Tess: Illness in the air....

It seems there is something in the air at the moment! There are few healthy people around us…. Our first dilemma came when we found out one of our caregivers was hit by a bus. He’s not the youngest of the bunch so we were more than worried about him. After going to DOCS to pay him a visit, it was clear he would not be back to work within the next few days! With cuts and bruises all over his face and half his upper body and right arm in cast, we deducted we would be down to 3 caregivers for sometime. A busy few weeks ahead for Nicole and me until a full recovery is made! Between paper work, internetting, market shopping, and all the rest we will be taking over Bonane’s shifts, being outside with the chimps 6 days a week. (Not that one could complain in the slightest for this pleasure!). To add to the devastating accident with Bonane, Raymond, one of the gate guards, came to work with plasters all over his face after being in a motorbike accident! Thankfully he was not too hurt and was able to come to work. More to come…. Another gate guard was hit by malaria, as was one of the caregivers! Nearly down to only two gate guards and two caregivers! But thankfully both made a full recovery after a couple of days and were working as normal. Not just the people are effected either… Shege has not been well for quite a while, with swollen eyes and fevers, not eating and sitting solemnly in the tree tops, a worry for us all. Thankfully she has regained her strength and is back to normal, playing with the others and loving her bananas once again! And as for me and Nicole, we weren’t safe either. Things took a turn for the worst when Nicole had an unlucky few days with her hands. A few bites here and there, (some a lot worse than others!), mishaps with knives and some other just plain bad luck, her hands became somewhat unusable for a number of days! Then came my turn, when I decided to get an eye infection, unable to wear my lenses or open my eyes in daylight, gaining a new nickname of Quasimodo! When eventually my eyes could handle the daylight (but not the foreign objects of my lenses floating round in my eyes), I set back to work with the chimps, only to have my glasses destroyed several times in the midst of the tree tops!

Luckily everyone is fit and healthy now, apart from Bonane, who is hopefully making a good recovery as I write!