15Feb 2013

The time I was attacked by vampire bats

On Flashback Fridays I reflect back on some of my past travels and travel mishaps before I started this blog (follow at #FlashbackFri): A few years ago I traveled to Tena Ecuador to what would be my first ever encounter with the mighty Amazon Rainforest. Most of you who know me know that I love jungles. It all started with the Jungle Book as a toddler, then Tarzan at primary school, Indiana Jones at middle school, and then I started reading stories about El Dorado during my Spanish classes at high school. I was hooked. I was intrigued. I wanted to be an explorer!

Turns out I ended up working for the British Civil Service – which was not quite what I had in mind all those years ago – but that didn’t stop me from dreaming about my jungle adventures. When we arrived in Tena Ecuador my fantasies of living the life of an explorer finally came true. Not only was I about to embark on a steamy jungle trek, but I was also staying in a tree house overlooking the mighty Amazon River. And so remote was our lodge that the only way to reach it was via a zip line. In your face Tarzan!

Room with a view

When we embarked on our jungle trek I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Were there going to be jaguars, snakes or poisonous spiders that would attack me? It turned out that I would indeed be attacked. Not by snakes or jaguars, but by animals I least expected in the jungle – Vampire Bats. There was a point during our trek, where the only way forward was to climb up a small rock canyon. It was really narrow and quite dark and I couldn’t help but notice some weird chirping noises and a very penetrating smell – Chris was behind me so that ruled him out – so I climbed on until something flew straight in my face. And then another thing. And another 10. All of the sudden we were surrounded.

It turned out that we just awoke some sleeping vampire bats who were none too happy that we’d disturbed their sleep. Problem was that I was stuck between the two canyon walls we were climbing. In fact the only thing that was holding me up was my bum on one wall and my feet on the other wall. Shielding off attacking bats in that position was a bit of a challenge to say the least, but luckily the bats soon disappeared again. I had always thought that vampire bats live in Transylvania, but it turns out that they actually live in the Amazon – particularly in Tena Ecuador.

Vampire bats about to attack me

As vampire bats transmit rabies Chris checked if I had any bites or foam coming out of my mouth (as you do), but in the absence of both we continued our trek. To calm us down our guide thought it would be fun showing us European girls how to look like native jungle princesses – though with hindsight we’d probably just indulged a very disturbed fantasy of his…

And that was that time I was attacked by vampire bats. Have you ever been attacked by animals during your travels?

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By Blogsdna

Posted in: Amazon, Ecuador, flashbackfriday, jungle, travel

About Tammyonthemove

Tammy & Chris are a couple hailing from Germany and England, meaning between them they are efficient and polite, but unable to talk about football. Find out why they stopped pushing pens around the British civil service to travel the world on their blog.

View all posts by Tammyonthemove →

18 Thoughts on “The time I was attacked by vampire bats”

Carmen Allan-Petale on February 15, 2013 at 9:24 am said:

I was attacked by a warthog in Zimbabwe once! I tried to pat her baby and she went for me…

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kayseri fizik tedavi ve rehabilitasyon on February 17, 2013 at 2:11 pm said:

it looks like really great. you had great fun i think 🙂

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Tammy and Chris on the move on February 18, 2013 at 1:32 am said:

@Carmen: OMG, a warthog? That is scary! They can cause serious harm I think.

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Tammy and Chris on the move on February 18, 2013 at 1:32 am said:

@kayseri fizik tedavi ve rehabilitasyon: I certainly had (despite the bats)! Highly recommend it!

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Debbie @ European Travelista on February 20, 2013 at 3:39 am said:

I’ve not experienced anything quite like Vampire Bats! I think that would freak me out. The only thing that has attacked me was a bird when I got to close to its nest!

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Arianwen on February 20, 2013 at 3:52 am said:

Yikes! That’s scary! I heard about a woman who had a bat brush against her face and she died from rabies!!! You were lucky! I had a monkey bite me in Peru but it didn’t break the skin. Stay safe!!

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Tammy and Chris on the move on February 20, 2013 at 3:53 am said:

Ha ha, birds can be quite nasty too when you come too close. Just think about geese. Evil things!

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Tammy and Chris on the move on February 20, 2013 at 3:57 am said:

@Arianwen: OMG, really? That is scary! Glad I had my jabs. Monkey bites sound painful and nasty too though. They can transmit rabies too I think.

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Christopher Allen on February 20, 2013 at 4:30 am said:

Lovely post. And definitely not a pleasant experience to be attacked by a bat. I was attacked by a monkey on Bali once, but I came away with little more than a few scratches and very dirty clothes.

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Tammy and Chris on the move on February 20, 2013 at 4:43 am said:

Thanks Christopher! What is it with monkeys biting people all the time? I used to find them really cute, but now I am scared!

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http://inspiringtravellers.com on February 21, 2013 at 3:29 pm said:

Oh goodness – scary! Glad you were ok

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Tammy and Chris on the move on February 22, 2013 at 3:36 am said:

Thanks guys! I am glad I didn’t turn into a vampire. 😉

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Andrew Jason on March 9, 2013 at 4:36 am said:

What a great post! All of these are so heartfelt. We all have our own experiences. It definitely teaches all the lessons we need to learn! and thanks God i haven’t encounter by any animal attack during my travelling.

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Tammy and Chris on the move on March 11, 2013 at 4:04 am said:

Thanks Andrew! Yeah, you never know what kind of animal is lurking behind the bush these days. 🙂

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Sadaf Khan on March 19, 2013 at 7:53 am said:

That’s Fabulous Blog I’m glad that i drop by your page and found this very interesting. So lovely, What a special place it must be. I’ve truly not really experienced everything that can match Bats! I do believe that will freak everyone out and about.

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Tammy and Chris on the move on April 1, 2013 at 8:36 am said:

Thanks very much Sadaf! Glad you dropped by! It was a bit freaky, but luckily I didn’t turn into a vampire.

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Arpan Mandal on August 13, 2014 at 4:52 am said:

Cool post. I was slapped by a monkey once..Hurt my pride more than my face.. LOL!
Arpan Mandal recently posted…Dealing With Egyptians: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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- Tammyonthemove on August 13, 2014 at 8:31 am said:
  
  Ah ha ha, that’s funny. Monkeys can be vicious actually. My friend got bitten once.
  
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