What I Learned From Blood Sucking Monsters

We had no choice but to continue trekking through the torrential downpour in the Sumatran jungle. The light was starting to fade and we need to get to the campsite quickly. My waterproof boots that had been keeping water out was now collecting water that dripped through my trouser. I could no longer tell if the squelching noise was coming from the mud we were walking through or the water in my boats. 

I suddenly felt a shooting pain in my right shin.

I pulled down my leech proof socks and pull up my trouser up. There are 4 leeches clustered together feasting on my blood. These little bastards can find any small gaps in your clothing. It took me a couple of minutes to pull them off and flick them into the jungle. Earlier in the day, I had seen my guide use a lighter to burn and kill them but that seemed inhumane and unnecessary.

We then continued towards the campsite.

10 minutes passed and then got a sharp shooting pain on the right side of my neck.

I reached over and I felt another squishy leech. I have no idea how it managed to get there. Leeches wait on the ground until they manage to grab onto a target and then slowly work their way up their target’s body. But this one seemed to learnt how to fly and went straight for my neck.

I was now starting to truly hate these creatures. After I flicked it into the jungle we continued to the campsite. 

20 minutes later, we arrived at camp and quickly put up the tarp (a plastic roof).

I sat just outside of my tent and flicked off 20-odd leeches that we on my boots and leech proof socks. As I did this, I could the leeches making their life way back to me. I’d had enough and now I was the one looking for the lighter.

A reminder for myself, I can’t judge a person until I have walked a mile in their shoes.

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I was going to end this week’s newsletter here but:

They Aren’t All Bad

The story above doesn’t make leeches sound great but, as much as I hated them while I was in the jungle, they are amazing creatures. 

These little squidgy tubes have ridiculous sucking/holding on power. You’d think you could easily pull them off but it always took me and the guides several attempts to get them off. 

And their bodies can swell 10 times their original size after eating. If the average man did the same, he would become the size of an elephant by the end of every meal.

Leeches have an anticoagulant in their saliva so they can continue feeding without having to the blood clotting. I had one leech bite that was tiny. I didn’t bother doing anything about it as cuts that size usually would seal within a few minutes. But this cut continued to flow blood for over 30 minutes. It only stopped when I applied a bit of tissue and applied pressure. 

Even awful animals (and people) can be amazing if you cut to put your hatred of them aside for a few minutes.