Just some!!!
Accidents are closely linked to injuries and a general feeling of unwellness. Whether you find yourself at home or in a foreign land, accidents can occur unexpectedly. However, the occurrence of potential accidents should not deter you from traveling. The key is to exercise caution and ensure that you always have reliable insurance coverage. It is advisable to steer clear of insurance providers that engage in excessive online marketing tactics, as I have personally experienced disappointments with such companies, like nomad insurance, which failed to honor their commitment to reimburse one of my insured items.
These are some of the “accidents” I have had on some trips.
1- Sea Lice on my body in North Carolina, USA
What is exactly sea lice? It is small jellyfish larvae that find “comfort” inside your swimsuit and cause bad skin irritation, itching, inflammation, and some painful sores. The only way to get rid of them is to flush them off with a jet of water right after you get them. However, this sun “goddess” had no idea that such a thing existed and got the sea lice all underneath my suit…. It was right before a 16-hour flight and an extra day of traveling.
I had been at that beach probably 50 times before and I never had an issue. I later found out that purple flags at the beach, signify marine pests on the water but there were no purple flags (always learn something). Needless to say, it took forever to heal with so much moving around, and was very painful. VERY.
2- Monkey Attack (still scars)in Nicaragua
A spider monkey jumped on my boat in Granada, saw me holding a flower (a.k.a food!), and attacked me. Spider monkeys are critically endangered monkeys, native to Nicaragua, and some parts of Costa Rica. Nicaragua by far has the most breathtaking jungles and forests I have ever seen in my life (and I have seen jungles).
Deforestation of the spider monkey’s natural habitat has caused them to migrate to areas closer to humans. With that, accidents do happen and you have to be prepared for an emergency within an emergency. In this case, my monkey attack was coupled with the fact that there was a coup in Nicaragua and there were not many doctors available at the place of the attack. All good, now my scars are a great conversation starter.
3- Falling off my bicycle…many times! in the desert. Middle East
I learned to ride a bicycle when I was 4 and I was all into it. I used to go off-grid to ride a bike while in college, so bicycling should be a no-brainer. Well, it is not the case anymore I spilled from the side so often that I had to look at tutorials on how to fall off the bicycle that I did not know existed!
When you travel you might find comfy clothing that one might fall prey to…in particular when you get a piece of the bottom of your pants stuck inside the pedal chain ring… this results in numerous falls that injured my knees so many times, that I have old scars on it.
Despite my lack of experience as a cyclist, I possess the skill to ride a bike. In numerous locations, cycling has been my sole mode of transportation. Reacquainting myself with biking after more than ten years proved to be quite a challenge, especially with my perpetually injured knee that proudly displays a few scars even to this day. However, the scarred lady no longer tumbles off the bike (fingers crossed).
4- Home and Garden! Mexico
It is not atypical to travel to warm weather and to find hungry mosquitos, particularly when you are a mosquito magnet like myself. So I was in a home in Mexico and I asked the lady for mosquito repellent. Well, she gave me a spray which I put all over my back; and when I decided to look at the spray can; it happened to say “CASA Y JARDIN” which means “home and garden” in Spanish. Needless to say, I had to run to try to get that stuff off my body:-)) Thank GOD for speaking Spanish!!
5-Dangerous Date Tree turned into my foot’s “kebab” poor foot. Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
While dates are incredibly delicious, in particular when you can just pick them out from a tree, the date palm trees where they grow are quite dangerous, they have very large thorns that can be as long as over 10 cm (over 4 inches). I lived with a date tree just in front of my home and one day one of those thorns was on the ground and went through my poor wobbly rubber sandal and followed to the sole of my foot. Incredibly painful but I reacted enough not to cut my tendon…
Next time you eat a date, just think about how dangerous it might be to pick dates and appreciate them!
6- Food Poisoning at a Market (stomach ninja but a friend took me there…) in Merida, Mexico
When traveling we are never immune to food poisoning that can cause dehydration and other complications and can last for a few hours to a few days. The cause of food poisoning could be contaminated food or water and also foods that you are not used to having and can make you ill. Always drinking bottled water while traveling is a must and avoiding raw veggies that could be washed with contaminated water can be a culprit. In my case, I went to a restaurant that was a true grease spot and I later found out they use a lower level (cheaper water) that can be contaminated. I had my favorite dish, ‘sopa de lima” (lime soup) and it was like a ninja on my stomach. I was not able to move for a day and a half. No matter how careful you might be an “experienced traveler” you might feel, there is always a “first time.”
7-Coffee and Ants…we call it “pepper coffee.” Yucatan, Mexico
Even though I am a mate (Argentine tea drinker), I occasionally have that great cup of good coffee when I travel. In some places that I travel to, there are so many little ants that you can’t even see them, and they invade everything. The ants are so small that are called “ghost ants” and they do have a real stinger in “colonies.”
Well, the sugar bowl was infested with little ants (scientific name “Monomorium minimum”) and I put a few spoons full in my coffee. I did not notice that the cafe was full of pygmy ants until I had to wash the cup. So much for those ants’ “extra calories.”
7-Scratched by a bat in the Amazon region, Brasil (State of Pará)
I learned a while back while studying in the Amazon that bats are an essential element to the ecosystem, they eat insects and help pollinate. I also learned that the major deforestation, in particular in the Amazon, puts these creatures in areas where the forest was prevalent and now those areas are fragmented, degraded, and populated by humans. When I lived there I saw firsthand the devastation of the Amazon to turn jungle and forest into soybean fields.
Nonetheless, there are over 900 species of bats in the Amazon and I happened to encounter one, of he encountered me, in an outhouse bathroom in the middle of the forest, Just when I sat on the “loo” a large black creature (I thought it was a big cat) started flying scared around my legs, I jumped out when I felt scratching my legs, BIG Scare and thank God none of my students saw my bare behind!
9- Head injury by a “Terminalia Cattapa” fruit…yes, a Brasilian tropical almond tree in Northeastern Brazil (State of Bahia)
When discussing Brazil, the fifth largest country in the world, it is crucial to acknowledge the specific region being referred to, as they vary greatly in terms of geography. The coastal areas of Northern Brazil are home to the tropical almond tree, one of the oldest and most popular trees in the region.
As I was leaving my hotel, an unexpected and excruciating pain struck my head, causing me to instinctively reach for it, only to find blood gushing out. I was horrified because I had no prior knowledge that the fruits of these trees could be deadly. These towering trees can reach a height of 35 meters or 115 feet, and their ripe fruits, which were my unfortunate assailants, are large, heavy, and covered in a leathery skin that curls, revealing a dangerously sharp interior. The “fruit” plummeted from the tree with such force that it left me with a deep cut, requiring four stitches. Need I say more?
As you can see here, nature has a way of reminding me of how careful and respectful I should be of its power.
Scarred Dr.P is still trying to remember which other accidents she has had during her travels More on this topic coming up soon…if still alive:-)
