In an attempt to save some money while traveling I brought a tent and sleeping bag. Unfortunately these two things take up 50% of the space inside my backpack. If I store these on the outside of my backpack the bag becomes to wide to fit into overhead storage in buses etc. so I have to carry my small backpack on the front of me and the larger one on my back. It makes backpackers look pretty goofy, but many have to do it. Here is an example of it:
However the difference in price for camping instead of staying in a dorm can be $2-$5 instead of $8-$13 dollars per night. That cash adds up fast and if you really want to live on a budget it's a great option. So after two nights at the lodge I decided that I would try and camp, especially since the food on the island was expensive (but very tasty). But my night was about to get real weird...
So here I am tired from a great day at the beach, hanging out with new friends and filled with new experiences. Tired from all that I took in a said goodnight to my friends and headed for the tent. Of course the first thing that I dealt with while trying to sleep in a tent on the beach was the sand...lots of sand, then I realized that I had no fan so not to get too graphic but I decided it would probably be more comfortable to sleep without clothes (it's like 90+ degrees). That was when it started...
I wake up with the feeling that something just brushed against my butt, I swing at it with my hand to brush it away. What I felt next made no sense to me at all. Disoriented, exhausted, and in the pitch-black I reached out again to feel what was unmistakably a crab...WHY is there a crab in my tent? How do I get it out? How big is this thing? Why did I take my clothes off? Why did I lock the two zippers of the tent together? A flood of questions popped into my mind, and the only answer I could think of was find some light and fast. So I start searching for my flashlight on the floor of the tent. Grabbing around in all directions in the tent and every fifth grab touching the crab that was running in circles around the edge of the tent. I had forgotten that my flashlight was up in a pouch on the side of tent...For what had to be 15-20 mins I am feeling around, unable to find any light. I'm just about ready to fall back asleep with the crab inside the tent when I feel something else familiar under my sleeping bag. MY CELLPHONE! Perfect, once I have light the first thing that I do is find where the crab is...I corner it in the front of the tent next to the zippers, this thing is huge (like 6 inches) and I have no idea how it got inside. I find my keys with the light from the phone and finally escort my new friend out. The rest of my night of sleep was interrupted in waking fits of terror that something else like a scorpion was going to find it's way in too.
Luckily and unluckily no-one else joined me in the tent for the rest of the night. Certainly one of the last things I was expecting while traveling though.
So here I am tired from a great day at the beach, hanging out with new friends and filled with new experiences. Tired from all that I took in a said goodnight to my friends and headed for the tent. Of course the first thing that I dealt with while trying to sleep in a tent on the beach was the sand...lots of sand, then I realized that I had no fan so not to get too graphic but I decided it would probably be more comfortable to sleep without clothes (it's like 90+ degrees). That was when it started...
I wake up with the feeling that something just brushed against my butt, I swing at it with my hand to brush it away. What I felt next made no sense to me at all. Disoriented, exhausted, and in the pitch-black I reached out again to feel what was unmistakably a crab...WHY is there a crab in my tent? How do I get it out? How big is this thing? Why did I take my clothes off? Why did I lock the two zippers of the tent together? A flood of questions popped into my mind, and the only answer I could think of was find some light and fast. So I start searching for my flashlight on the floor of the tent. Grabbing around in all directions in the tent and every fifth grab touching the crab that was running in circles around the edge of the tent. I had forgotten that my flashlight was up in a pouch on the side of tent...For what had to be 15-20 mins I am feeling around, unable to find any light. I'm just about ready to fall back asleep with the crab inside the tent when I feel something else familiar under my sleeping bag. MY CELLPHONE! Perfect, once I have light the first thing that I do is find where the crab is...I corner it in the front of the tent next to the zippers, this thing is huge (like 6 inches) and I have no idea how it got inside. I find my keys with the light from the phone and finally escort my new friend out. The rest of my night of sleep was interrupted in waking fits of terror that something else like a scorpion was going to find it's way in too.
Luckily and unluckily no-one else joined me in the tent for the rest of the night. Certainly one of the last things I was expecting while traveling though.
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