Coping with unexpected visitors

I hadn't given a thought to insect life before we set off but I suppose that just goes to show how infrequently I spend time out in the natural world. Two days into the trip we began to make the acquaintance of wasps - lots and lots of wasps. At the wasp site we couldn't eat out-of-doors without being surrounded by the pests so we were reduced to eating in the awning. We coped however but had to forgo the pleasures of alfresco dining.

At the next camp site it was beetles - big ones! They entered through floor of the awning at the edges which are not secured. And boy, were they fast runners - we couldn't get near them. Again we'd to adopt a defensive strategy. This time we ate outside the tent And I stacked the crates of our belongings inside the van so they wouldn't become beetle-ridden.

Yesterday our latest infestation was jumping clags (or horse flies) They preferred to scuttle along the awning ground sheet but if I came near they jumped (like fleas) to get out of the way. The whole awning floor was full of them. We'd to move all the crates into the van and stack them on the front seats to avoid infesting our stuff. Again, we ate outside - happily the weather was fine. But before we left the site, I'd to go through every item and shake it to ensure we didn't carry the blighters with us. Phew!

I'm tempted to buy a large shaker of insecticide to use underneath the awning but Marilena won't have it. "The camp site authorities won't allow it," she says. However if this state of affairs carries on . . .