Sahl Hasheesh - Mosquitos

Sahl Hasheesh - Pier from El Andalous Rooftop

One not-so-good thing about living here is the mosquitos.

I have been trying a number of preventative measures, but as yet with no success.

The first technique was to buy that insect killer that electrocutes them. It may seem barbaric, but after I’ve been bitten twenty times, I’m quite happy to lower my ethical standards. However, it didn’t really work and then the lamp broke anyway. I’ve never bothered to replace it.

I originally had a mosquito net in my bedroom, but I found it annoying when I had the rats and my broken foot as I had to fight back the mosquito net each time I wanted to dash out of my bed (either in fear or for the call of nature). Although I was comforted by thinking that the net made it harder for the rodents to get up on my bed (my biggest fear), I was also convinced I would see the rodents’ antics better if only the curtain weren’t in the way. In the end, I opted for mosquito netting doors so that I could have air coming in from the balcony at night and I took down the mosquito net over my bed.

However, there’s still always one mosquito buzzing round in my flat every single night.

I have the mosquito killer plug-in liquid that evaporates. This didn’t work for me outside, but when I’m in bed the buzzing does seem to stop after about half an hour once I’ve plugged it in. But maybe it’s just psychological and I just end up falling asleep, since when I’m in front of the TV I see no effect whatsoever on that lone mosquito. So, jury is out on that one.

I use “Off” spray as a repellent, which works quite well, but I don’t really like using it. As a potential substitute, I’d heard that spraying yourself with vodka deters the mosquitos. I really liked this idea. It sounded quite decadent. I tried it and actually it didn’t make me smell like an inveterate alcoholic; it was a pleasant and light spray that I enjoyed using. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, which kind of defeated the exercise. I’d also heard that if you sprayed a mosquito directly with the vodka, it would die; however, my lone mosquito just seemed to get drunk and bit me another six times.

Another person told me that drinking a whisky each evening is effective against mosquitos. Unfortunately, I don’t like whisky, but maybe I should try a vodka and orange and see if taking vodka back to its intended use is actually the best medicine. Maybe after a stiff drink, you just don’t care either way!

I’m currently pinning my hopes on daily intake of vitamin B tablets. The advice I’ve heard is that you need to take it for a month before it demonstrates the desired effect; indeed, many people report a distinct lack of bites after receiving a regular regimen of vitamin B1, B6 or vitamin B complex. I’m six days in so far…

And then there’s immunity after around two years, they say. The only problem with that is you are immune only to the mosquitos in your area. Apparently, mosquitos stay and breed within a confined area, so you may turn out to be immune to the ones in your back yard but not to the ones down the road… still, at least I would be able to use my balcony at night.

As for post-bite measures – up until now I’ve been soothing myself with Waleda ointment, which works quite well. Sometimes I’ve used bicarbonate of soda, which is also quite good. Recently, on recommendation, I bought a tube of the local ointment (only costs around 30p!), designed for local mosquito bites, and that too is pretty good. Another thing I’d like to try is one of these bite-zapper things that I’ve heard several people talk about. You put it over the bite, zap it with the gizmo, and then the bite causes you no more itching or anything any more.

But my long-term aim is to be mosquito free!