| The first set of rapids was only a few hours upstream from Manapiare. Maria and I carried all of the gear around the rapids on a dry season pathway; while Marco, Alberto and Luis dragged the bongo up the rapids. The water was very powerful, and Luis, bracing himself against the pull of the boat, forgot to shuffle his feet along the bottom, allowing him to step directly on a sting ray. In the lower left, Marco is cleaning the puncture wound with a syringe of anesthetic fluid. Afterwards, the wound was treated with neosporin and that was the end of modern medicine. Luis refused the superglue patchcover, preferring instead to use the local procedure - cover the wound with a mixture of salt and tobacco and wrap the area in gauze. The combination of methods worked well, as the wound was healed in only a few days despite living in river water conditions. |
