Blood Sucking Fiends

They rose from the ground like zombies, or vampires – even better - since their goal was to suck our blood. Their scrawny worm-like bodies hovered in the air, waving back and forth, waiting for us to step closer. They would latch onto our sneakers and begin their ascent toward our ankle inching quickly along, until they reached flesh. Then they would attach themselves and suck and suck, fattening their gaunt bodies on our delicious blood.

I knew there was going to be leeches on the trek. I had been warned. It was even mentioned in the online description, “ two day trek… more than 30 kilometers… camping… must be in good shape… leeches are rampant on trail…” The first part of the hike, though, was easy and beautiful and we spent more time spent admiring flowers, than worrying about climbing a mountain or watching for leeches. But, just when we had been lulled into a sense of safety, we entered the jungle and everything changed.

The air was suddenly humid and the ground was moist. Puddles appeared on the trail and spiky vines crisscrossed our way. The guides sprayed our ankles with a mixture of oil and water and left us smelling like the horses during fly season. But I still mistakenly thought the leeches would be rare, one or two, if any at all. Not hundreds, visible as I walked, waving at me like the souls Ursula collected in the Little Mermaid. It was disconcerting and honestly, it frightened me, much more than I wanted to admit.

At first, I looked down often. Staring at the tiny creatures that appeared to be reaching up to me. I focused on our destinations, the 7 different waterfalls, counting the steps that would lead me to safety, streams and leech-free rocks. Each time we reached a one, I would shout for joy - ecstatic that not a single leech had reached me. Positive with every passing minute, that I was exaggerating their abilities and needs.

Then we reached the steepest part of the trek. The climb was close to 90 degrees, and we had to basically claw our way up the dirt. Vay went first, grabbing roots and branches, to pull herself up, twice she slipped and twice we cheered her on. Then it happened. Standing at her feet, I watched a teeny, tiny blood-sucking leech inch his way across her shoe. Before I could speak he ducked over the edge and was inside. I yelled gibberish, trying to decide if it was better to tell her now, or wait till we were back on solid ground, since there was nothing she could do right then.

I told her. It was the wrong thing to do. She started shaking her foot, hoping to dislodge the creature, but it was a lost effort, he was safely ensconced inside. She began to slide back down and the guides made angry faces at me. They grabbed her, steadied her and she made her ascent. The whole time I stood below, hopping from one foot to the other, trying not to give the leeches time to find my feet and crawl inside.

From that moment on, I would check my ankles every three steps. I made it a rhythm as I walked. The second I saw one, I would let out an involuntarily yelp, lift my foot and gesture wildly. It was embarrassing. The guides simply wore flip flops and when a leech attached to them, they would casually flick it off and continue walking, while I, a supposedly tough, outdoorsy woman, would turn into a little, helpless girl, practically crying at the sight.

I wanted to be tough. B had asked me if I would be a "I-can-take-it-I'm-a-country-girl" or a "gross-get-it-off-me-girl” and I was clearly the latter, but I wanted to be the former. I would tell myself ‘be strong’, ‘its just a worm’ (with blood sucking fangs), ‘it won’t hurt’, but then just when I was sure I could handle it, another would latch on and I would cry out and hop uncontrollable until the guide rescued me once again. Embarrassing.

We did eventually make it to the summit of the first knuckle (the mountains are know as Knuckles Range, due to looking like a closed fist). Pictured above is our joy at achieving our goal and not succumbing to the leeches. (Not pictured above is all the blood pooling at the base of Vay's right ankle because she got sucked so many times.) Yay us!