According to Wikipedia, we are in Jakarta's dry season. That would explain the lack of rain; it hasn't rained since we returned in mid-August.
What is surprising to me is that the arrival of the dry season coincides with the arrival of a mosquito infestation bordering on plague-proportions. The first thing we noticed upon our return from Arizona was the incredible increase in the volume of mosquitoes in our home. Mosquito lights, citronella candles, spray, mosquito nets - nothing is working to fend off their pertinacious buzzing and blood thirst. We sleep in a fine mesh cone, and inspect it nightly, yet I still manage to awaken with four to six new bites every night. It's horrible.
Once a month, we have pest control - Terminix. They usually come during the week when I'm at work and our daughter is at school. We're required to vacate the house for four hours during and after the spraying, so a weekday visit works best for us. When we returned from Phoenix, we scheduled a Saturday spraying. It was a rather interesting morning.
The approach itself is rather interesting. I'm accustomed to exterminators spraying a liquid along the baseboards in every room and along cabinets. Here, it's a fog. They fog the entire house and the entire yard - which is why we need to leave. As they spray, enormous clouds of mosquitoes take to the air to avoid the noxious fumes. These swarms attract swarms of birds, who come to feast on the fleeing insects. They dive bomb seemingly out of nowhere and are fearless of the humans roaming around beneath them. The lure of easy food is too strong. It's an amazing sight to see. If I think of it, I'll have to take some video of the event next time.
The spray lasts just under a week, and then we're infested with mosquitoes again, so I may have to increase the frequency of the exterminator's visits. The big concern with mosquitoes, other than the annoying, itchy bumps, is Dengue Fever. Jakarta does not have malarial mosquitoes, but Dengue Fever is quite prevalent. It's rarely fatal, but it's not something you want to go through, either. It's pretty painful, from what I've heard, and you wish you were dead, but you do survive.
I don't remember having this large an issue before, but this is our first September in this house and we are surrounded by streams and a few open fields. Hopefully I'll find a solution soon....or it will rain again.
What is surprising to me is that the arrival of the dry season coincides with the arrival of a mosquito infestation bordering on plague-proportions. The first thing we noticed upon our return from Arizona was the incredible increase in the volume of mosquitoes in our home. Mosquito lights, citronella candles, spray, mosquito nets - nothing is working to fend off their pertinacious buzzing and blood thirst. We sleep in a fine mesh cone, and inspect it nightly, yet I still manage to awaken with four to six new bites every night. It's horrible.
Once a month, we have pest control - Terminix. They usually come during the week when I'm at work and our daughter is at school. We're required to vacate the house for four hours during and after the spraying, so a weekday visit works best for us. When we returned from Phoenix, we scheduled a Saturday spraying. It was a rather interesting morning.
The approach itself is rather interesting. I'm accustomed to exterminators spraying a liquid along the baseboards in every room and along cabinets. Here, it's a fog. They fog the entire house and the entire yard - which is why we need to leave. As they spray, enormous clouds of mosquitoes take to the air to avoid the noxious fumes. These swarms attract swarms of birds, who come to feast on the fleeing insects. They dive bomb seemingly out of nowhere and are fearless of the humans roaming around beneath them. The lure of easy food is too strong. It's an amazing sight to see. If I think of it, I'll have to take some video of the event next time.
The spray lasts just under a week, and then we're infested with mosquitoes again, so I may have to increase the frequency of the exterminator's visits. The big concern with mosquitoes, other than the annoying, itchy bumps, is Dengue Fever. Jakarta does not have malarial mosquitoes, but Dengue Fever is quite prevalent. It's rarely fatal, but it's not something you want to go through, either. It's pretty painful, from what I've heard, and you wish you were dead, but you do survive.
I don't remember having this large an issue before, but this is our first September in this house and we are surrounded by streams and a few open fields. Hopefully I'll find a solution soon....or it will rain again.
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