ARCHIVE KENYA 76 – SCORPION

 

 

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Scorpion at Ngulia Lodge in Tsavo West National Park, Kenya; probably early 1980s.

The famous sting, capable of causing intense pain or death, can just be seen, out of focus, as a curved, thorn-like structure at the very end of the tail.

I didn’t encounter many of these arachnids in Kenya, but they were not uncommon under stones in Oman.  Prior to visiting Oman, I had to learn to both administer and receive intravenous serums for scorpion stings and snake bites.  With a large needle probing for suitable veins – whether mine or someone else’s – I invariably passed out.  I would regain consciousness lying flat out on the floor, looking up at a ring of people laughing down at me.

So the outcome was only too plain to see.  Someone would get bitten or stung by one of these nasties, and up I would rush brandishing the huge needle – and then there would be two of us, out stone cold on the desert’s sand …..

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: OM-2 with 50mm Zuiko lens and TTL metered flash; Agfa CT18 colour slide film, rated at 64 ISO.

THE ARCHIVE KENYA SERIES

I’m re-posting photographs that I took in Kenya over 30 years ago.  You can find more context here .  Click onto the “Archive Kenya” tag (below) to see more of these film images from Kenya.

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