Fortunately, there is a pharmacy open all day/night that is 1) the only pharmacy cited by Lonely Planet, 2) right next to the main hospital, and 3) recommended by my doctor. So with those three "seals of approval" I headed out to find it. And finding it is easy--it's a straight shot from my hotel till the street ends and right about half a block.
It was guarded by a security guard and there was nobody there. I showed my Rx to the guy and pulled out the drugs. They cost, 4162 CFA (US$8) for the anti-malarial, 1332 (US$3) for the fever effervescent tablets, 2841 (US$6) for the cough medicine, and 7650 (US$15) for the after-treatment preventative.
I had to shake off a couple of hustlers on the way back--usually Place d'Independence is a madhouse, but on Sundays you can almost hear a pin drop. So the hustlers were really happy to see a rich looking white guy. The first guy tried the "hey remember me from the hotel?" scam. I didn't, but I said I guess I did. He told me some really good news--after 5 years, he's a new father. He started reaching into his pocket and I know what that means--he want to give me the new father gift. I told him I was sick (which he gathered from my pharmacy bag) and really needed to go home. Then another guy selling a big statue--the likes of which cannot every be fit into a tourists luggage--tried to sweet talk me. Again, I was having nothing of it--saying I was sick and needed to go home.
I turned a few streets short of the hotel since it's right there on the square almost and got an Orange Fanta (why don't these places have cold bottled water?). Then I came back and took my medicines.
My sore throat is actually gone now. I have a lingering cough which I often get. And I'm sore and tired. In all likelihood, it is not malaria. I have had exposure to very few mosquitos. I've been going to bed early and keeping myself protected. I need more music on my iPod, in fact, because I'm spending too much time listening to it while I go to sleep. I'm also almost done with all the This American Life's I downloaded in Vancouver. :-(
August 3, 2008 18:23 Senegal local time
No comments:
Post a Comment