I seem to be a mosquito magnet and suffer all summer at home since our mosquito district no longer actively sprays and now just goes around and fines people with standing water...
Anyway, how bad are the CF Mosquitos? I leave in less than 2 weeks and will be walking Bizkarreta to Burgos including museum days in Pamplona, Burgos and Madrid. I am packing my anti-itch creme, and that barely helps. Do I need to pick up the local version of DEET at the first pharmacy I come upon?
As a general statement, mosquitos will be more prevalent where there are good breeding sites nearby. As egg-laying involves using stagnant water to serve as a "nest," mosquitoes could be anywhere along the Camino. However, they are likely to be less prevalent along the driest, least populated areas (the Meseta) with the driest and hottest conditions.
There are several primary elements to attracting mosquitoes and most other nuisance insects: body scent and carbon dioxide. We can control some of the targeting components. Others are beyond our control. Here is what I learned based on some fast research:
- A mosquito has a variety of ways of finding their prey, including chemical, visual, and heat sensors.
- The feeding preferences of mosquitos include those with type O blood, heavy breathers, those with a lot of skin bacteria (scent), people with a lot of body heat, the pregnant, and those exuding sweet scents from body hygiene products.
- Female mosquitoes hunt their blood host by detecting organic substances such as carbon dioxide and other scents produced by the host, and through optical recognition. Mosquitoes prefer some people over others.
- The preferred victim's sweat simply smells better than others because of the proportions of the carbon dioxide, octenol and other compounds that make up body odor. The sweeter you smell, the tastier you are to a mosquito.
- A large part of the mosquito’s sense of smell, or olfactory system, is devoted to sniffing out blood sources.
Generally, the search for a host takes place in two phases. First, the mosquito exhibits a nonspecific searching behavior until the perception of host stimulants, then it follows a targeted approach.
So, while you can reduce your attraction to mosquitoes, there is no way to completely avoid getting bit. What I would suggest, based on my findings and personal experience growing up in a US state where the state bird was the laughingly regarded to be the mosquito, as large as hummingbirds some said, are the following steps.
- Do not wear, wash, groom, bathe, or apply any substance on your body that contains ANY scent. This includes deodorant, liquid soap, hair products (there is no such thing as a good hair day on the Camino), shave cream, perfume, cologne, make-up, etc. The sole exception would be toothpaste, as that is internal (ish).
- Use plant-based, scent free, glycerine or olive oil-based soaps for ALL of you, to the maximum extent possible.
- Shave rarely using a scent-free cream, or not at all. Many men grow Camino beards, and (ladies) no one can see your legs or other places anyway. Think of it as a vacation...
- Try not to exhale profusely. Yes, I know we all exhale, but try to do so "delicately" especially if you are sitting still in a hot, humid area where mosquitoes are likely to be. A large exhalation of carbon dioxide is like chumming the sea to attract a shark.
- In my experience, I also found, empirically (not scientifically) that brighter colors that appear to be local flowers will also attract mosquitoes and other nuisance insects, again, especially if you are sedentary. If you are moving, the attraction is not so great. But if the mosquitos think you are a large shrub with lots of nectar containing flowers they are going to come closer for a more careful look-see. Once they do that, they will smell your scent and detect the CO2.
Those of us who are NOT type O blood are at an advantage. The rest of you will need a DEET containing repellent and an after bite, anti-itch cream.
I hope this helps.
Tea tree oil dabbed onto my clothes seemed to help a bit. I got some good anti itch cream from the farmacia...
