Melaku

After this morning I might develop a case of ornithophobia! I was attacked by the family's parrot. I only said hello to him!


Fortunately, the Portuguese man Nuno is an orthopedic surgeon and advised me to take an antibiotic and buy a surgical wash. The pharmacy said I couldn't get a prescription without a local doctor but the female deferred to the male and he let Nuno have it. The power of men!

We had a great breakfast of pancakes, eggs, gallo pinto (rice & beans), and fried plantains with sour cream (made by Mennonites or did she mean Quakers?). We sat around until the van came to pick us up at 11:00. I liked the driver, Sandro.

We went to the Melaku (indigenous people) community. They gave us lunch and then a lesson in herbal medicine. We chewed a bit of leaf that had an anesthetic effect. He claimed to have cured one person of Covid and that neither he nor hardly any Maleku people got Covid.

photo by Werner Eberle

photo by Werner Eberle
Then we were supposed to paint some gourds but the brushes were in awful condition and I found it very frustrating.  


My awful creation after 15 minutes 


So I went for a little walk and quickly got depressed by the miserable looking horses and the dog, tied up, the general state of the houses, most everything in disrepair and shabby, garbage around, the bathroom where we ate was sad, too!


Finally, we left that dismal place! 

We went to Cataratas Río Celeste Hotel which is quite nice. Nuno helped me put on the bandage and we went to dinner. 

Too bad there is a smoker in our group. Trying to do yoga this morning, smelling her nearby, was not fun.

But dinner went well. I finally felt a part of the group. I saw a nice poster on the wall.
          Of course,  I took a picture.  







Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2023 at 8:33 PM

    Where are you now? And how is the trip progressing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2023 at 9:49 AM

    In Río Celeste área for another day, tomorrow for 2 nights in La Fortuna.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2023 at 1:07 PM

    Mixed emotions, still you seem to be having a very authentic experience.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2023 at 11:30 AM

    That poor dog! I hope the horse isn’t as thin. I can’t help, but think that the condition of the animal reflects hardships that the people there go through as well. Maybe when you get home, you can mail them some good paint brushes at least.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 2 of hiking trip

Image
Today we went on a long hike in the ancient woods of Glen Finglas with views of Loch Venacher. We expected rain so all of wore rain pants but the rain didn't come until late afternoon.  We walked for less than an hour in Callandar. I bought hand cream at a pharmacy and tea at a café.  Then we walked to Achray Farm serving homemade ice cream and coffee. There were many goats on this woman's farm but only one let us get close to her. I had lavender & chocolate ice cream. The owner is a retired clinical psychologist! We then went to Doune Castle,  made famous by Outlander and Monty Python,  but we were disappointed to hear they were closed for the day. We walked around the castle and the class clown knocked on the main door and almost fell down when a workman came out.  Group pic without Pauline and almost without me: Me, Gaelle, Stephanie (U.S.), Tess (Australia), Alistair (England), Stefan (Netherlands), Tate (Tess' brother, Australia)
Read more

First impressions

Image
I am here in Edinburgh as of an hour ago but I am exhausted,  having hardly slept in my aisle seat.  First impressions of this busy neighborhood near Sue from 5W: it's windy, cloudy, people are pretty friendly, don't order Mexican food (huevos rancheros at Heathrow was weird, with raw red onion), the Airlink was easy and luggage racks plentiful (versus our light rail that has space for 2 suitcases). There was a plastic container with cherry pits but generally I haven't seen much litter or graffiti after my half hour bus ride! I was worried because I hadn't made proper arrangements with Sue but then she emailed me (and hadn't seen my text nor email a half hour before I got hers!). I was even looking at cheap hotels. My eyes hurt and I'm wearing my glasses.
Read more

Money, money, money!

Image
My head is spinning at how expensive everything is in Scotland (okay, I'm not there yet and buses and museums will probably be very cheap)! A private room in a "youth" hostel is $75/night! A hotel room is costing me $161 to $175! Divided by 2 people is not bad but for a solo traveler, it is very costly indeed.  Maybe I won't be eating out more than once every two or three days! A scone and tea for dinner? But it's not just me experiencing the solo traveler syndrome! "Plunging Dollar Leaves American Travelers with Less Buying Power This Summer" https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/us-dollar-value-spending-power-travel-aeae581a
Read more