Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Early the next morning we get up early for the pleasure of a leech walk - supposedly a jungle walk (did you know that 'jungle' is an indian word meaning forest?). We are given leech socks to don - has anyone ever seen these things, they look like leader hosen, and I'm not convinced that this bit of canvas material is going to keep the suckers out; I think it's just the indians having a laugh at the foreigners expense, seeing how ridiculous they can make them look.
This theme continues, when in order to start the walk, we have to cross a stretch of river about 100m long. Is there a bridge?.....no, that would be too simple, no we have to pull ourselves across, using a precarious 5 log raft, loosely strung together, and a rope, tied to the flimsiest branch possible on the other side of the lake. And is there a guide for this.....no, you just do it yourself - health & safety at its best.
As soon as we reach the other side - amazingly in one piece, the leech attack begins, and it's a total massacre. They're nifty little ***** and fast too, in about 10 seconds they've moved from your foot to your thigh. This was meant to be a morning safari, searching for animals, tigers and the like, but all I can concentrate on is getting the leeches off me constantly, so I knew I was doomed to failure, on the animal spotting front. So actually, during our safari walk, we see the sum total of some leeches, oh and a brown owl.
On our return, I find a leech happily curled up in the toe of my shoe, and give it a thorough dousing with salt, for a really satisfying curl up and shrivel death scene. But apart from that, I was surprisingly leech free, underneath the socks, so maybe they do work after all!
- comments