The Last Word: The Mosquito Has It Not

Prior to our departure, we asked a number of people for a quantitative assessment of what the mosquitos (and other flying insects) are like in Nicaragua. We asked questions like, “If you stood still on a city street, in a city park with trees, and in the country, in and out of the shade, how many mosquito bites might you have in a 15 minute period in each situation?”

The answers we received were all vague and provided no accurate information.

So here’s the definitive answer: during the day, there are essentially NO mosquitos in the city, in or out of the shade or trees, and we haven’t noticed any in our brief trips to the country. That’s right, NONE. It gets dark early (like 5:30), and I’ve hung out with the children on play equipment and on the porch watching the rain and banana fronds in the wind without any bites. We brought bug nets but don’t use them, often don’t even have screens on the windows, and often sleep next to naked with hardly a sheet, with no noticeable bites. Pretty amazing and surprising when one considers all the life here.

During the day, there are a few house flies (no more than in Canada), and at night there are some flies bumping against the lights. One large locust-like creature entered our room this evening (a few inches long), but everything is tiny compared to the plague of mammoths I met in Laos, which will persist in my memory for all time.

As one would expect, a variety of creatures exist in the tropics—but contact with them is infrequent.

So…compare this to the mosquitoes and black flies in Whitehorse (and don’t forget the aphid-covered aspen leaves) and, bug-wise, we have a clear winner.

Just try not to step on an anthill—boy, those tiny little guys are sure equipped to defend the nest!