Monday, March 24, 2008
The Doctor Is In: Sunday, New Years Eve, 2006
This morning it is clear that Will needs medical attention: his ear is bright red and swollen and there are red lines radiating from a central site on his ear that are clearly infected. The proprietor at Dongola Ranch gave us directions to the private clinic in Messina (Musina) which we found without too much difficulty. We are amazed and grateful to find the clinic open on a Sunday and a holiday. The staff fit us into the existing appointment schedule and after a wait of only 30 to 40 minutes; Will is examined by the doctor. A fellow patient in the waiting room helpfully made his own diagnosis: a bite by a poisonous spider. The doctor confirms this (the patient had been bitten on his leg by a violin spider and had the scar to prove it). The doctor spent some time with Will chatting about the bite and his Peace Corps experience. Armed with the doctor's prescriptions, we waited in the office for the results of some tests (to rule out tick bite fever and to meet Will's request for a checkup on his status vis a vis malaria) all of which come back very quickly. After the visit to the pharmacy in the shopping center we total up the costs for the visit, testing, and three prescriptions -- 250 Rand or about USD $35.00
The low cost is just as amazing to us as finding the so-called private clinic open: this would have been a very expensive visit to the doctor in the U. S. This diagnosis also cleared up the mystery of what was ailing Will -- it was clear that the bite happened in Selebi-Phikwe in Botswana two days before.
After stocking up with food at the SPAR in Messina and buying diesel fuel for the truck, we set out again for the Punda Maria Rest Camp via R525 and the Parfuri Gate at the northern end of Kruger National Park.
(On the R525 heading east from Messina toward the Parfuri Gate, northernmost entrance to Kruger National Park)
We arrived at the gate and registered -- and still were left with plenty of time to observe the speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour (averaging 25 kph) and reach the gate of the rest camp by dark before the gates to the camp would close. We saw game almost immediately: here waterbucks feeding alongside a river bank, there Cape Buffaloes grazing along the road.
(Bridge on the H1-9 crossing the Luvuvhu River on the way south to Punda Maria Rest Camp, Kruger National Park -- waterbucks feeding on the banks)
(Close up of a waterbuck feeding on the bank of the Luvuvhu River, H1-9 bridge in Kruger National Park heading south to Punda Maria Rest Camp)
( A Cape Buffalo grazing near H1-8 inside Kruger National Park on the way to Punda Maria Rest Camp)
Punda Maria lived up to its reputation -- retaining an uncrowded feel even now and fully booked at the height of the holiday season. We had reserved a luxury chalet to celebrate the New Year and it was very deluxe, especially after camping.
We put together a meal and celebrated New Years Eve by watching the eccentric and ridiculous R. Kelly video "Trapped in the Closet" on South African television. Being very tired from a long day, none of us made it to midnight but we all spent some time wondering about what South Africans might think of life in the U. S. after watching this epic.
This morning it is clear that Will needs medical attention: his ear is bright red and swollen and there are red lines radiating from a central site on his ear that are clearly infected. The proprietor at Dongola Ranch gave us directions to the private clinic in Messina (Musina) which we found without too much difficulty. We are amazed and grateful to find the clinic open on a Sunday and a holiday. The staff fit us into the existing appointment schedule and after a wait of only 30 to 40 minutes; Will is examined by the doctor. A fellow patient in the waiting room helpfully made his own diagnosis: a bite by a poisonous spider. The doctor confirms this (the patient had been bitten on his leg by a violin spider and had the scar to prove it). The doctor spent some time with Will chatting about the bite and his Peace Corps experience. Armed with the doctor's prescriptions, we waited in the office for the results of some tests (to rule out tick bite fever and to meet Will's request for a checkup on his status vis a vis malaria) all of which come back very quickly. After the visit to the pharmacy in the shopping center we total up the costs for the visit, testing, and three prescriptions -- 250 Rand or about USD $35.00
The low cost is just as amazing to us as finding the so-called private clinic open: this would have been a very expensive visit to the doctor in the U. S. This diagnosis also cleared up the mystery of what was ailing Will -- it was clear that the bite happened in Selebi-Phikwe in Botswana two days before.
After stocking up with food at the SPAR in Messina and buying diesel fuel for the truck, we set out again for the Punda Maria Rest Camp via R525 and the Parfuri Gate at the northern end of Kruger National Park.
(On the R525 heading east from Messina toward the Parfuri Gate, northernmost entrance to Kruger National Park)
We arrived at the gate and registered -- and still were left with plenty of time to observe the speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour (averaging 25 kph) and reach the gate of the rest camp by dark before the gates to the camp would close. We saw game almost immediately: here waterbucks feeding alongside a river bank, there Cape Buffaloes grazing along the road.
(Bridge on the H1-9 crossing the Luvuvhu River on the way south to Punda Maria Rest Camp, Kruger National Park -- waterbucks feeding on the banks)
(Close up of a waterbuck feeding on the bank of the Luvuvhu River, H1-9 bridge in Kruger National Park heading south to Punda Maria Rest Camp)
( A Cape Buffalo grazing near H1-8 inside Kruger National Park on the way to Punda Maria Rest Camp)
Punda Maria lived up to its reputation -- retaining an uncrowded feel even now and fully booked at the height of the holiday season. We had reserved a luxury chalet to celebrate the New Year and it was very deluxe, especially after camping.
We put together a meal and celebrated New Years Eve by watching the eccentric and ridiculous R. Kelly video "Trapped in the Closet" on South African television. Being very tired from a long day, none of us made it to midnight but we all spent some time wondering about what South Africans might think of life in the U. S. after watching this epic.
Labels: Dongola Ranch, Kruger National Park, Messina (Musina), Parfuri Gate, Punda Maria Rest Camp
¶ 12:08 PM
