Saturday 30 April 2016

A taste of Maputo Waters and its Bluebottle Jellyfish





A view of the port while we were on a ferry taking us to Catembe


Ferries are a very popular mode of transport in Maputo. All these people were either getting of or trying to get on one


I took this picture at the Catembe Gallery Hotel

Unfortunately I could not get a better picture of  that yellow ferry because my baby was clingy

I had a nightmarish experience after being stung by a Portuguese man 'o war otherwise known as the bluebottle jellyfish. I would have wept if my children had not been around. I don't remember ever being in so much agony before. It felt like I had been seared by a hot wire. I thought i had been bitten by a snake. All I could think to say when I left that place was, "You heartless beach!" 

The bluebottle jellyfish. How so dead and harmless it looks, yet so unbelievably evil L

That stringy thing is like a thin thread and when it got onto my skin it felt like it wanted to penetrate the skin. I think if you left it on it would penetrate, but you won't because the pain is so  incredibly intense.

I was left with what looked like burn marks on my arms. And there was an intense burning sensation. 

Two days after the marks turned red


The legacy of the jellyfish a month later. Looks like I will have scars to show when, in 20 years time, I tell my grandchildren about the day I got stung by the bluebottle jellyfish 



The water in Maputo is quite murky. In other places I heard it was clear.



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