A plague on both limbs!

Itch, itch, itch; scratch, scratch, scratch. In an effort to stop scratching I'm blogging about scratching. Not the most effective way to forget about it but at least it's keeping my hands occupied. I'm so frigging itchy; I fall asleep at night shaking the bunk bed because I'm rubbing my feet together so hard, and I wake up in almost exactly the same motion, it's a good thing I have the bunk to myself. Brazil has the distinction of having an estimated 10-15 million insect species, according to the guide. Great. And it feels like they all want a piece of me. Borrachudos are a type of mosquito – I think they are the ones to blame for the bites with the blood spot – although they look more like a flying ant than a mosquito to my untrained eye.

It started in the rainforest on my hands - my right hand puffed right up one day because there were so many bites on it. All from teeny tiny little black mosquitoes that I never saw or felt on me but left me with swollen red knuckles that would become an itchy blister after a couple of hours. My insect repellent did not deter them. Then there were the ticks...but as I only had 2 of them I think the all over itching sensation was purely psychological – everyone was scratching with the thought of them.

I heaved a sigh of relief on leaving the rainforest – that was it! The end of the bugs! No, not to be...Boissucanga, a sleepy beachside town where I spent the last 4 days...I got annihilated; forthwith a catalogue of the bites on my legs...

Right leg: 2 on big toe (one with a blood spot in the center), one on middle toe with itchy blister, one on outside of foot near little toe, 5 of top of foot, one on instep, one on heel, 7 around ankle, 7 on shin, one on outside of calf, one on inside of calf, 2 on inside of knee, one on back of calf, one massive one at back of knee, one centre of knee with a blood spot.

Left leg: 2 on big toe (one with a blood spot in the center), one on little toe with blood spot, 3 on top of foot, one of arch of foot (with blood spot), one of sole of foot (with blood spot), 4 around ankle, 3 on shin, 5 around scar on outside of calf (v. discerning of them not to bite the scar I thought), 2 on back of calf, 2 on outside of knee, 2 above knee.

OK, itching has stopped – sort of – except for my right knee and my left shoulder, and, and, and....