There were thousands of them, no: millions! At first, we thought it was seaweed because of the brown color. But the texture looked different, maybe a different kind of seaweed? As we got closer, we saw little wings, millions of little wings. A few were moving. We stopped for a closer look. What started out as a romantic walk along Playa Negra (Black Beach) in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, morphed into a fascinating entomology adventure! I was buzzing with excitement!
They take no prisoners! Nothing is sacred. I’m in their home: the jungle. They were here first, and they’ll be here after we’re gone. Trying to keep them away, without poisons, is futile. Since we killed/drove away most mammals, we limited their food supply and became primary targets. Insects in the tropics are abundant and vicious. Even benign ones, like ants and flies, are aggressive in the jungle. You can’t shoo a fly here, you have to touch it and literally push it off. Often we can’t even see the bugs, too tiny, but we sure as hell feel their stings. Gringos call those “Noseeums” (no see them s). Not sure if the locals even feel them. Some people are immune to the bites. Sadly, not me. No space on my body was spared: welts on the bottom of my feet, crotch, between the toes, inside the hairline, belly, fingers… nothing is off limits. Every day, I pay the price of being in the jungle: in blood! Bug sprays, besides being toxic, are impractical. Short of bathing in them multiple times daily, they’re useless. Multiple times because I’m wet most of the time: sweat, rain, ocean, river, pool… anything to stay cool. So: I made peace with bugs. I accepted what is. It’s an exercise in self control. First: resist my impulsive fear and disgust response (city girl all my life). Second: accept that bugs have as much right to exist as I do, including their right to feed on my blood. I pay taxes to the capitalist machine, why not to insects? They’re more deserving and healthier to the planet than the war and destruction machine fueled by my tax money. One is a blood sucking parasite, and the other is just an insect 😜 What’s some blood to enjoy the wonders of the tropics? Also, it feels orgasmic when I scratch my itches, hurts so good! I can easily get off on it… for a while. Here comes the hardest part: when to stop! Every day I pick a spot to scratch and let others heal. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there’s always a new supply of fresh welts to scratch. New intoxicating high sensations until I break skin and it becomes painful. Move to a new spot. Rinse and repeat. “If you can’t beat them, join them"! #insects #bugs #tropics #costarica #jungle #junglelife #travel
Gracefully gliding high without moving their wings. Silently riding the air currents. They look magnificent with the large span of their wings, the effortless flow of their flight and the ease by which they soar. It’s very relaxing, awe inspiring and mesmerizing to watch. These amazing creatures look very impressive from a distance. Then they land, and you go: “Really?”. How can such an awesome bird in flight look so ugly on land? Small bald heads. A hunchback. No colorful feathers. Very plain, to say the least. They walk funny and their proportions seem off. As if they were assembled from leftover parts of other birds. Looks aside, vultures are amazing! They, and the termites, are the cleanup crew of mother Nature. While termites are vegetarian, they eat dead plants and trees, vultures are the meat eaters. When animals die and their flesh rots, the vultures eat them. What a great service to Nature! It’s also smart on their part: “Why waste energy hunting and killing prey when I can surf the air currents, wait for someone else to do the dirty work for me and I just show up for the feast!”. In the sky, they’re above it all. On land, below it all. They’re the parentheses of life. Without them, we’d have lots of carrion, diseases, horrid smells and sights to deal with. Their odd neck makes it easy to soar while looking down searching for dead animals, which gives them the hunchback look on the ground. Their bald head makes it easy to eat dead animals without getting their feathers matted with blood.
