Wednesday 30 March 2011

Leeeeeechhh!!!

One of the frequent asked questions by travelers before they trek with us in Borneo (especially ladies) is, 'Is there any leech around?', 'I heard there is a lot of leeches...'

Tiger Leech

I'm here to tell you that, Yes, there are leeches in Borneo!!! But, will leech stop you from exploring the exotic Borneo? I don't know about what you think, but most of the travelers we met, they are all ready to put the small tiny annelids away and explore the oldest rain forest, third largest island in the world - Borneo, with us. For those who is still doubt of it, the good news is, there are trails which is leech-free!!! **phew 

I'm going to share ways with you how to get rid of leeches. Note this, it is going to be useful if you are planning to do a lot of trekking in Borneo.


The easiest way you can get a leech off of your skin is to use a knife or hold the leech with your fingers and slide it (knife or fingernail) underneath the leech and flick it away. 
If you don't feel like scraping the leech off then you can wait a while and the leech will fall off on its own for digestion. I personally think that this is a highly disgusting walking around with leeches, but it is quite a decent method. 

I usually just burn the leeches off because it is the fastest method. But there are articles on the web saying that it is not safe. Anyway, I never heard of people get sicked or infected by leeches, so, I choose to ignore it. :p I won't let the leech hang on to me until it is full UNLESS I didn't notice them. But some people think that leeches sucks blood like mosquito, so they will just leave it there until the next rest stop and get rid of it.

"Common leech" - Hirudinaria

Here are some facts about leeches.
  1. There are 650 known species of leech, luckily we only have few of them here in Malaysia.
  2. Leeches have 32 brains.
  3. They can sustain up to 6 months after 1 feed.
  4. The leech can gorge up to 5 times its body weight.
  5. Leech can be found on fresh water, terrains and sea. In fact one fifth of the species live in the sea!!!
  6. The bite of leeches is painless due to its own anesthetic, and injects an anti-coagulant serum into the victim to prevent the blood clotting.  
  7. Leech hunt by using their sensory organ to detect vibration and temperature. 
  8. Leeches are now classified as FDA-approved medical devices!!! source : "USATODAY"

We are finally up!!!

After struggling for so long, more than 6 hours in front of the laptop (well, I admit that I'm slow in tech stuff) Escapade Borneo finally have it's own blog and Facebook Fan Page.Whoohoo!!!

What's the difference between the 'old' Escapade Borneo and the 'new' one? It is the same... :p The 'new' Escapade Borneo has a blog, a fan page, and a new website on it's way. More organized, so that you can have the updates of what we are doing and where we visited. 

Even thought we always says that we are specialized in custom made trips according to your special interest and personal schedule, the 'new' Escapade Borneo' does have a 'menu' of packages for you to choose. For those who can't make up their mind on where to visit in Borneo, I think these will help you in making up your minds.

We have uploaded an album named 'Glimpse of Borneo' to feed the hunger travelers who wanted to visit Borneo, and yet, doesn't or couldn't have the chance to see it from the eye of a local - Borneons.






 **yawn** time for me to get my beauty sleep. Good night everyone.