When you travel abroad you have to expect mysterious medical challenges. Within 3 days of arriving in Botswana, my exploratory 6-year old had developed a red, itchy, bumpy rash all over his feet, hands, knees, and elbows. Naturally it was a Sunday when the rash first popped up, and naturally the local urgent care clinic was closed (and would be for two more weeks, judging from the handwritten sign taped to the door).
It turned out that my 6-year old had played with a hairy caterpillar. The hairs of this caterpillar are easy to spread all over your body if you rub say a knee, then a foot, then an elbow after touching the caterpillar. They cause all those red bumps. People who live here are very aware of the caterpillars and go to great lengths to avoid them. Thankfully, my 6-year old is very tolerant of itchy bumps and they went away after a week or so, perhaps helped by the anti-histamines I picked up at a local pharmacy, which was open on Sunday!
