Has anyone else been bitten badly by unseen bugs at Mana Pools, causing itch like crazy for 2 months?
The locals call it ’11 O’ Clock’
We were given free cans of Insecticide sprays at the office.
Should have seen that as an omen…
Mana is heaven, but these bugs caused us hell!!!

[regmark]

regmark on 18th July 2020 at 7:22 pm

It sounds like sand flea. Get it at Elephant Sands as well. Pharmacies have an ointment cant remember the name of it.

Sorry no much help.

 

[Ansie du Toit]

Ansie du Toit on 5th August 2020 at 6:03 am

We were at Mana and Chitake Springs no 3  in Sept 2019. We did’t know at first what caused the “bites” and the itch was terrible. We realised later it was Tsetse fly. They sit on you and the bite marks show much later and then the itch  start. Tabbard…. they laughed all those repellants off. We had a concoction that consisted of dettol, citronella- and olive oil that kept them a little at bay. Nothing helped for the itch, though, except not to scratch (lol). Mana what an experience …..

[Kevin Azzie]

Kevin Azzie on 21st October 2020 at 7:06 am

If you were walking through long grass during summer, or at the beginning of rainy season, consider burrowing “pepper-ticks”…. the larval stages of the red or black buggers one finds crawing across the sand.

They hatch out when co ditions become moist, and usually locate around your ankles under your sock-line, or inder your belt, or under the elastics of your under-wear…. (they get trapped here and then burrow into the skin.

Start itching a day or 2 after the exposure and itch for about a week. Its only when you actually dig them out of your skin (leaving your skin full of little scabs) that the itch stops at each site.

Wearing long pants and gaiters, or spraying Tabbard all over your legs before the walks does help (if wearing shorts), but Bayticol not ideal with shorts because you should not apply Bayticol directly onto  skin.