Prevent and Avoid Sandfly Bites

Here are some basic tips to avoid sandfly bites:

Don’t stand so close to me – the best sandfly bite treatment is prevention. 

​The best way to avoid sandfly bites is to stay away from the beach and always dress in long pants and shirts. But we all know that this is not the way of life we all love in our holidays – and besides this it is a nightmare in at least 30°C.

Here is a truly basic fact about sandflies:

Sandflies cluster down low on the outward branches and limbs of vegetation waiting for passing prey. Consequently the first areas sandflies will attack are exposed legs and ankles followed by other extremities like the hands and arms and neck and face.

So what else can you do to stop sandfly bites besides avoiding the beach and dress in long clothes? On our travels we found quite some ways to prevent sandfly bites. Most of those information was gathered through talking with locals, fellow backpackers, researching the internet and testing, trying and exploring by ourselves. Here we go ….

First things first: 

in terms of sandfly bites the best thing overall, beating every magic potion or high end sandfly bite treatment there is, is not to get bitten in the first place. Simple but true – but unfortunately this easy advice is super hard to put into practise.

But to achieve this let’s take a look at what we know about sandfly behaviour so far:

• Sandflies breed year-round
• Sandflies love lush, dripping and wet environments
• Sandflies need more then 60% humidity otherwise they will face dehydration
• Sandflies are most numerous during daybreak and dusk in humid, overcast conditions
• Sandflies need running water to breed so sandflies start life in water, especially in fast-flowing rivers

So with these elementary facts let’s have a closer look to the tips and tricks you can use to avoid sandfly bites from the beginning.

All about prevent and avoid sandfly bites you can read here: