Ok, our trip was a wonderful experience, but not without a few little problems at the end. We had worried about getting altitude illness or getting sick from the food or water – but actually we ended up with other health issues.
We were given insect repellant to use in the jungle at Mindo, but we were so busy putting on sunscreen and we never saw any mosquitos, that I didn’t think to put it on my lower legs when I rolled my pants up. As it turns out, the little buggers were hiding in the grass – where I wandered off the beaten path. So it was my fault. Just as we were leaving, I looked down and saw blood running down my legs from numerous itchy bites. Never saw the alleged “mosquitoes” – and I still don’t think that’s what they were… had to be some kind of rabid flesh-eating jungle monster killer insect.
Anyway, by that night and the next morning, the itching was unbearable and my legs and ankles had swollen so bad 
I could hardly walk. So that evening, we went to the local clinic. I was told by the doctor that I had an allergic reaction to the bites and given some creams and pills to take. It was so painful to walk that I didn’t make it to field service on Thursday – boohoo. But at least it was more bearable by Friday, so I didn’t miss the convention.
However, I either picked up a germ at the clinic, or it was the cold rainy weather at the convention on Saturday, but I came down with a sore throat Sunday that turned into a full-blown dead-in-the-bed flu virus on Monday – so I missed the Middle of the World tour. Charles got sick with it that night. So we were both in the bed, wondering how in the world we would be able to fly home on Thursday. Amazingly, we pulled ourselves together to get to the social gathering on Wednesday night, although Charles was so sick he almost passed out.
We somehow managed to make it home… and we did get to the doctor when we got home and got on antibiotics and medicines. But we had such a bad case of bronchitis, it took us a month to get over it. So, we did have a rough time right there at the end. But, fortunately, Charles didn’t miss anything; and I was sad to miss the field service and tour, but at least I made it to the whole convention. And, while we did have a bad experience, the good parts of our trip and the convention far outweighed the bad.
By the way, it’s 2 months later, and I still have the itchy jungle monster bites. Probably scarred for life. No way that was just mosquitoes. 😉