Your next vacation could kill you

Most health experts agree that in this busy, stress-filled society, vacations can be good for your health.

Yet other experts caution that a vacation can be deadly.

Clicking through travel websites or flipping through 4-color travel catalogs, you’ll probably never find a hint that the alluring, exotic locales, seemingly idyllic paradises, or leisurely getaways may be deathtraps leading to your final trip … the cemetery.

Swimming with the sharks … and the jellyfish and the leeches

Aefa Mulholland [news.travel.aol.com] is eager to share with you all the reasons why you should avoid the water while vacationing. After reading of the dangers lurking in water, you may hesitate taking a dip in a wading pool.

Amazon Basin: Electric eels, fanged leeches that cause massive infection, candiru parasites that burrow into you skin and cause agonizing death, and the always feared red-bellied piranha all wait to welcome you to their jungle river home. They’d like you to make it your home too … permanently.

Australia, Queensland: According to Mulholland if you vacation here keep a sharp eye out for deadly poisonous box jellyfish–100 to 200 people are killed by them every year–they can cause near instantaneous death. That species can also paralyze and blind you. Cone shells, blue-ringed octopus, scorpion fish, and the tiny, but venomous, irukandji jellyfish are also waiting there to greet you.

Gulf Coast, US: Forget BP and the oil disaster, the cottonmouth water moccasin presents a much greater danger. Found on the rocky shoals of some of the Gulf’s beaches, and especially inland near lakes, rivers and streams, this snake’s bite can kill you in under 2 hours.

Hanakapiai Beach, Kauai, Hawaii: Terrible riptides, wild currents and rogue waves dominate the water off this beach. Some years dozens of tourists are killed. Even wading in the treacherous coastal waters of this beach is extremely dangerous. Many waders have suddenly been sucked into the water and swept far out to sea … often the bodies are never found.

Northern California, Bilinas beach: One of the most dangerous spots in the world for man-eating shark attacks. Home to such species as the bull shark, the tiger shark, and the oceanic whitetip shark. The infamous great white also makes appearances.

Bilinas beach is often heavily populated with seals, a favorite meal of sharks. Even if the roaming sharks are not looking to eat you, they won’t realize you’re not a seal until they’re finished swallowing.

River Nile, Egypt: Mullhollan is also pleased to inform you that the Nile crocodile is the most dangerous of the crocodile family. It “lurks nearly submerged on the banks of Egypt’s famed river. Up to 500,000 are estimated to live along the Nile Corridor, lying in wait in water as shallow as one foot. This is one of the only crocodiles to view humans as prey … another very good reason to keep your hands in the boat [if vacationing there].”

Even France is not immune to deadly deathtraps. In an ABC News report “Vacationing in France? Watch Out for Deadly Seaweed”  Christophe Schpoliansky describes the beach in Saint-Michel-en-Grève, on the Côtes d’Armor–one of the four coastal regions of Brittany affected by the phenomenon of rotting seaweed. While in the water, it is harmless, but washed ashore it gathers in great clumps, rots on the sand and emits clouds of toxic gas: hydrogen sulphide (one of the deadly gases being spewed out of the runaway BP well in the Gulf). Beach goers and beachcombers beware, casual strolls on that beach at low tide could cost you your life.

Deadly creatures

Many things can kill, and some of them look harmless.

Lucas Pressburger [amog.com] reviews 10 deadly creatures that you might come upon while traveling: one, a tiny sea creature indigenous to the South Pacific, is known as the blue-ringed octopus. While just a few inches long and weighing only an ounce, it kills in a matter of minutes–with just one quick, teeny, tiny nip.

Another danger Pressburger warns unwary tourist-explorers about is the ambushing salt water crocodile in Australia. This voracious killer can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh a whopping 3,000 pounds. Oh, it can run pretty fast too. Over short distances this hungry croc can overtake humans running for their lives.

So you can run, but you can’t hide.

The rest of his list includes such niceties as the world’s deadliest scorpion, the Portuguese Man o’ War, deadly Anopheles mosquito, giant venomous sea snake, and the marbled cone snail that secretes a venom so deadly that one drop can kill a dozen big men. There’s no antidote and if you’re unlucky enough to cross paths with it …

Deadly dishes

From frugalmonkey.com, an author named simply “lauren” cautions those of us planning to vacation in Asia that the food could kill us.

While many have heard of the potentially fatal Japanese delicacy the puffer fish–one drop of its glandular toxin (that’s 100 times more deadly than cyanide), will kill you–the inscrutable Orient has other sneaky ways to do in the unsuspecting diner. Uninformed tourists on vacation are especially at risk.

If you’re traveling in China do not eat the blood clams. I repeat: do not eat blood clams! These clams are rife with deadly colonies of bacteria that can often survive the boiling process. Eating them is like playing a game of biological Russian roulette. If you lose, you really lose. You can contract some of the most lethal forms of hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery. Many who contract these virulent diseases die, or wish they were dead.

Reports of death from choking often accompany a tasty tidbit enjoyed by South Koreans. Sannakji is a coarsely chopped, raw, baby octopus. Its squiggling chunks of tentacles still writhe furiously when popped into your mouth. As you swallow, the tiny suction cups of the recently alive octopus desperately try to crawl out of your throat.

It’s not surprising that every year tourists die while attempting to eat this squirming delicacy; they’ve never mastered the subtle techniques necessary to eat it.  

Honeymoons in hell

Aefa Mulholland is back at it again at dalockerroom.com, describing how honeymoon vacations can go from being heaven to hell on earth in a few heartbeats. The blissful lovers may have to dodge bullets, bombs, kidnappers, terrorists and killer creatures if they choose the wrong place at the wrong time.

Mulholland lists 5 places to steer clear of at any cost. If you, your relatives or friends are planning for a honeymoon be sure to avoid these deadly destinations:

Mexico: Once popular for honeymooners, those in the know will choose a safer spot. The Mexican drug wars have spilled over the entire countryside including some of the famous resort areas. Travel agents and the Mexican Tourist Association won’t tell you; they just want your business. Unfortunately, the gangs in Mexico that also want your hide is growing month-by-month.

Jamaica: Travel near Kingston or into the countryside can be deadly. Gangs rule whole regions and gun battles are common. If you happen to be caught in the crossfire, well …

Australia: Vacations in Australia have grown in popularity, yet some honeymooners return home absent their new spouse. Travel into the Outback–even with a seasoned guide–rates high on the risk scale. Even taking a “walk-about” through some of the suburbs of the larger cities can be taking your life in your hands.

Mulholland cautions, “Australia is teeming with deadly jellyfish and snakes, but 2010 has seen an invasion of deadly funnel web spiders. Yes, spiders. The aggressive arachnids can leap up to 18 inches and can bite through soft shoes and toe- and fingernails. The bite can be fatal … ” Suburbs are becoming infested with them.

Indonesia: Bali beckons, but “… Unlucky honeymooners in Indonesia might find themselves [in the midst of] terrorist cells in the country,” Mulholland warns. “Kidnap zones like Papua are the places to particularly avoid. If traveling to an area of the world with a high kidnap and ransom risk, consider putting Kidnap and Ransom Insurance on your gift registry–and you’ll have a crisis assistance team oversee negotiations for your release should it be necessary. Another risk is bombings that have rocked Indonesia (in Jakarta as recently as 2009 and in Bali in 2005).” Westerners especially are targeted.

Thailand: Lastly, for those who want their honeymoon to be especially exotic, Thailand has been a popular choice the last several decades. But if you’re thinking of traveling there now, Mulholland advises you to think again. You might like to rock all night, but what’s rocking in Bangkok are rioters and terrorist bombers. Find a different spot to rock his or her world.  

Going to extremes

Some who enjoy “X-treme” sports also take X-treme vacations. Unfortunately, a significant number of them meet with X-treme ends.

According to Terry Baldwin of Askmen.com, if you take one of these vacations you might consider saving some money and just purchase a one-way ticket. The following are three of the 10 X-treme vacations he lists …

Learn more about deadly vacations and one-way trips here.