BootsnAll Travel Community

We all know one of the most annoying aspects of travelling in the tropics is dealing with mosquitoes. How do you deal with them and what are your techniques?

nick

One tactic I use is to carry a lungi ( an large Indian sheet ). Its really thin and I just cover my whole body with it. I may get a couple of bites, but it definately helps.

I've taken a lightweight net with me before and have found that on occassion I'm trapped inside it with one crazed mosquito....heaven for him, hell for me.

The coils help out too, but in Indonesia some of the mozzies don't even notice it.

-nick-

to have both coils and a good sting-pain-reliever (or whatever they are called) gave me quite a chance not to be knocked out in the first round of the fight most of the time. if you're in a really bad place be sure to set up the mozzie-net during daytime, there is nothing worse than havin a bizzie under the net. most of those sting-relievers are crap, but then there are some really good ones. i always use a one called "sting-eze" i once bought in canada, but i don't know if that works for everyone. my doctor told me to put an aspirin into water and then use the liquid on the sting to ease the pain and to desinfect the thing. i've never tried that though.

I am prone to mosquito bites. If there is a mosquito within 20 miles they will seek me out!
This works for me - maybe not for everyone.

Try washing with Dettol soap.

I am prone to mosquito bites. If there is a mosquito within 20 miles they will seek me out!
This works for me - maybe not for everyone.

Try washing with Dettol soap.

I went to thialand last year and wasnt bitten once!

Two of my friends were covered in bites...the only difference we could think of and the reason is I am a monkey!

Well ...as in have alot of body hair!!!

Apperently they hate this...dont know if there is any scientific evidence in that theory??""

The body hair could deffo be a factor... I've also heard that there are some people who have a certain body/blood chemistry that turns off mozzies, can't remember specifics though...

This ring anyone else's bells?

I went to Australia with 2 buddies. One was like a mozzie magnet, the other could sit around at bug hour in the tropics and get maybe one bite. I'm in the middle.

The healthiest guy was the one bitten least, unhealthiest most.....don't know whether that's significant.

I've heard eating vitamin B helps as well as garlic.

In Bali I stayed at an ex-pats house in a small section of jungle. At bug hour the mozzies came out with a vengence and at night I slept in a huge bed with those massive double nets.....kind of cool, reminded me of a Bogart flick.

nic

I heard drinking a lot of Schweppes tonic also helps keeping mosquitos away.

Does any one know why mosquitos bite some people and not others?
I was told (maybe untrue) that it all depended on body temperature (ours not theirs) and that only the females bite. Also, it may have something to do with what we eat - what comes out through our pores in sweat. Maybe we taste sweet? Any ideas?

Maybe I'm one of those lucky ones who tends to be somewhat immune to mosiquito bites. Wasn't true as a kid, but now they don't seem to bother me much. Even when bit, there's no swelling or itching. It bugs my girlfriend when I sit and watch them bite and fill with blood. Go figure. Not true with horseflies in the US or sandflies in NZ or tsetse flies in Africa, but that's another discussion.

steve

I've always been a mosquito attractor, and sometimes the bites take weeks to disappear. The best remedy I know for stopping the itching is willpower -- just don't scratch the bloody things!

The best solution I've found for preventing 'em is a natural product from Burt's Bees (a small New England company that's getting big distribution in the US now). Their insect repellant combines lemongrass oil, eucalyptus, and some other aromatic stuff, but has no deet or similar.

So far the only time it's failed me was at a beach-side restaurant in northern Spain a few weeks ago. When the breeze died the little buzzers swarmed my ankles.

I have also read that it's only the females that bite, and that it's only the males that buzz. But if you hear him, she's probably there too.

Finally, Avon Skin-So-Soft, the skin lotion that many in the US find also wards off bugs (much to Avon's chagrin), doesn't do s*&t for me, other than make me sneeze.

Mi

Wherever you go, there you are.