A prick in the arm

Vaccinations.
Depending on who you listen to, the necessary requirements vary quite drastically.
Well this is how it went;
Visit to my local surgery to explain to the Practice Nurse what my plans were.
After spending sometime trying to locate the Philippines on the computer, I had too explain to her that it didn't start with F.
We first discussed what vaccinations I'd had as a child, to which I answered 'All of them', plus boosters after leaving school and yes I'd had mumps.
I was then given a Typhoid injection, I was also asked about Hepatitis A, which I said I'd had on a previous trip out to Costa Rica in 1999 and I had not had a further booster since.
Because of the length of time that had passed it was recommended that I started the treatment for it again, but she had given her last shot to somebody earlier that day. So another appointment was booked for the following week.
I mentioned 'Japanese Encephalitis', 'Oh yeah you might need that, but we don't do that here'.
So a day or two later I was off on the train to the drop-in centre at the Liverpool Tropical School of Medicine'.
After arriving and signing in, I just had a little 4 hour wait to be seen.
Once my name was called I followed the nurse into a private consultation room, walking rather awkwardly because both my legs had lost their circulation.
I explained to the nurse what my proposed visiting plans were and reminded her that they began with Ph, can't be too careful can you....
I told her of what I'd already had and was planning to have at my local surgery.
She seemed quite happy with that, so I hit her with the old 'Japanese Encephalitis' humdinger,
It's normally for people spending more than a month in the area and spending a lot of time in Paddy Fields. Well I knew that was were the Cobra's were likely to be lurking.
Now here comes the maths part;
If a person was bitten by a mosquito and it happened to be carrying the virus, you had a 1:250 chance of exhibiting some ill effects, which was usually a mild feeling of being unwell. Though 1% of the 1 in 250 could die. So, I think that's a 1:25000 chance of death if the mosquito is a proper little twat.
Oh, did I mention it was £200 a pop. So you won't be too surprised that I left it, just as well when we then got onto Rabies, (I never thought Jewish Priests would be an issue).
'Are you likely to be bitten or licked on broken skin by a dog'?
'Well, you can never say never can you'.
'What about bats then'?
'Do people often get licked by bats?
I will however be exploring an underground river system of caves in search of the world famous Licking Bats'.
'You can get Rabies off bat urine!'
'I think I'd better sign up for it then'
So I had the vaccination there and then and was then told I needed another injection the following week, followed by another 2 weeks after that. 'That will be £198 please, you can pay the receptionist when you book your next appointment, Thank you'.

1st Trip booked

OK, the initial results from the Bird Fair didn't look too promising.

Well that's just first impressions and they can be misleading especially once you get to know me.
So much so, that I was quite taken by a proposed trip organised by Greig Smith Travels to the island of Palawan in the Philippines.
This was to be lead by well known TV naturalist and presenter Nigel Marven.
I've seen a lot of his work on telly including series on dinosaurs and running around after venomous snakes, for some unknown reason I didn't let that put me off.
It was to be for 2 weeks starting on the 16th October this year, not too long to wait aye!
Some of the proposed highlights included;
Searching for Philippine cobra's (can't wait for this one).
Swimming with Whale Sharks, this will be a shock, I wonder if they have ever swam with anything so big.
Searching for Tarsiers, a small fury mammal about the size of my hand, which looks something like a Bush Baby with its huge eyes.
A night out looking for Fire Fly's, should hopefully be illuminating.
Spending a couple of days and nights with the local Batak tribe learning how they hunt, I can see me going hungry.
Even though it sounds very adventurous and out there 'roughing it', I've been assured that the accommodation is all 5 star. I hope they're aren't the ones I can see through the ceiling!
Anyway I've looked on Youtube and it really looks a super place.

I suppose I'm going to need some vaccinations ...............

Results of the 2016 Birdfair visit.

After eagerly waiting over the last few months, it was a busy day and no mistake.

Weather was superb which made the early start all that much easier.

What was I actually looking for?

1) Details on trips to the Antarctic for next year with Sean.

2) Details of any other trips, anywhere in the world, including anything for this year, if it ticked all the right boxes.

3) A look around the art marquee, it's always a hi-light and you never know.

1) This was never going to be easy;

     Trying to arrange it, so that Sean can take time away from work, duration as well as dates.

     I am really interested in staying on in Tierra del Fuego for a couple of days; will Sean be able to join me?

      Picking the right option, which company to go with and last but certainly not least the COST.

      Disappointed with a lot of the sales pitches, which ranged from have a look in our brochure or on the website to absolute no interest?

      Despite that we managed to get a couple of responses, Wildfoot and possibly G adventures, watch this space.

2)  This was at times, just as hard as the Antarctic, mainly because Sean had no interest in it which is understandable.

      Again I was greeted by a lot of apathy.

      Had conversations with representatives from Sri Lanka, Australia, the Solomon Islands and South Africa, all sounded very nice but nothing said WOW.

3)   I always make a bee-line for the Chris Rose stand in the Art Marquee. An artist that I have admired for quite some time. So much so that I already own three of his limited edition prints! My eyes were soon drawn to a couple of wader prints, similar to one I already own, Chris's talent for capturing the affects of water is a joy to behold. There was also a lovely original painting of a 'quartering' short eared owl over a sunlit field, quite beautiful.

      After all that build-up, I ended up walking away without the purchase of a Mr Rose painting.

   

      I did though finally put my hand in my pocket and purchased a superb little statuette of a Resplendent Quetzal, a bird which had given me great pleasure when seeing it in Costa Rica. This particular item was crafted by Oswaldo Merchor, a Peruvian now living in Norfolk.