Leeches are as leeches do. They are much maligned creatures. One expects them to be engorged with blood from a hapless victim, sinister creatures with no morals, blood suckers, etc. In reality, they are no more than an inch in length and quite often can be mistaken for earthworms, except for their colour. A leech that has partially fed itself looks like this.
Yes, it is not a pretty creature. And judging from their desperation to cling on to anything, they remind me of eternal romantics, dil phenk characters that I run in to from time to time.
I encountered leeches in good number in our trek to the Kempty falls, some 14 km from the academy as the road rolls. The trek path may have been much shorter- not more than 15 km in all. There was a trek briefing yesterday, complete with Google Earth view of the trek path. Needless to say, the GPS-computer jazz did not resemble anything we have seen on ground. That much must be obvious. Doh.
The trek briefing had specific instructions on how to deal with leeches. A fistful of salt liberally applied on parts of the body vulnerable to leeching, would get rid of the creature. I saw it in practice today when a sprinkling of salt antagonized the leech. They were present in full numbers in parts of the trek through the mulch and dense undergrowth.
The trek in itself was uneventful. The upper reaches of the Kempty falls have improved a bit, with cement pavement in place of boulders behind which the tourists would unburden themselves.
I shall continue this post at a leisure time. I need to sleep now.
