We ate breakfast at the hostel with a very cool couple in their late 40’s who came to Colombia for work and stayed to do the 5 day Lost City Trek. We asked them how hard it was, given that we really do not feel up for treks, and they were saying it was hard and fun and beautiful. I wanted to know about the animals they saw — not birds, more like snakes and bugs and stuff. They are Australian so they brushed it off saying, oh you know, all good, nothing too crazy and even the ticks I (husband) removed from her (wife) weren’t so bad.
“I’m sorry, the what???”
They explained to us city people what ticks looked like and how you are not supposed to pull them off. I wanted to throw up. Avri mysteriously excused himself from the table and went back to the room.
24 hours earlier
Avri: Look at this red dot I have in my stomach. I found it after we did the tubing in the river, I don’t think it was there before.
Pola: Meh, it looks like a zit. Just leave it there.