Couple left in Honduras because of monkey bite.

[mamaofami]

LOL. A lady posted on the St. Kitts board that while at the Marriott Hotel she was bitten by an insect and was in a lot of pain. She was taken care of and they offered to take her to the hotel MD or a hospital if necessary but she was OK. Maybe I should stay on the ship.:D

[DFD1]

We were on the same cruise as the OP. There were tours to the Igauna Farm. At the farm, there was a large cage with a single monkey, about 4 feel tall. He was very active and interacted with people standing around the cage.

 

The wire used to construct the cage was large enough that the monkey would drink, through the wire, from water bottles offered him by those people standing nearby. They were quite close to him.

 

I did not see any biting incidents while we were there, but there certainly was the opportunity.

 

We stayed clear of the monkey cage!

 

There was also a large dead Boa Constrictor snake hanging across some concrete blocks near the pathway. The farm owner/manager had just killed it. It seems the Boas attack and eat the Iguanas. If they don't kill the snakes, they'd soon be out of Igaunas!!!...Then, no more tourists!!!

 

It's an interesting world out there....

 

I hope the passenger who was bitten is okay.

[George C]

St Kitts has more monkies than people, stayed there several times at AI's never heard problem with them.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

That is why we buy insurance ...

[mamaofami]

St Kitts has more monkies than people, stayed there several times at AI's never heard problem with them.

 

I'm more of a beach person than an animal one anyway.

[Typhoon1]

The argument for travel insurance; medical care, hotels, airfare home.

 

Don't leave home without it. You never know when you might need it.

[dobiemom]

I hope the OP comes back to tell us how her boss' mother is doing.

[Taxguy77]

We cruised with two other couples on a great itinerary from Pireaus (Athens) that included a call in Gibraltar. They all wanted to do the monkey excursion but I am a little freaked by them and excused DH and me from going with them. They decided not to go and sure enough didn't we hear about monkey bites and monkies stealing pocketbooks, cameras and other things from people on the tour. Imagine!!! I was happy we chose to enjoy other areas of that interesting port.

 

Then you probably missed the caves and the amazing history of the island. Sorry!

[sail7seas]

Then you probably missed the caves and the amazing history of the island. Sorry!

 

Thank you for 'sorry' but happily no need.

Actually, our tour provided a great deal of the fascinating history of that most interesting island. They offered more than just one tour. ;)

 

[bradpole]

That's good to know. I too have seen people waiting to be transported to a hospital.I can't imagine that HAL would just abandon someone at the pier who was in need of medical attention.

 

Sadly I have some first hand experience of a similar situation. This past May while in Alaska on Royal Caribbean it was determined by the ships medical staff that my mom was being transferred to the local hospital. The ship's staff is extremely limited, especially in Alaska with US labor laws preventing foreign workers "working" in the USA, but that is what the port agent is for. The local port agent, hired by the cruise line, is their local point of contact for guests. In my situation the port agent was extremely accommodating! Not only was Miami in daily contact with me the port agent also contacted me daily to ensure there wasn't anything they could for me. They drove me to FedEx to ship our luggage home ($$$$$$) and even took me to a grocery store to get some snacks!

 

In Summary, NEVER travel without travel insurance! We were in Alaska and the costs were astronomical, I couldn't imagine what the costs would have been had we been in the Caribbean!

[mamaofami]

I saw the l ittle hospital in Juno and would not want to wind up there. I hope your mom recovered and is well.

[luxurysailer]

Having been to Honduras on seven medical mission trips, I have some first hand knowledge of the state of medical care in Honduras and have been involved in having a fellow team member medevaced back to the states. So I know whereof I'm speaking.

 

It is possible to find good medical care in Honduras, but this can be very difficult. Unless I was so acutely ill that travel was inadvisable or impossible, I'd go straight to the airport and arrange for the quickest flight home. There's no way I'd go to any third world country without having very good medevac insurance. In fact, my wife and I maintain such a policy at all times, even when we're not traveling out of the United States.

[bradpole]

I saw the l ittle hospital in Juno and would not want to wind up there. I hope your mom recovered and is well.

 

Yes, thankfully currently is all well!

 

You are right about Little! I was very surprised at just how small the hospital was when we pulled up!

 

One surprising feature of the hospital, to me, was they have onsite a small 9 room motel for families of patients. From what I learned from the social worker assigned to us is during the summer months be rooms are occupied 50/50 by tourists and Alaskan Residents from distant villages.

 

The room next to mine had plaque on the door, "furnishings provided by Holland America Line." Each time I walked past it I kept thinking, "what I wouldn't give to be onboard HAL right now!"

[mamaofami]

I'm so glad to hear your mother is well.

[sammygoose]

Some people look for the doughnuts and some for the holes. I never gave it a second thought when that monkey was sitting on my head and crawling on my shoulders in Jemaa El F'na in Marrakesh. I was more worried about fleas and the snake charmer holding those snakes next to me. Based on the fact that the tooth pullers stand was right next to them I should have been paying more attention to what COULD have happened medically.

[alwaysfrantic]

Yes, I remember that.

I think Robin Cook wrote a medical thriller that was based on monkeys.

 

 

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston! And it was a true story!

[Himself]

My bosses father and mother were on a Holland America cruise that returned on the 27th without them. Their cruise visited Key West, Roatan and 2 other ports, but they were escorted off the ship because his mother was bite by a monkey. The bite was bleeding. She went to see the ship doctor and he promptly had them escorted off the ship. Now they are out over $4000 in airfare and hotel costs. Is this the usual when bitten on a shore excursion?

 

 

Ouch! I hope she recovers completely from the injury!

[Himself]

The argument for travel insurance; medical care, hotels, airfare home.

 

Amen!

[wander]

Alaska medical care comments - perhaps somewhat comforting.

 

While I cannot specifically comments on any one hospital, I do know that in many places they have great support and back-up from medical facilities and Medical Schools in mainland states like Washington. Working in Seattle hospitals (retired now), we regularly received patients flown down from Alaska, and a number of our physicians worked with Alaska facilities as telephone and computer assisted consultants.

 

Before medical information was digitalized, my neighbor, a radiologist, every night went to an office (a hotel room with equipment) he had near Sea Tac to read x-rays that were flown down most days. He could then send his report back to Alaska via FAX and later computers. Now I imagine all is done by computers - no convenient "Office" needed.

 

Yes, I would prefer to be in a major medical facility near home, yes there are limits of what is available in Alaska, but I would prefer Alaska to many places in the world, small facilities and all.

[DizzyDallasDi]

Here's a prime example of young people (me :o) thinking they are invincible:

 

When I was in college, I taught American Sign Language to chimpanzees. I was locked (yes, locked....if I could get out, the chimp could figure out how to) in a cage with the chimp and the ledges we sat on were approx. 3 ft. apart. I never feared for my safety or even imagined my beloved chimps would harm me.....they were 12 to 15 mos. old and were so adorable and lovable and smart. :)

 

I am much older :( and much wiser :) now and realize I could have been seriously injured if the chimp had "lost it" during any of my teaching sessions. Thankfully, that did not happen and this experience will remain on my top ten list of the most fun and rewarding things I've ever done.

[ericstacie]

a few years ago we were in Roatan and went to the Pirates of the Carribean canopy tour. Awesome trip, and they had this tame black monkey teathered on a leash. My teenage son sat near him and this monkey fell in love, cozying up to him. We all thought it was pretty neat since the monkey totally ignored everyone else and latched on to my son (who is not exactly over-flowing with affection). They chilled together about 15 minutes while we waited for the bus.

 

I guess if had been bit we would not have the same good vibe about the port. BTW we will be there 3/13 on the Ryndam, and plan on spending the day at the beach

[michmike]

Guess I'm glad I didn't seek medical attention for the monkey bite I got on a Victor Bodden tour in Roatan in December. Was fairly minor, just nipped me on the finger but did break the skin and draw blood. Washed my hands good at the zoo and then cleaned it well w/ disinfectant when back on the ship and applied antibiotic ointment and a bandaid.

 

No tail growing so far, so guess I dodged a bullet.

[sparky-elpaso]

Here's a prime example of young people (me :o) thinking they are invincible:

 

When I was in college, I taught American Sign Language to chimpanzees. I was locked (yes, locked....if I could get out, the chimp could figure out how to) in a cage with the chimp and the ledges we sat on were approx. 3 ft. apart. I never feared for my safety or even imagined my beloved chimps would harm me.....they were 12 to 15 mos. old and were so adorable and lovable and smart. :)

 

I am much older :( and much wiser :) now and realize I could have been seriously injured if the chimp had "lost it" during any of my teaching sessions. Thankfully, that did not happen and this experience will remain on my top ten list of the most fun and rewarding things I've ever done.

 

Interesting. Most people don't know that even small apes are extremely strong for their size. And they have 4 "hands" to our 2. :)

[Sea42]

Here's a prime example of young people (me :o) thinking they are invincible:

 

When I was in college, I taught American Sign Language to chimpanzees. I was locked (yes, locked....if I could get out, the chimp could figure out how to) in a cage with the chimp and the ledges we sat on were approx. 3 ft. apart. I never feared for my safety or even imagined my beloved chimps would harm me.....they were 12 to 15 mos. old and were so adorable and lovable and smart. :)

 

I am much older :( and much wiser :) now and realize I could have been seriously injured if the chimp had "lost it" during any of my teaching sessions. Thankfully, that did not happen and this experience will remain on my top ten list of the most fun and rewarding things I've ever done.

Ask anyone who has worked with primates for any length of time and they're sure to know someone who has lost a finger. (Although my worst bite was from a porcupine I was holding for a medical exam) Hand reared wild animals are usually considered the most dangerous because people become complacent around them (see porcupine comment above :D).

[IRL_Joanie]

Ask anyone who has worked with primates for any length of time and they're sure to know someone who has lost a finger. (Although my worst bite was from a porcupine I was holding for a medical exam) Hand reared wild animals are usually considered the most dangerous because people become complacent around them (see porcupine comment above :D).

 

Your comment above, which I've highlighted, brought back the near recent memoriees that made World Wide Headlines of the Woman in, Connecticut I believe, who had every bone in her face broken and her face ripped off (or nearly completely so) by her neighbors pet monkey, which she had know for years, both the neighbor and monkey.

 

Do a google search for " pet monkey rips off woman's face" and you can read and see more:(

 

As much as I love animals, wild and tame, I know that even the tamest of our fur babies can show a different attitude with no provocation. That is why whenever we were asked if he/she might bite, I always replied, "He/She has never bitten or attacked anyone or any animal, YET!!" I always stressed that all animals are capable of doing the unexpected, just as we are.........

 

I hope and pray the OP comes back and gives us an update on the lady with the Monkey Bite and that it is good news. I know 2nd hand (my baby sister) just how bad the series of 12 rabies shots can be:(

 

Joanie