Spiders, Scorpions and other bugs...

By the time you read this we will be away from Monteverde and the cloud forest which is home to all sorts of nasty critters. The hotel where we stayed is located outside the city and there is forest all around us, so many of these critters tend to find their way into our hotel rooms. Several of our students have been quite "freaked out" by the spiders and other insects in their rooms. We have heard that individuals from other EF groups have actually been stung by the scorpions. Luckily this species of scorpion has a fairly mild poison that is not much worse than a bee sting. That being said they are still really quite disgusting. On a personal note...I was under the impression that scorpions are fairly large (don't fit under doors) and that they live on the forest floor (they can't climb) but apparently I was wrong on both accounts. Last night when I went into my room, I checked my bed, bathroom, floors, and walls for big spiders and scorpions and was pretty sure my room was clear. I crawled into bed and looked up only to realize that I had left the overhead light on. As I looked at the light fixture, I noticed something brown and fuzzy on the side of the light fixture. To my surprise, I realized that it was a scorpion! Now I'm as brave as anyone, but I had visions of this little fellow, falling from the light fixture in the dark and ending up in my bed and I wasn't having any of that nonsense. The ceiling in my room is vaulted and is about 15 feet from the floor. It must have looked quite humourous when I got up on the bed with my sweatshirt in hand, jumped as high as I could and swatted the scorpion, who went flying off the light fixture, into the corner of the room and onto the floor. From there the nasty little thing started scurrying across the floor towards me. I grabbed my shoe and with a quick swat, flattened him. I was so disgusted I didn't even think to get out my camera. I told the adults about my little adventure but didn't tell any of the students because I didn't want them even more freaked out. I'll tell them when we get out of Monteverde.