Leeches

Our family had a great time at Nam Nao National Park, but not all our experiences were wonderful. On our first morning there, we got ready to go on a hike nearby our cabin. We had been looking forward to hiking around where we stayed, and not always having to get the in car to drive places. I had read about leeches on the trails, but we had been on so called "leech trails" before at Khao Yai National Park. On that occasion, Meriel and I had each one small leech on us, so I wasn't concerned.

The beginning of all four trails was at the bottom of a concrete staircase through an electric fence. At night, the park official put electric fencing across the staircase to keep elephants out. As soon as we stepped off the staircase, I noticed leeches - little black worms, moving like inchworms, standing on end and waving around for something to latch on. There were a LOT of them! The kids don't own shoes; everyone except Grandpa and Philip were wearing sandals. It wasn't long before I felt squishing under my feet in my sandals. I pulled a leech from between my big toe and second toe. Blood oozed out. The leech tried to reattach to my finger before I could flick it away.

Leeches were climbing on to the kids' feet and legs. Meriel began to squeal. I thought if we could keep moving, maybe we would get fewer on us and could get to a drier area without as many of those tiny pests. Every so often, I couldn't stand it any more and had to take my sandals off and pull out the leeches. Then I would get them off the kids. Simeon began to scream whenever he had one on him. I remembered the "ant hike" at Namtok Samlan National Park (read about that trip here); I did not want him re-traumatized by the outdoors.

Philip looked at me in frustration; I needed to make the decision - push ahead, get over the leeches or admit defeat and turn around. Of the four trails, we had chosen the third longest - 4.5 km. At a normal pace, depending on the difficulty, this would take our family about 4 hours. We had been on the trail for about 10 minutes, I had picked off more than 20 leeches from myself alone. I imagined the hundreds of leeches we would have on us by the end of the trail, the number of times we'd stop to pick them off, how quickly they'd make it past the short legs of the little ones. I didn't feel I could make the kids face something that made me feel squeamish. If it was a matter of survival, then yes, but for what was supposed to be an enjoyable hike, no.

We turned around. Philip carried Simeon. Eris, Hollis, and I dashed ahead. Meriel and Grandma thought that taking big steps and shaking their feet led to fewer leech attachments. We made it to the concrete steps. We all removed our shoes. My sandals were full of leeches but only 3 had managed to attach. They were even in Philip and Grandpa's shoes and had bitten through their socks. Back at the cabin, we found two in Simeon's shorts, so searched all the kids clothes. Fortunately, the kids calmed down quickly once were away from the leech area and had a fun time playing outside around our cabin.

Adventures ready to conquer the leeches!

Later, we were able to purchase some leech socks, long canvas stockings that they cannot bite through. They are also white, so it easy to see them and pick them off. We decided we would not make any of the children hike on a leech trail but would offer it. Eris and Hollis tried the shortest trail - 1 kilometer - with Grandpa and Philip. They successfully conquered their fears. Eris calmly picked of the leeches and threw them into the jungle. Hollis counted 118 on their walk. Not one got through or over their leech socks.

Philip and I, with Calla in the baby-carrier, completed a 3 km hike. The first half was very leechy, and I was a bit squeamish even with my leech socks. The second half dried out a bit and was quite pleasant. I would say I wouldn't chose a location or hike with leeches again, but now we know how to manage with those special socks.