30 - Sunday, February 8, 1987 ~ North Shore News Travel __ INSECT CONTROL ABROAD Travelling may leave one buggy Many cases of travellers’ com- plaints have nothing to do with drinking water — flies are the Careers in Travel We can open the door to the ff exciting world of travel for YOU f@ & DAY AND EVENING COURSES : B conducted by industry professionals i in TRAVEL COUNSELLING SALES & MARKETING & RESERVEC COMPUTERS B with on-site installations 4 H TRAVEL TRAINING CENTR Ste. 2-1583 Pemberton Ave. spray in your hand luggage. _*k * ONE OF the facts of life, often overlooked by travellers, is that many other parts of the world have more bugs than we do. A recent first-time visitor to Hawaii was confounded by the number of cockroaches she en- countered and the tins of roach spray casually left under the sinks in condos. Another problem that may sur- prise a traveller is the number of biting or stinging insects fying around a tropical paradise. In one hotel in Mexico there was a sign at the reception desk. ‘‘Please in- travel wise by Barbara McCreadie In her entire, sheltered North American life she’s never seen one of the these ctite little critters and here she was blasting away at an army of them. Hawaii has moderate sized roaches compared to some I’ve seen elsewhere. On the dock at Malaga, Spain, a wheat shipment was casually dumped where passers-by ‘walked around or through it. It attracted swarms of roaches, obviously overfed, they were the size of silver dollars. Cruise ships fight a steady battle with stowaways. On well cared-for ships,a passenger isn’t likely to see one, But on some others, such as one I floated around the Mediter- ranean on, roaches frolicked ‘everywhere. I became adept at flicking on the bathroom light quickly and mashing as many as I could before they retreated. ‘ One of their favorite retreats was the medicine cabinet. The first day at sea I opened it to find a healthy specimen: investigating my toothbrush. After that, my sew toothbrush and all my _ other cosmetics, travelled in my purse. Even then there is no guarantecd safety. One lady traveller to San Francisco visited a well-known res- taurant before her flight home. As we all do, she set hér purse on the floor at her feet. . . It wasn’t until she ‘was cruising at 30,000 feet that she discovered she’d brought along an unwanted passenger. With great presence of mind, she scooped the roach into an airsick bag and handed it to a horrified flight attendant. It’s bad enough to have to deal with roaches and other pests when you're away from home but how can you prevent carting them home in your baggage? After all, one pregnant cockroach is enough to cause a population explosion in your house. First, never leave your suitcase open on the floor of a hotel. No matter how high the standards of the management, roaches are per- sistent. Room service food attracts them, especially breakfast trays left outside of doors to be picked up. Before you re-pack to come home, shake each garment. If you have any reason to believe you might have picked up any pests, unpack in your back yard or your balcony. An exterminator cautioned me to inspect the outside of my suit- case before bringing it into my house, especially if 1 were return- ing from the tropics. Watch for any little clusters of foreign mate- ria) and scrub them off outside. They may be cockroach eggs. Other than that, there’s not a lot a traveller can do except get to know your friendly neighborhood fumigator. dicate your room number if you want your patio sprayed nightly for mosquitoes.” When I visited Fiji, my hotel had installed numerous electrical devices to kill flying pests. At night these glowed with blue light, at- tracting the bugs. When they touched the element they got zap- ped. This, in turn, attracted swarms of attractive little toads who made a meal out of them, leaving the gardens neat by morn- ing. You may be lucky and find your tropical vacaton pest-free. Just in case, carry a pump-type insect Not all insects are pests but no matter how harmless the creatures are, few of us want to share our accommodation with them. If your room has screens on the doors and windows, be sure that they’re there for good reason. Keep them clos- ed. Brian and I were staying in a pleasant motel in Arizona. During the day, | carelessly left our patio screen open as we sunned ourselves outside. That night, just after we turned out the lights, we heard an odd sound from one corner of our room. It was answered by a similar sound from another corner. You guessed it. Crickets. So much for a good night’s sleep — we spent the next hour or so alternately shutting off the lights to locate the music and then leaping after the or- chestra. The worst part is that I have an aversion to killing anything as harmless as a cricket, so we cap- tured them with hand towels and released them outside. After that, we kept our doors and windows securely shut. One final caution, if you're visiting anyplace that is infested with common house flies, watch what you eat. Stick to foods that are served scalding hot. Beware of bread — it’s usually left uncovered and serves as a landing strip for flies. FREE OIL LUBE FILTER Most imports & light trucks Expires Feb. 28/87 “VALUABLE COUPON Winter Tune Up "38° : + Gast SAVE E $10 | Ag VALUABLE COUPON Most imports & light trucks I Front wheels Ail 4 wheels Ei; Expires Feb. 28/87 Brakes save *1 Q°° . save 92590 ‘ff culprits. North Vancouver 986-2221 HASTINGS TRAVEL YOUR TRAVEL CENTRE WITH “SWISS EFFICIENCY” TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS - WORLDWIDE FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE 744 W. HASTINGS VANCOUVER, B.C. 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