Back in business. Also, I hate ants.

I'm currently in a small town called Mancora on the Northern coast of Peru.  The town itself is kind of crummy and touristy but the beach here is great, the water is warm, and the waves are fun to play in.  My last few weeks in Villa Carmen were wonderful and involved working with a scientist doing a fish survey, a camping trip into the cloud forest to put up camera traps for spectacled bears, and floating through down the Pini Pini river in an inner tube.  I haven't posted about these things because some goats (or horses, we aren't sure) managed to bump into the satellite dish and knock out the internet.  Imagine the normal response time to get the cable company out to your house, then compound that by the logistical workings of Peru and an eight hour bus ride through the jungle and you end up with no internet for several weeks.

I really enjoyed my time at Villa Carmen, but was definitely ready to get away from the bugs.  I used to think mosquitoes were some of the worst insects but my opinion has changed recently and ants now hold the number one spot for most irritating insect.  They are everywhere in the jungle.  If you grab a branch they will swarm out of hiding spots and begin biting your hand.  If you are clearing brush with a machete and a plant falls on you, you could very well end up with angry ants around your neck and shoulders.  I've had to take my shirt off more than once to get rid of them.

While caring for some of our snakes outside the serpentarium, I once made the mistake of not looking at where my feet were.  I finished what I was doing and went over to the main room to have lunch only to jump up a second later as I realized ants had crawled up my shoes and socks and were inside my pants.  I had ants in my pants.  I had been standing on a tiny ant hill outside the serpentarium without realizing it and was paying the price as a result.  I ran to my room and whipped off my pants brushing frantically at my legs get rid of all the ants.  Most of them had their jaws in me already so I had to pick them off by hand.  There were maybe two dozen in total. I probably didn't have to crush them all, but I was feeling vengeful.

Jerk.