Saved by an angel in Santa Rosa de Cabal
Medical care in Colombia, our own story
When we arrived at the little hotel, there was an ambulance with flashing lights in front of the gate. These were my angeles! When I asked -very upset- if the flashing lights could be turned off, they wanted nothing to do with it.
Snip cold
During my stay in the coffee triangle, I caught a bad cold. Nothing alarming in itself, but with the acute bronchitis from a previous vacation still in the back of my mind, I became a bit nervous. From our hotel hotel in Calarcá we would go to the thermal baths in Santa Rosa de Cabal and then I would travel alone to the hotel Termales del Ruiz, near los Nevados National Park. This park is about 3500 meters above sea level and the hotel I had booked was in the middle of nowhere. Not really a place to get sick!
Angeles al Llamado
While I was still pondering what to do, my Colombian travel companion started Googling fanatically. She found on Facebook Angeles al Llamado, a medical team that does house calls from Pereira. Pereira is not far from Santa Rosa de Cabal, where we were to go that morning. She arranged for the Angeles to go to our hotel in Santa Rosa de Cabal would come for a consultation.
Flashing lights
After giving us our expected arrival time and address, we were able to have a leisurely breakfast, check out and set out for Santa Rosa de Cabal. When we arrived at the little hotel, there was an ambulance with flashing lights in front of the gate!
¿Qué paso?
The hotel employee had already run outside to see what was going on. These were my angeles! When I asked the ambulance personnel -very upset- if the flashing lights could be turned off, they didn’t want to know. The flashing lights only went out after they were right in front of the hotel, standard procedure!
Spanish Question Fire
After settling in at the hotel reception, the doctor and nurse fired some questions at me. Normally I can get by with Spanish, but now I was very happy that my Colombian travel companion was able to explain exactly what was wrong with me.
Check, check, doublecheck
After getting through the fire of questions, my blood pressure was taken, lungs checked and my throat looked at. The lungs were clean, blood pressure fine and no incipient bronchitis, oef!
I did have a beginning throat infection and was given an injection for this. (In my buttock, which is quite normal in Colombia -:)). Furthermore, a prescription was prescribed for a course of antibiotics, cough syrup and extra vitamins.
To los Nevados or not?
At first, the medical team was not happy about my planned trip to PNN Los Nevados. After I promised not to do any long hikes, they agreed to the trip. I then had to rest well in Santa Rosa de Cabal for the next few days and dress myself thickly. With the warmest of well wishes, my angeles said goodbye and got back into the ambulance (without flashing lights…).
Delivery service
The employee of the hotel was kind enough to order the medicines by phone from the drugstore and they came to deliver them(domicilio). What a perfect service!
Price tag
What did this service cost?
-Consult including injection: COP295,000/€74
-Medicines including delivery service: COP85,500/€22
Angeles al Llamado neatly mailed me an invoice, which I could use for insurance purposes.
Los Nevados, here I come!
All in all, this consultation was not cheap, but for me it was priceless. Because I recovered quickly, I was able to continue traveling in the coffee triangle without any problems. I had been looking forward to it for so long and it turned out to be a great trip.
And all thanks to the lovely people of Angeles al llamado!
For more information, visit:
Angeles al Llamado on Facebook
Check out our travel guide Coffee Triangle for more info on this region and this article on the medical care in Colombia.
Travel date: March 2019