It was a perfect day to get out the bicycles and take a trip into the big town of Vao, not too hot and a cooling breeze. I'd told David it was a flat road because we'd be going from coast to coast over a 7km trip. Unbeknownst to me there were a few ups and downs and both our gear cables had jammed. An extra workout!
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| Road to Vao follows coast on left |
Not so good for David's damaged shin. A little over a week ago he tripped coming up the companionway steps and banged his shin bone heavily. It was repairing well until we went for a long walk up a big hill 3 days ago. Now the big bump has come back with a vengeance. So when we passed a Dispensaire sign on the way into Vao we thought we'd try our luck and see if it were possible to get a professional opinion. A small own health centre with a Salles Urgences open on Saturday morning and a pretty nurse behind the desk.
She invited us in and between her intermittent English and my intermittent French we explained our patient's problem. No problem. Delphine, as we found out, couldn't have been more helpful. She diagnosed a haematoma or blood clot caused by a leaking blood vessel which had probably been aggravated by the hard walk. At this stage there was no cause for alarm; a compression bandage, elevation and anti inflammatory medicine should see him right but if there was any pain from infection we should come back to see her. She sent us on our way with a bag of clean dressings and alcohol to wash the area and for all of this 'gratuit', free of charge. How many times do we marvel at the kindness of strangers we meet? Frequently.
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| snake charmer |
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| line of defence against sea spirits? |
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| Vao catholic church |
David's bandaged leg didn't affect his capacity to cycle so we continued into the small town of Vao. We'd missed the market although without any Francs to spend it was viewing only. In the grandly named 'supermarket' the veg were passed there best and no baguettes. But worth the trip (apart from the clinic) was the beach and the monument to mark the place the first Catholics came ashore to perform mass. In the centre of a circle of traditionally carved posts was a silver plated Virgin Mary on a plinth and between the Virgin and the sea a line of intricately carved posts with demons poking out their tongues at the ocean. Were they there to frighten off missionaries from other denominations or to stop the waves splashing the Virgin's silver robes?
Our final stop in this sleepy town was at the church built by those first Catholics to come ashore. The picture was taken by Oso Blanco on their visit here earlier – they've not come back to haunt us!
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