Posted By Erin on June 9, 2009

April 23, 2009: Ometempe Island, Lake Nicaragua

The boat ride to the islands was quite lovely, with spectacular views of the two volcanoes: Volá  Maderas (1349 m / 4,425 feet) and the active Volcán Concepcion (1610 m / 5,282 feet).  I couldn’t wait – a couple of days on the beach to relax, do a little hiking and biking and playing in the waterfalls.

Unfortunately our first night there, we had a bit of a nightmare scenario. See, my travel buddy Clara got bit by a scorpion while showering. (Evidently, they like dark damp environments). I knew something was terribly wrong when Clara came screaming out of the shower stark naked. She’s usually pretty darn modest. (Me, I like to streak, so it wouldn’t have been so out of the norm).

I was on point that night to ensure Clara didn’t start frothing at the mouth and convulsing. (It was a bit twisted that she was the one bitten and not me since she’s the nurse, but fate’s funny that way.)

Quite frankly, I’m not sure what I would’ve done if she did start convulsing since there was no hospital or clinic on the island and there were only 2 two-hour ferries a day back to the Nicaraguan mainland. In hopes of calming her down, I assured her I would tie on the tourniquet and attempt to suck the poison out if need be. And I would have. I’m pretty sure.

Luckily, the local advice of “just drink some coffee” worked. At first we thought they were just telling us to have a café and chill out (which would’ve sort of been appropriate, ‘cause Clara was starting to freak out a little).

Then we read on the internet that caffeine restricts your circulation, decreasing the flow of poison throughout your body. Perfect! A round of lattes for the ladies. (I was sympathy drinking at this point because everyone knows you should not give me coffee.)

I’m not too proud to say I actually tried to use the incident to get us a discount on our room that night. “But there are scorpions in the room!” Didn’t work, but I made a valiant effort.

Oh yeah, Clara survived and we both picked up tattoos in the shape of a scorpion to mark the occasion.

Categories: The Americas