Ill Health

My extended trip to The Philippines did not result in a lot of birding and its associated thrills and spills. For my sins I developed  cellulitis in my left leg, probably as a result of the cuts I sustained to my feet at Punta Tay Tay during my first week here.

In the end I was admitted to hospital for ten days, underwent a surgical procedure involving a general anaesthetic and before and after this took a lot of antibiotics, both intravenous and oral.

So I had to cancel a trip to Bohol and a return visit into The North Negros Natural Park plus all opportunists for birding in and around Bacolod City have been lost.

I was discharged from hospital a week ago today but it’s only really in the last few days that I have felt comfortable on my feet. The doctors have advised that the infection is under control and I can return to Thailand as planned on 28th April 2013.

I really doubt whether I’ll be birding again until I get back to Thailand. Such is life. For all that I feel disappointed I am glad to be on the mend; health is clearly the most important consideration. This type of thing can and does happen and in real terms up to this point I have enjoyed a rather charmed existence, free from infection and disease, notwithstanding a liking for wild places. As I say I am grateful to be on the mend more than anything else and like a famous American general said: “I shall return”.