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Kirsten wasn't feeling well on the last evening in Areco and by the morning her face was very swollen. We thought it was some kind of ear infection so we drove to a local hospital. We got in straight away and after a short examination the doctor said it wasn't and infection she had a virus and therefore antibiotics wouldn't touch it. She was prescribed 400mg tablets of Ibuprofen and told to take them 3 times a day. All of this was free even though we have health insurance.
We drove 332km to a campground in Azul where Kirsten could rest and give the tablets a chance to work. After two nights she was still swollen and in pain. So we went to the hospital in town where she had a blood test taken. The results came back later that afternoon and we had to go to another doctor in a private office for the diagnosis. It was still the same - viral infection. She was given a prescription for stronger Ibuprofen which cost $5. She was told it would take a week!
The poor thing looked like a chipmunk or a Bulgarian 300kg weightlifter!! At least the tablets helped with the pain. They also helped when she banged her head on the children's bed inside Winnietwo! We stayed for another night and then drove further south to Monte Hermoso where we also got one of our propane bottles filled.
We parked right on the beach for the night and then headed further south to Pedro Luro where we stayed at a municipal campground. We arrived just before sunset and there was no one there to pay. We had a quiet night but the following morning the place was full. There was something going on at the nearby church - maybe a wedding? When we left the campground a young woman asked us when we had arrived and when we told her, she let us drive through without having to pay. Very nice!
We spent the next three nights on the coast at Loberia and Balneario El Cóndor to see the largest colony of burrowing parrots. There were so many of them and they are so fast that it was difficult to take photos and videos of them.
There are hundreds of holes in the cliffs where their nests are and thousands of birds. We even got to see some of them fighting over a particular hole. Birds flew in and then got kicked out backwards!!! They were making a great deal of noise!
Burrowing Parrots in Balneario El Cóndor
