilst she told him that she'd been refused a tetanus. He saw how bad her bites were, took her back to the vaccine centre and gave her the injection himself!
She was advised to buy "blue soap" to wash and clean her wounds every day and to keep them dry - not easy in the Amazon region! Blue soap is cheap but is obviously used for washing clothes!! Very odd! We bought it but ended up not using it at all!
After another quick stop at the mechanic to get rid of a grating noise in the same brake, we drove back up into the hills to a camping area called Mirador Natural Grand Cañon del Huataraco that we had checked out a week ago. We got electricity, a cold shower and toilets, free wifi that didn't work on the first day due to work being carried out on the system, plus a Mirador for views across the valley all for $5 a night. Melissa, the owner, is also really nice. The biggest plus ... no dogs!!! We stayed for 8 nights!! We needed to take time out so that Kirsten's wounds could heal. I changed her bandages a couple of times and we managed to keep the wounds dry.
The weather wasn't too bad but we still had a couple of rainy days. The best thing was that we were up at almost 1,000 metres above sea level so it was pleasantly cool. We managed to dodge the rain and go for a number of walks. On one, we saw an ugly millipede and a bright green snake that seemed to stop mid air as it was going from a branch to cross in front of us on the path. It just stayed there, which was perfect for photos but it was blocking our path. So we turned around. We also walked along the road but Kirsten slipped on a slanted gully and hurt her ankle. She wasn't having the best of luck!
We chose a good weather day to go on a long walk to a waterfall at the bottom of the valley. There was a 280m height difference and it took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to get down to the river. There were slippery rocks at the end and we took off our boots to wade in the water but couldn't see the waterfall! We saw it as we started back! We'd obviously missed the view from our side of the river! We needn't have taken off our boots at all!
It only took 1 hour 20 minutes on the way back up the steep hill which was 20 minutes faster than on the way down and we certainly needed our sticks. Once we got back I boiled some water for a hot shower at the side of our motorhome and we used our towels as a shower curtain!
We could also do our laundry using their washing machine for free, we planned the next part of our route and Russia invaded Ukraine! Shockingly unbelievable!
After a week at this beautiful camping area it was time to leave but ... it was absolutely bucketing down with rain. Visibility was zero due to thick fog and/or low cloud. Melissa said the Gods didn't want us to leave!! So we stayed an extra day. But ... we were struggling with food. We had already been stretching our fruit and having half an apple a day and half a banana with 5 blueberries!! For our final evening meal we had rice with a tomato, a bit of cabbage and a tin of corn. It was surprisingly good!!
We'd planned to leave before Kirsten's birthday so we could get her stitches removed but, because we stayed an extra night, it meant we actually left on her birthday. All she got for breakfast was oats and milk!! We'd run out of fruit! We said a big thankyou to Melissa and left at 11am in the clouds and then hit heavy rain. It was miserable driving weather - I could hardly see the potholes! We stopped for coffees at a petrol station and bought some biscuits to go with it. Luckily there was a far better road south to Tena along the valley and the weather cleared up.
We were in Tena 20 years ago but didn't recignise it at all. Back then it was just a small village but now it was a bustling market town. At least there was a supermarket for supplies and we stocked up with fruit and veg at the market. Then our GPS took us on the wrong road to the hostal we'd chosen to check out and we ended up on an extremely bad gravel road. Kirsten went out on foot to find the right place which was on a parallel road!
We parked up, plugged in and went to the hospital to get Kirsten's stitches removed. Not possible because we were too late. We'd have to return tomorrow. Not a very good birthday present! There was some kind of festival going on where people were throwing eggs at each other and spraying foam. Somehow we managed to avoid getting hit but the pavement was covered in smashed eggs and foam!! There must have been thousands of eggs wasted! At least we found a nice riverside cafe away from all the noise of the town for hamburgers and fresh juice for the birthday girl.
Unfortunately it seemed fitting that barking dogs and fighting cats kept us awake for most of the night. Maybe we can do a better job of celebrating her birthday next year!
