San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico is a delightful small town right on the beach about 3 hours north of Puerto Vallarta. The little town has a lot of things going for it. It's more affordable than most cities we've been to in Mexico. Things are pretty laid back here, and something about it makes the days feel longer, in a good way. The town has also a certain energy that gives it a strong sense of tranquility.
Flies haven't really been a problem here, but as I was sitting outside writing a Steemit post this morning, two flies kept wanting to land on my left shoulder. After about three swats at them with my hand, they quit bothering me.
I didn't think I had actually killed either of them, but then about 30 minutes later I looked down and saw this:
Eight small ants were carrying away the fly that I had killed earlier. Ants are pretty amazing creatures with the ability to carry objects much larger than themselves! I never realized how they carried things until looking at this photo. They have two long arms on the front of their bodies that look like antennae and they use these arms to haul (relatively) giant flies back to their colony.
One of the big negatives you'll hear about in San Blas is the bugs. Tiny jejenes (hay-hen-aze) also known as "no-see-ums" will eat you alive and will leave you with extremely itchy welts all over your skin (that last for about 2 weeks) if you're not properly prepared.
We didn't come prepared and these are just some of the itchy jejene bites on my arm.
The moment you get to San Blas, do yourself a favor and head over to the San Blas Social Club to buy one of their home-made bug repellants. Very few things work to keep the jejenes away, but this repellant works wonderfully to keep those and everything else away. Plus, unlike typical bug repellant, it has a pleasant smell, similar to peppermint. You'll have a much more enjoyable visit to San Blas if you don't have to spend the whole time worrying about the bugs.
In San Blas, we're staying at the San Blas Social Club, which is a boutique hotel, bar, and restaurant. We booked it on Airbnb, and after the weekly discount, we're paying about $24 per night. Watch the video tour of our Airbnb below.
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@sharingeverybite (Maddie)
@shenanigator (Jordan)
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Ohh you have some good friends doing their job eating those flies.. sad those jejenes were eating you but you will fine.
cheers.
In two weeks we will be! ;)
Glad we got some of this bug repellant to keep them at bay now. It only took one good feast and we have been up every single night itching since then. Ants are amazing creatures, right? Compared to their size, that fly is HUGE!
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So much fun you must have had there but for the bugs.
About your hand, did you not purchase the reppellent? Or did you not use them?
Those ants are are ten ( 10) by the way. Two may probably be just resting. If you checked latter, they may probably have gotten back to work
We purchased the repellant after a few days here, but the bugs had already bitten us by that point in time.
As for the ants, I was just counting the ones who were actually touching the fly at the moment of the picture. You're probably right about them just resting before getting back to work. I suppose ants probably need rest, just like us humans :)
Jordan
I think those noseeums are also called sand flies or sand fleas. Unfortunately most beaches seem to have them and yeah man do they sting when they bite.
Not to freak you out but funny story, I used to watch that show called I shoudln't be alive and very rarely they can lay eggs under your skin and cause a lot of issues. I remember watching the episode about them the night before I left for my beach vacation in Negril Jamaica and they have them bad there. It had me freaked out lol
That is so not a funny story! Haha. If you were trying not to freak us out, you didn't do a very good job Lol.
Because of your comment, I just put tea tree oil all over my arms and legs to (hopefully) kill any eggs they may have laid.
You're right about what they're called in English. Jejenes is the Spanish word for them.
Jordan
Oh gawd, oh gawwwwdddd!! What?!? How do you know if they laid any eggs???? I HAVE THEM, I THINK I HAVE THEM. HAHHHLLPP!
-Maddie
Here's the episode lol
https://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/monsters-inside-me/videos/the-leishmania-parasite
Very small, but beautiful town. I particularly love that hotel room. I have always loved portable and cute places. Ants are really smart. Even the Bible asked lazy people to consider the ways of the ant. They gather so much in, during dry season, and feast, when the wet season comes. Small, but mighty, they are very orderly too. Always co-operative.
Really glad you could show us around San Blas. I am still kinda scared of those bugs but then, the repellent should be able to do the job. Well done guys. I enjoy watching you.
They are pretty awesome creatures! Maddie actually wrote a post on ants for @communitycoin a couple of weeks ago.
I didn't know that about the Bible. It's certainly not untrue or unwise. Thanks for pointing that out :)
The repellant has done an excellent job since we purchased it and started using it.
Jordan
That's pretty amazing. Thank you for your visit to my posts. You got me excited with that. Many thanks. Glad the repellent are working. You said something about using oil, hope it's clearing up now?
We've heard the welts from these bites can last for weeks. Eeeek! We're going to have to read your posts more often, you write well :)
Jordan
Weeks? Wow! So sorry.
Wow! That's so nice of you. Thank you. This means a lot to me. Wow.
Hope you all don't too itchy from the bug bite....I had a bug bite on my ankle the last year and became a big ordeal when spread all over my legs , thighs and arms....not looking forward to bug season.
These bites are extremely itchy. We're told that the bugs alone keep most tourists away from San Blas. It's not bad if you have good repellant though.
That's crazy! Any idea what kind of bug got you?
chiggers....I scratched it with infected hand working with cellphones all day taking in the customers phone to be repairs.
This infection got worse and worse, I put on insect medicine but did not heal....took 3 months to heal and itchy 24/7...kept working though.....it still comes back not and then....still not completely healed.
That sounds awful! Sorry you had to go through all of that. We've been uncomfortable with the itching for a few days, can't even imagine what you went through for THREE months. :( Wish there was something we could do to help make it heal all the way for you.
So, I quit putting on the insect medicine instead, applied apple cider vinagar, baking powder, olive oil, alo vera and oregano oil one at time and expiermented....All helped....What I figured out recently is that the hard water in AR could be the main problem for my skin.....I quit taking shower 1 to 2 week at a time on the lower legs where itch was worst and quit itching as bad and almost healed up now.
What a cute little place!