Surgery on myself.

Note: Please only read this when you have a strong stomach. Over the last few days the bottom of my right foot started hurting right under my small toe. When it started I had a quick look and thought it was a splinter of wood; so "no worries". But, yesterday it started to hurt again so I took out my Swiss Army Knife, my small bottle with anti-bacterial, and started to work.

After cutting away an unusual amount of skin I noticed it wasn't a splinter as it took a lot of trouble to take 'it' out. When it was finally out I noticed a small white dot. Nothing was infected, so I didn't know what it was, and thus continued the surgery. After more cutting I took out a white egg of around 4 by 5 mm! After making sure this was really the only one, I disinfected everything very carefully, and checked my whole body for other intruders: none found.

So where does this chap come from? Two possible reasons:

1. Early last week I went to the bathroom and only noticed the puddle of water next to the toilet once I stood in it. Although I did immediately clean my feet with soap, I may have had a small cut somewhere in my foot, etc.

2. Being Dutch means that one is often taller than both the Congolese and the expats. Consequently, all the beds I sleep in are too small. It is possible that in the evening my food touched the mosquito net and one of those flying chaps thought about migrating to my foot.

Anyhow, I'm ok. I noticed it on time and I had the tools to deal with it. Moreover, I have good shoes, mosquito nets and soap so it is unlikely that it will happen soon again. However, think about the Congolese. They do not have a Swiss Army Knife and no bottle of anti-bacterial. Also, the forest is one big public toilet and almost none of the Congolese has good shoes, soap or a mosquito net for that matter.

My camera had problems taking a picture of it, but to the left my little friend: