Don't let the bugs bite!

[Timid]

Hey, we tried it out; my walking companion and I! Just spent last weekend doing the bit from St Jean PP to Roncevaux.

Drove to St Jean, got the credencial, walked to Roncevaux, spending one night in Orisson.

It was the night in a tent at Orisson that alerted me to what I could expect.

I was bitten by mozzies, horseflies, and other unidentified flying- and biting-objects not only all over my body but particularly on my face. I had bites on my eyelids, along the hair-line, the jaw-line, my cheeks, my chin, my neck, on my head amongst my hair. Gave my husband the shock of his life when he saw me on my return.

Now, for September, when we go back for real to finish the route, I will know to be prepared for insect bites and to be prepared for AFTER I have been bitten.
It horrifies me to think that, if we hadn't done the trial run, I might not have known about the insects and could very well have had to give up on account of them!

Without exaggeration, I can honestly say that I don't think that I could have carried on for 6 weeks if these 3 nights are anything to go by.

Perhaps by September, the bugs will not be so numerous? Anyway, I am taking every preparation I have been recommended or read about, even if there is no room left for anything else! :roll:

 

[JohnnieWalker]

I sympathise as I am hugely allergic and take lots of precautions to avoid being bitten or stung. You don;t need to have a wheel barrow or insect repelltent though, I simply buy it in small supplies as I go along.

Happy bite free Camino

 

[Timid]

Thank you, JohnnyWalker for your advice and good wishes.

It's reassuring to know that I won't have to carry a whole dispensary with me!

 

[Tulle]

I am new in this forum, but I have walked three times in France and twice on the Camino. I have never been bitten or stung. In September I will be walking from Pamplona to Burgos. What can I do to avoid being bitten? What kind of insect repellent can I buy in Spain before I start walking?
PS: A great forum, I learn a lot here!

 

[Timid]

Hello, Tulle

Are you called Tulle after the town in the Correze in France?

Jen, my companion and I, will be starting on 5 September from Roncevaux.

You are lucky to not ever having been bitten.

But, I'm not going to let bug bites worry me. I have bought a head net, DEET wrist and ankle bands and I shall be rubbing raw garlic juice all over myself!

Then, if I do get bitten, I will make myself a paste of salt, baking powder and aspirin to rub on the bites.

If you see a strange person with white paste on their face, a net over their head, eye shades and ear plugs and wrapped in scarves, that will be me!

 

[Tulle]

Hi Timid,
we will be starting from Pamplona on 7 September. We are slow walkers so you will perhaps catch up with us. It should be no problem in recognizing you..
I really hope I will be as lucky as in the previous years - no bugs.
Tulle
PS: No, I'm not French but Norwegian. The word "tulle" means a little girl, but I'm far from that. In a couple of years I hope to celebrate my 70th birthday in Santiago de Compostela and to spend a couple of nights in the parador!

 

[Timid]

Thank you for teaching me Norwegian, Tulle!

Tulle, of course, in English, is that net material that is used for ballet skirts, bride's veils, etc.

There is a town called Tulle in the Correze in France. It is an area of great interest to me as that area of France was very active in the Resistance movement during the last war.

Whilst not a native of France, I live in France and I am always consumed with curiosity by the parts of France that I have not yet visited.

Our weekend in the Basque country was totally absorbing, not least because it meant we have now done the bit of the Compostelle as far as Roncevaux.

Indeed, you will know me straighaway, what with the head net, etc. :lol:

 

[ranthr]

Hello!
I do not think insects will be a problem on the road. Last autumn there were a lot of flies of some kind on the meseta a day or too, annoying, but they did not bite. In spring 2005 the same a day over the mountain from Foncebadon.
What I think bother people most is the bed bug problem in some of the albergues. I was warned to stay at certain gites in France and in some places we were checked before entering and were not allowed to use our own sleepingbag or put things on the bed. On the camino I heard people beeing bitten, but it did not happen to me.
In a year with more pilgrims than ever, I guess the bedbug problem will be even worse
I would ask at the refugios if there is a problem with bedbugs. One can look under the beds, lift the bedclothes and so on. To avoid getting the bugs in your backpack, bring a big plastic bag to put it into when standing on the floor.
I do not think repellents of any kind help very much about the bedbugs. The best thing is to stay away from where they are.
And Tulle, I have carried with me my Norwegian "myggmelk", the best insect repellent in my opinion, for 130 days on the camino without using it. Next time I leave it at home.
Randi

 

[Anniesantiago]

If you do a search on bedbugs, I have posted this information before.

When I walked the Camino last year, the bedbugs were a huge problem. I went to a farmacia, and the pharmacist sold me some regular spray mosquito repellant, the kind you spray on your body.

When I entered the alburgue, I would lightly mist the top of the bed, maybe 2 or three sprays onto the bed. Then I'd wait 5 minutes. If there were bedbugs, they would come out, I would see them, and go to another place. If no bedbugs appeared, we slept there.

We were not bitten once.

The mist dissipates quickly, and is not obnoxiously apparent. I am chemically sensitive and this did not bother me. By the time I went to bed, the scent was gone.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

From a 2006 article:

The results of the LT50 analysis indicated that all of the pyrethroid insecticides killed the Harlan laboratory strain bed bugs relatively quickly. In this study, all of the insecticide products tested killed laboratory strain bed bugs, with the pyrethroids working significantly faster than chlorfenapyr. The Harlan strain bed bugs are a long-term, susceptible laboratory strain. Therefore, they succumbed relatively quickly to the pyrethroid insecticides. We observed that none of the insecticides tested, including the pryrethroids, were repellent to bed bugs. the results were consistent with the statement in Usinger (1966) that "all common bed bug repellents were tested and none prevented bed bugs from crossing a treated ring around a simulated bed post."

DEET may be a better repellent, but the pyretherin will kill the little buggers.

 

[Timid]

I have bought DEET impregnated wrist and ankle bands. Don't know if they'll do any good.

But, the insect bugs I had from last weekend are only now beginning to fade.

Good news is, my insect net has arrived: this is a very fine mesh net that covers all of my head and I intend to wear it day and night.

I think I could cope with bites on my arms, legs and body but the bites around the eyes practically made my eyes impossible to open and my face was such a mess that I looked like a middle-aged teenager with a bad case of acne!