Quick Update – Not Every Day is a Good Day
Since our readers are smarter than most, you’ve noticed that we’ve been uncharacteristically radio-silent during our move from Baños de Agua Santa to Cuenca, Ecuador.
Usually, these transitions are fodder for lots of posts!
Truth be told I’ve been under the weather. Really under the weather.
Basically, I was hit with another bout of acute altitude sickness just before we left Baños de Agua Santa.
This is the third time this has happened during our travels.
The first time was when we went from Lima (sea level altitude) to Cusco, Peru (3,400 m/11,200 feet).
The second time was when we hiked to the base of Volcan Tungurahua (altitude 3,600 m/11,811 feet) from the town of Baños de Agua Santa (1,820 m/5,971 feet).
And the last was two days ago when we took our bus from Baños de Agua Santa to Cuenca, Ecuador. This is a twisty-turny route through the Andes mountain range that occasionally gets into ~ 3,300 m (10,827 feet) territory.
At any point above 2,000 m above sea level, altitude sickness can begin to kick in. And when it does, the symptoms generally get worse the higher you go. Everyone responds differently, and in my case, it seems that when I get into 3,300 – 3,400 m territory the chances of it hitting me are pretty high if I am not already adapted.
To be honest, I don’t think I completely recovered from my second bout of altitude sickness (it was a doozy) before I got hit a third time.
Wikipedia has a pretty good write-up about altitude sickness. And as far as the symptoms I have been experiencing, they include several that cross into the “severe” range, which is a little troubling.
For me, the most recent symptoms include:
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Serious fatigue and weakness
- Insomnia
- Persistent headache
- Dizziness
- Persistent tachycardia
- Shortness of breath (even when resting)
- Painful inhalations
- Fever
- Malaise (which explains my low post rate the last two weeks)
Not fun stuff.
But thankfully I am on the mend.
Every time I have gotten altitude sickness and was able to go down below 3,000 m in altitude (Cuenca is at 2,560 m/8,400 feet), I seem to get better.
But it takes 2 or 3 days.
So here we are at our new home in Cuenca, and the only thing that I have really seen in detail is the inside of our new bedroom.
But as I write this I am feeling more like myself and am actually getting some sleep. So I hope to be getting out some posts about our new place in Cuenca, as well as some delayed posts about our experiences in Baños de Agua Santa.
Thanks for your patience!
And Rhonda wasn’t affected by the trip to Cuenca, so that is really good news! She’s been masterfully holding down the fort during my recovery.
Thanks, Rhonda!
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
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