My Africa Story – 15

I was more tired than was warranted for the leisurely day of being driven through the scenic jungle, but still, I headed for bed before 8 pm. The next morning I could hardly get out of bed. My back ached and I had a raging fever. Not that we knew how high the fever might be, since there wasn’t a thermometer to be found anywhere.
Fred made several attempts to locate a local doctor, but to no avail. He finally settled for the local veterinarian he had been working with to quarantine the parrots. After a brief examination, the doctor pronounced I had a kidney infection. He had brought along a wide variety of pills after hearing Fred’s description of my symptoms. Unfortunately, his prescriptions were for horses, which were his typical client.
“No problem,” he smiled at me, “just break the pills in to quarters.
Only by that time, I was too weak to break anything. I took a cool bath to try and drop the feverish state, but it was no use. I seemed to be getting worse and ended up sleeping through the rest of the day.
But the real challenge was I was scheduled to leave for San Francisco in 4 days.