Bot Fly Madness

Things to do in Belize:

1. Have a car crash on the journey there.
2. Climb the highest Peak in the country.
3. Bring back three passengers - mis hijos.

When I was in Ecuador I gave a talk to the new volunteers about the diseases etc you could get in the jungle. It was called the Tropical Health lecture, but was often referred to as the Tropical Death lecture as most things you could catch usually lead to "severe health risks or even death". One thing that I found particularly interesting was Bot Flies.

The bot fly is a crafty beast and lays its eggs on the proboscis of a mosquitoes. When said mosquito bites you the eggs are implanted under your skin where they hatch into larvae. The larvae then have a merry old time living off you until they are ready to flee their (not so willing) host and become big, grown up bot flies.

As luck would have it I got not one but three whilst climbing Victoria Peak in Belize. These guys have been living in my back since the end of May, a good 7 weeks now. I went to the doc's three times to be told I had abscessed bites and she wouldn't hear any of it when I mentioned the possibility of bot flies. We had an attempted removal last night but it failed (although definitely a positive sighting).

So today my back is covered in duct tape to starve mis hijos of air. This apparently weakens them making them easier to remove. Until tonight here's something for your viewing pleasure. This guy picked his up in Panama:

YouTube - Bot Fly