Dental Project Peru – Trip Report
20 Oct – 3 Nov 2009
Written by Christine Patterson
20th October 2009
Maz and I woke up really early for flight from Manchester at 6.10 am. All went well, the connection in Amsterdam was tight but the luggage did follow. We were a little over the weight limit but no surcharge (nice man at KLM counter, very lucky as woman on next counter was very strict!). We had a warm welcome from Daniel, our guide and translator, at Lima airport, he then took us to an organic vegetarian restaurant for dinner. Then on to Hotel Colonial in Miraflores, Lima which was very comfortable.
21st October 2009
We both went for a walk down to the coast after breakfast then caught a cab to Plaza des Armas. Had lunch in town then drove to the archaeological digs of Huaca Pucllana. We then met Nathaniel and Simon who had just arrived and had dinner at a steak house.
22nd October 2009
Cusco
Got up at 5.30am and left hotel at 7am for our flight to Cusco. Met Roisin at the airport as she had just arrived from the UK. Short one hour flight, then on to Volunteer House to drop the boys off and to the apartment for the girls. We met our Peruvian dentist, Yesinia and our two drivers, Leo and Pepe. Had lunch in town (savoury pancakes and salad, this is becoming a gourmet trip!) then on to Plaza des Armas and the monastery/Inca temple. We then walked back to the apartment. Had dinner in town a posh restaurant, I felt a bit underdressed!
Had a nagging headache all day. Woke up at 1am and drunk lots of water but could not get back to sleep, Ibuprofen had no effect. Altitude sickness...
23rd October 2009
We all had breakfast at Volunteer House where Daniel cooked us scrambled eggs. We then went off to the Sacred Valley and stopped at the Center for Weavers of Chinchero were we all bought something. Then went off to the Inca Terraces at Moray. Good walk! Our last visit was the salt plains.
Lunch at Urubamba, this was truly the best meal all week! We returned to Cusco around 6ish, headache had gone! We all had some food in the apartment in the evening.
24th October 2009
Woke up with headache again. Went to restaurant for breakfast, then on to Cusco market and the Coca shop. Nat let me have some anti altitude sickness tablets brought over from the USA and they worked straight away! Thanks Nat.
Afterwards went for a tour of the archaeological sites:
· Tambomachay Temple with fountain which splits into two.
· Puca Pucara Temple overlooking the valley.
· Q’enco Inca Temple which holds a very cold table where bodies were mummified. Lamas sacrifices were also held to determine the quality of the next crop.
· Saqsaywaman is a massive temple on three levels. Also had a great labyrinth and slides which the group enjoyed.
Back in Cusco had a great meal in an Italian restaurant (risotto for me) and listened to Peruvian music in the square. Also watched a wonderful firework display!
25th October 2009
This is the start of our work and we are pretty excited about it! Up early to load both vans and travel to Cotabambas for the night. Beautiful valley overlooking the Apurimac river. Had lunch at a lovely spot and saw two condors. 10 minutes away from our destination our second truck had a flat tyre, changed it but spare looking a little worse than the original! Accommodation in a school in Cotabambas was good, proper beds. We had a meal by campfire but off to bed early as we had to get up at 5am.
26th October 2009
We drove for 3 hours to get to our first village, Nahuinlla. We set up two surgeries in Health Post, one for XLA’s and one for fillings but there had been no power for two days so only check ups and XLA’s today. Patients were expected to arrive quite late so two groups went to separate schools for fluoridation. Yesinia and I went to Paradero. Leo gave a talk first then went off to the second village with Simon. We applied Duraphat to all children who seemed very happy and relaxed.
We returned to Nahuinlla for lunch then worked in surgeries, lots of extractions. Sterilization is done in autoclaves but could only use one heated with gas.
Our living quarters were in old stables with one room for sleeping in but we were a little short of beds there so Maz, Simon and Daniel slept on the floor in the kitchen. Nat opted to sleep under the stars! We all tried to avoid the toilet which was a hole in the ground as the hospital was locked at night.
Yesinia and Maz cooked tonight, all food was brought with us and supplied by caterers and really good. Rum and Coke went down really well. Roisin not too happy during the night as Pepe snored…
27th October 2009
Woke up at 6am. Met Nat and we decided to go for a walk into the mountains. Beautiful morning, met lots of locals wishing us a good day!
Started work at 8.30am and saw a great number of patients. I had never worked for five dentists all in one go before! Lots of sterilizing of course but also applied some fluoride. The power came back around lunch time, Yesinia and Simon did some fillings then Maz took over from Yesinia when she came back from one of the schools. Roisin and Nat carried on with lots of extractions.
28th October 2009
Woke up early again and decided that washing my hair under the cold tap outside was better than leaving it! It was ok actually, certainly woke me up a bit. I then went for a walk to the canyon with Nat, saw a few locals and some wild horses.
A few patients were waiting at 9am but most wanted fillings and the power had gone off again! I took a wobbly LR8 out on an elderly patient, it went well… Then all went quiet until around 11am. Leo came back from one of the schools to get some help to apply Duraphat. We had 320 children to see but could not quite manage although several teachers came to help. Returned to the Health Post mid afternoon and found out that they were snowed under too. Did another XLA, UR5 on young patient. She seemed happy and even thanked me! So many patients came so late we finished around 8pm. The power did come back in the afternoon, so lots of work for Maz and Yesinia. We then packed ready to move early in the morning. Had another good meal and a glass of wine or two…
29th October 2009
Sent Michael two messages for his birthday but no reply. We packed both vans early and were off by 7.40am. The drive to our next village by the name of Pfaco was amazing. The mountains were so beautiful. We went through the town of Coyllurqui on the way. This is where we were to sleep for two nights.
Arrived in Pfaco and set up the surgery in one large room. The usual premises were not available so we were sharing the village hall with the medical team. The main drawback was the lack of water which we fetched from a nearby house. We saw a few adults for XLA and fillings fairly early and school children came to us for a talk and fluoride. The rate of decay in Pfaco on children seemed very high to compare with Nahuinlla. The main reason, I think, is that Nahuinlla is at 4000m and very cold where Pfaco is in the valley and quite warm. We did notice that a lot of children in Pfaco quenched their thirst by drinking lots of Inca Cola from an early age. We were quiet for a while then very busy again around 4pm. Simon and Roisin went off with Leo and Pepe to another village one hour away to apply Duraphat.
Back to Coyllurqui for the evening to sleep in a hostel. It was quite civilised, we had a cold shower and a lovely meal of chicken, salsa, rice and vegs around a proper table! Celebrated Nat’s birthday with a few drinks. Everyone was tired so bed quite early.
30th October 2009
Off to Pfaco at 8.30am. Had a very good and smooth day. The children were off school and came for treatment of their own free will. Temperature must have soared to 30C as we were so much lower in altitude than in Nahuinlla. We saw a couple of tiny children (3?) for Duraphat. Patients brought gifts of food amongst which some cacti fruit.
Went back to the hostel for a game of pools, Leo and Pepe trashed Roisin and Maz! I shared a room with Yesinia who seemed in pain during the night and we both heard some suspicious noises on the roof in the early hours of the morning. Little fury friends we thought…
31st October 2009
Last working day! This was a very good steady day, we worked non stop but there were no queues. Our patients seemed very happy and we were given gifts of dried corn. Patients here were much more westernized than in Nahuinlla and dentists noticed some have had advanced dentistry probably in Coyllurqui. We started packing a couple of chairs at 3pm and we were all ready to go by 5pm.
We then drove back to Cotabambas. Yesinia was suffering from tendonitis from her right arm and went straight to bed on arrival. So we cooked dinner but the rice was more like rice pudding! The chicken was good though and Rum & Coke went down well.
1st November 2009
We left at 5.30am but missed the sunrise as we were refuelling at the time… Drove (or rather bounced) back to Cusco and arrived at 9.30am. Washed all boxes and sorted instruments out.
Maz, Roisin and I had the afternoon off at the apartment then Roisin and I went out to town and walked around a couple of market areas. We then had a very good meal out with the whole team (red local trout with small croquettes) then went to a pub with Peruvian music.
2nd November 2009
Had breakfast in town with the whole team and sadly said goodbye to Leo, Pepe, Daniel and Yesinia. We then had a rest in the afternoon, in fact we went to sleep! Dinner at the Pizza House with Simon, Nat and Maz.
3rd November 2009
Maz and I are off to Machu Picchu for a couple of days. We booked with Terra Explorer and were met by our guide at 8am at Volunteer House. The car was incredibly posh, we had grown used to the trucks! We went to Pisac first, walked up terraces, across to the Temple and down along other terraces. Then off to Pisac market before driving to Ollantaytambo. We went up to the top of the terraces of the archaeological site, the views over the town and mountains were wonderful.
We then caught the Vistadome train to Aguas Calientes, very comfortable too, you even get snacks and drinks. This is so different from the wooden train I took 28 years ago! We were very surprised to be met at the station and walked to the hotel along the railway line. We would not have found the hotel without help… We did not feel too hungry so settled for a glass of wine and a banana! The hotel was really good and even had a bath!
4th November 2009
Got up at 5.30am for 7am departure. Our guide Ismerelda collected us from the hotel and we got on the bus to Machu Picchu. Toured the Inca city then went for a 1½ hour walk up the hill. This was quite hard work and an achievement considering the heat and the altitude but it was worth it as the view was wonderful. We then spent some time in the market by the station and hopped on the train back. Daniel from Terra Explorer met us off the train and took us back to Cusco. The service from the tour company was brilliant but this tour can be done much more cheaply if you want to rough it a little.
We got back to Volunteer House where we were to spend the night and met Roisin again. She had managed to book an Amazon trip via Leo and Pepe and was very excited about it! We had a couple of sandwiches and relaxed by the TV.
5th November 2009
Time to head back home! Cusco to Lima, Lima to Amsterdam then on the Manchester.
We had a brilliant trip, thank you to all the organisers for their hard work!
Christine
Dental Nurse on this trip
