ja carsten cock roaches.....you just can't get rid of them and we had some in our cottage in bali they did bite!!!!
pippa

Hehe, you don't need to be from Kenya to know them. They exist nearly all over the world. It is something like a jelly fish. The difference is, it has something like a bubble on it which makes it float. The bubble sticking out of the water makes it able to travel with the wind rather than being stuck to currents in the sea. The long tentacles are highly poisonous and burn like hell (excuse my English but it´s true).

You can find out all details on [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man-of-war]Wikipedia Portuguese Man of War[/URL]

Yup, they bite. Although I must say, I have never been bitten by one. At least not that I know of.

We have the Portuguese man of war here in New England also. I've never seen one, but I heard on the news last summer that people were being stung by them.

Tell me something more about Siafu. I have never seen them on any of my trips to Kenya. Are they only in certain sections of the country? Are they "wet season" ants?

Bugs, even cockroaches (at least the size here in the US) don't bother me a bit. I've never seen a tarantula htough Pippa (except on TV).

Love watching dung beetles. Such hard workers.

One species that I worried about is the scorpion. I've heard many stories of stings in Kenya. The one I saw was pointed out to me on the path by an askari as I was warned to walk well around it. It was just a baby though. Despite not seeing many, I still shake out my shoes before putting them on in the morning, just in case.

I'll bet you guys arranged that group of siafu to be in a certain place just to see that poor girl get naked huh! :-O

Portuguese man of war are those little horrible Jelly Fish that float on the water and have a long tail (tenticle) and they do sting. I have had them a few times whilst diving but they are not highly dangerous. They just leave ahorrible mark for a couple of weeks and it cratches badly after the 3rd day. My daughter got stung by one last year as well. Best remedy is to scrub beach sand very hard for a lot of time if you get stung. It breaks open the poison sacks and "removes" some of it.

Jan - the Siafu are simply red safari ants that bite so bad that when they bite they do not let go.
In early days - the large ones were used to aid in stiching skin wounds or cuts. The head was placed between the cut and as the bite took place - the body was then ripped off and the head and fixed jaws acted as a stitch.
I have not seen this and could be a Kenyan Cowboy bush story.
Safari Ants are found in long trails and are in millions - hence safari ants. What they pass they destroy and eat.

Carsten - correct we would not ask you to get off your bike as that happened automatically... ahahaha - sorry Private joke...!!
However I am sure with all the diving we did; you must have been stung by a P.M of war at some point - they are so common.

Nico, you are obviously not reading my posts propperly I already mentioned it

By the way, I also read in a scientific paper that you can break down the poison of the Portuguese Man of War by holding the affected area in 45 degree warm water.
Else, cold water ie. ice cubes do a good job too as they slow down the spreading and swelling.