Afraid of spiders, part II
 

Thanks for all the great reassurances...Sadly, I'm still not reassured.

If I stay in an "upstairs" room (though I don't know how many multi-storey, quaint, family-run and eco-friendly options there are) will I be better protected from the little buggers (must say, now it's really the scorpions that are freaking me out)?

Please don't take offense to this, but are you sure you want to go somewhere that you may encounter "critters" you are deathly afraid of?

It seems to me that your concerns are going to seriously hamper your enjoyment of your vacation.

Yes, I am very sure I want to got to Costa Rica. My said fear of spiders is mostly tongue in cheek. I do, however, have a real fear of scorpions. Is that so bizarre? Aren't a lot of them poisonous and deadly? At the very least, do their stings not cause great pain?

So, if your question is, "are you afraid of painful stings and deadly toxins being injected into your body on your honeymoon?" then the answer is a resounding "yes".

But if the question is, "do you want to travel in a place where millions have travelled before you and lived to tell glorious tales of the place?" then the answer is also a resounding "yes"--with a but attached: "but is there some way I can limit my exposure to arachnids that want to hurt me while I'm there???"

On my first trip to Costa Rica three years ago, I learned the hard way that you should not leave any clothing on the floor. I left a pair of pull-on gym shorts next to the bed. In the early morning I heard some unusual birds outside our window and got up to look. I slipped my gym shorts on and ...Yeow. A scorpion had decided to spend the night in my shorts and apparently did not appreciate being awakened early. My wife was not particularly relieved when the guidebook stated that scorpion bites are "rarely" fatal. In fact, I think the scorpions in CR are less toxic than those found in Mexico, and are almost never fatal. They are, however, painful, and we brought Benedryl along the next time. On our last trip to CR we kept all our clothes in our zipped suitcases and did not use the dressers. I only saw one scorpion this time and it was dead.

We have not encountered any scorpions on our 3 trips to Costa Rica but did have one big black spider in our shower on one of our trips ;-) Otherwise the critters didn't bother us (of course you need to be prepared for ants, geccos, moths etc. being in your room - most of the critters you encounter there are harmless). One unfortunate incident we had was an iguana bite but this was totally our own fault. On our first trip our daughter was hand feeding iguanas that were sunning themselves on our deck and got bitten on her finger. The hotel called a doctor for us and he reassured us that it was harmless (as long as she had her shots) and advised us just to keep it clean and let it heal.
You can take some simple precautions: whenever you leave your room after dark, be sure to turn off all of the lights as they attract critters. Make sure you don't leave screens open. Shake out clothing and shoes that were left in the open before you put them on.

Excellent advise by Iza. Don't be afraid of the geccos. They will be your best friends in the removal of the creepy crawlies that you fear. When we lived in South Texas we would bring them into the house.

As one who had a suprise bite by a scorpion in all places of my kitchen sink when I'd never seen scorpions in this area (south Georgia) I can tell you that first of all it's not much worse than a bee sting unless you are allergic and you may encounter them in the US as much as anywhere else! Go have fun. There are risks everywhere. Most of the things that we worry about never happen.

Iza, what shots does a person need in order for an iguana bite not to be serious?

Iguanas are not venomous obviously, so you just need to make sure that you have the shots that would be necessary in case of a serious cut or another wound. The doctor that saw our daughter made sure that that she had an updated tetanus shot - that is really the most important one for any cuts or bites.

Yeah, we re-read the guidebook when I got bit. We had one that also said, "rarely fatal." That freaked me out. But after applying benadryl and taking a benadryl pill, I was fine in the a.m.---no pain, no swelling, no redness. It was as though it never happened.

Others did say that the Costa Rican scorpions weren't fatal. I'm wondering "if the rarely fatal" means---unless you have an allergic reaction--like people who are allergic to bees. If so, then my understanding is that it still wouldn't be fatal after applying and taking Benadryl. Ask your doctor about this.

We had a scorpion problem in our new house inthe Atlanta, GA area. You just keep an eye out for them. No one at my house ever got stung.

Raid does not work but Tilex or Clorox cleaner does. (these were handy when I discovered my first scorpion) I dislike them and scorps and spiders make me jumpy. It just that they are so scary looking. I prefer the natural way and let the lizards chow them down.

I am going to Costa Rica for my first trip in April and will stay alert for the little buggers.