Another day in the sweaty Amazon jungle – nothing changed there then!! It’s finally here, my sixtyth birthday! 🎉🎂🎁🎈Everyone is making such a big deal about it which is very kind but to be honest I’d rather just let it come and go quietly.

Today I was on Monkey tour which is one I hate. This is where I was bitten by the spider monkeys and I hate it. Everyone else is such a pleasure to be with – the wee cute tamarin monkey in the cage with the Night monkey,

The Saki monkeys that are so timid and afraid of the bullies who lurk outside their cage. It takes them a wee while to pluck up the courage to leave their enclosure, fonzo – the capabarra who just wanders round his enclosure looking for shade,

Grety – the ocelot who was once someone’s pet but was too wild to be kept

and the aviary full of over a hundred little parrots that were rescued from the animals smugglers who had squashed over 280 of them into toilet rolls inside a suitcase. They are understandably skittish!

Every day I go out to clear their cages I get bitten by so many insects. I have huge lumps all over my body which are so intensely itchy and I try so hard not to scratch but it’s almost impossible.

I have been doing hard physical work now for 2 whole weeks I am exhausted. The dysenteric diarrhoea continues and bleeds me dry of any energy that I might have.

Tomorrow I am on Clinic duties. There are no animals to be looked after in there so who knows what I’m in for.

I’ve decided to cut short my trip here and head back to Lima but first I have to contact Rachel to ask he to organise it from the UK. My next day off it Thursday so it going to be a long wait.

Facing food makes me boak so scrambled egg on toasted bread was fine tonight. Sophie and Anna made me a lovely banana birthday cake and all the kids sang happy birthday – how sweet

15th Oct

Just when I thought my diarrhoea couldn’t get any worse, last night was completey horrific. I had to go to the toilet in the volve kitchen in the middle of the night in case I woke up any of the sleeping volunteers – I’ll spare you the details and leave it to the imagination. The cramps in my stomach are agonising and now, to top it off, I feel nauseous and every time I even have a nano passing thought of food, I want to throw up 🤮

On my return back to the Volvo bedroom, I met a wee night monkey out on the prowl, he/she followed me all the way back to the Volvo house

In the morning I quickly returned to the Volvo kitchen for some privacy, and decided not to go to work in the clinic today – there was nothing in there anyway so no-one had to do my job.

I have no charge left on any of my devices now. The solar panel battery pack is a great idea but I can’t put it out in the sun because the monkeys would steal it in a heart beat and no sunlight comes into the buildings because of the way they are constructed – inside is always in constant shade – which sounds nice and cool but believe me, it ain’t.

Sophie has gone to Curimana and I have asked her to charge my battery pack at the Internet cafe – always seems very posh and modern when I say that but in fact it’s just a hut with electricity but never the less, it is a lifeline to the outside world.

Well I just couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t go to work. I have zero energy and I still feel nauseous.

When I was in bed I saw a long planet book on the shelf so I got up, dressed and sat at the wee desk in the bedroom and as I watched the insects, birds and monkeys from behind my meshed window I made a plan to go to lake Titicaca.

Lovely wee Dylan came with some soup at lunch time and I ate it with my chewed up papaya seeds 🤢.

I ate more soup and bread for dinner and straight back to bed.

My phone has only charged 19% so it won’t be long before it dies. I’m so looking forward to phoning home on Thursday in Curimana. It won’t be a pleasurable journey if this diarrhoea doesn’t stop….I still have that translated sentence on my phone “Yo tengo que ir al baño” – I need to go to the toilet!

It’s been so hot and sticky today – no breeze – no nothing and no photos either, I didn’t leave my room except for multiple visits to this wee cubicle – I’ve seen the inside of this room more than anywhere else in my time in Esperanza Verde – at least I have something nice to look at!

The pillow on this bed is so hard, stinky and lumpy that I have had to put it inside a fleece and wrap it in a thin blanket!!

Sophie has just let out a scream, she has just found a cockroach her bed – my mozzy net is getting tucked in extra tight tonight 😱😱😱🦟🐜🦗

I’ll put my earphones in and drift off to sleep listening to my wonderful comforting playlist.

Nite

😘