Another, not so pleasant representatives of Georgian fauna. However, as with other animals, they will rather scare you than actually do some harm as they are shy and avoid humans whenever possible.
The most common snake occuring in Georgia is non-poisonous “ring snake”. It has a grey, unremarkable body, but can be easily identified thanks to the white stripe around his neck (as if he had a ring stuck around it ).
The only snakes in Georgia dangerous to humans are vipers - they can be recognized by a typical dark zig-zag stripe on his back . It´s possible to encounter 3 species:
Caucasus viper(vipera kaznakovi) - endemic to Caucasus, endangered and very rare. Grows up to 75cm. Can be found in the wetter mountain areas such as Svaneti or Adjara.
Lebetine viper(macrovipera lebetina)- large, blunt nosed viper, grows up to 1,5m. Lives mostly in dry, rocky areas of southeastern Georgia such Vashlovani National Park or around Davit Gareja.
Meadow viper(vipera ursinii) - this most widespread species of the viper can be found also in Georgia. Smallest of all vipers, it grows only up to 50cm.
How to prevent a snake bite? Usually, no effort is needed, snakes are shy and prefer to “run” away. They attack only if they feel directly threatened. Still, you can reduce this risk by few simple measures.
The most effective of them are those most simple ones - watch your step and don’t stick your hands into narrow, dark crevices unless necessary.
Also, consider wearing sturdy hiking boots and long pants. Personally, I am often too lazy to wear them, but they are strongly recommended for more vulnerable categories such as children or pregnant women.
Very useful are also trekking sticks. They generate strong vibrations (which alert snakes to your presence and gives them more time to hide) and at the same time “scan” the area in front of you
(so a snake could attack a pole instead of you).
Treatment of the viper bite
First of all - forget what you saw in the movies. Don’t apply a tourniquet - it keeps all venom in one place which can cause a major damage to the tissue and lead to amputation.
Sucking the wound, cutting it, licking or whatsoever doesn’t help at all and in some cases can even speed up the poisoning.
So what you should do? The recommended treatment of snakebite is actually pretty simple. Your main objective is to slow down the absorbtion of the poison -
venom spreads faster if the heart rate of the victim is high. Therefore, victim shouldn’t undertake any physical activity. Also, try to calm him down - panic will increase the heart rate.
To calm a victim, remind him, that even though viper’s bite is certainly unpleasant, it’s rarely fatal. To kill an adult human, about 15mg of viper’s venom is needed,
but viper can’t store more than 10mg. And what’s even more important, viper usually saves this venom for a prey it can eat such as rodents or small mammals.
It takes several weeks to accumulate a full supply of venom and the snake can´t afford to waste it all on a human. So there is a solid chance that even if the viper bit you, it didn't release any venom at all.
Treatment of the wound - let it bleed for a few minutes, this way, it cleans itself. Then gently cover it with a cloth. Remove all constricting items such as rings or shoes
which could become too tight once the bitten area swells. Then fix the limb with a splint - it should move as little as possible.
If it´s possible to transport the victim to the hospital, it should be done immediately. If you are stuck out in the wilderness without phone reception, it´s probably better to camp,
let the victim rest and send someone for help.
My travel insurance
As you can see above, trekking in Georgia is not particularly risky compared to the rest of the world. Still, it would be reckless to travel without an insurance (I think you already see where is this going - I would be a very lousy travel blogger if I didn't try to sell you some travel insurance ). During the last 10 years I spent hiking and trekking, I used two insurances.
When I was younger, I used to have more time and could make several long trekking trips a year. My main priority was to protect myself and my relatives from unexpected costs. Because of this, I used to be a member of Austrian Alpine Club (Alpenverein). After paying the yearly membership fee of about 60 EUR, I got an insurance tailored for mountains which covered rescue costs, medical treatment as well as the repatriation costs (tho my parents didn´t look too relieved when I stressed this fact before travelling abroad).
Then my priorities shifted. Since I have a family now, I spend less time hiking and need an insurance which not only covers everything mentioned above but will also provide for them in case that something happens to me. Because of this, I started to look for more general insurance for specific dates. For my summer trekking trips, I use SafetyWing travel insurance since I am very satisfied with the coverage it offers for its cost.
SafetyWing also offers Remote Health - a more robust, full-fledged health insurance which, unlike their travel insurance covers also home country and pre-existing conditions and illnesses.
Disclaimer: Those SafetyWing links are the affiliates. That means that if you click it and buy some insurance from them, I will get a small comission. But that's not why I am promoting them, they simply look the best to me (compared it with local insurance companies as well as global ones such as World Nomads).
Wawakilishi wengine, wasio wa kupendeza sana wa wanyama wa Georgia. Hata hivyo, kama ilivyo na wanyama wengine, wao hupendelea kukuogopesha kuliko kukuumiza kwa kweli kwa kuwa wao ni wenye haya na huepuka wanadamu wakati wowote inapowezekana. Nyoka wa kawaida anayepatikana nchini Georgia ni nyoka asiye na sumu anayeitwa "ring snake". Mwili wake ni wa rangi ya kijivu, lakini unaweza kutambuliwa kwa urahisi kwa sababu ya mstari mweupe ulio kuzunguka shingo yake (kama kwamba alikuwa na pete iliyozungukwa). Nyoka pekee katika Georgia ambao ni hatari kwa wanadamu ni nyoka - wanaweza kutambuliwa kwa mistari ya kawaida ya giza ya zig-zag kwenye mgongo wake. Kuna aina tatu za nyoka aina ya Caucasus vipera, ambayo ni ya asili ya Caucasus, na ni hatari ya kutoweka. Inaweza kukua hadi sentimita 75. Inaweza kupatikana katika maeneo ya milima yenye unyevunyevu kama vile Svaneti au Adjara. Nyoka anayeitwa Lebetine (Macrovipera lebetina) ni nyoka mkubwa mwenye pua nyembamba, anayekua hadi urefu wa mita 1.5 Mnyama huyo anaishi katika maeneo ya mashariki ya Georgia, kama vile Vashlovani National Park na Davit Gareja. Nyoka anayeitwa Meadow viper (vipera ursinii) - aina hii ya nyoka inayoenea sana inaweza kupatikana pia nchini Georgia. Nyoka huyo ni mdogo zaidi kati ya nyoka wengine wote, na ana urefu wa sentimita 50 tu. Jinsi ya Kuzuia Kuumwa na Nyoka? Kwa kawaida, hakuna jitihada inayohitajika, nyoka ni wenye haya na hupendelea "kukimbia". Wao hushambulia tu wanapohisi wanakabili tisho la moja kwa moja. Hata hivyo, unaweza kupunguza hatari hiyo kwa kuchukua hatua chache rahisi. Ufanisi zaidi kati yao ni wale rahisi zaidi - kuangalia hatua yako na si kuweka mikono yako katika nyembamba, crevices giza isipokuwa ni lazima. Pia, fikiria kuvaa viatu vyenye nguvu vya kutembea na suruali ndefu. Binafsi, mimi ni mara nyingi mvivu sana kuvaa yao, lakini wao ni sana ilipendekeza kwa makundi zaidi ya udhaifu kama vile watoto au wanawake wajawazito. Vijiti vya kutembea kwa miguu pia ni vyenye manufaa sana. Wao kuzalisha vibrations nguvu (ambayo tahadhari nyoka kwa uwepo wako na kuwapa muda zaidi wa kujificha) na wakati huo huo <unk>scan<unk> eneo mbele yenu (kwa hivyo nyoka inaweza kushambulia pole badala yenu). Matibabu ya kuumwa na nyoka wa mwitu Kwanza kabisa - usahau yale uliyoona kwenye sinema. Usitumie tourniquet - inahifadhi sumu yote katika mahali moja ambayo inaweza kusababisha uharibifu mkubwa kwa tishu na kusababisha amputation. Kunyonya jeraha, kukikata, kulirusha au lolote halisaidii hata kidogo na katika visa fulani linaweza hata kuharakisha sumu. Kwa hiyo unapaswa kufanya nini? Matibabu yanayopendekezwa ya kuumwa na nyoka kwa kweli ni sahili sana. Kusudi lako kuu ni kupunguza mwangaza wa sumu - sumu huenea haraka ikiwa mpigo wa moyo wa mhasiriwa ni wa juu. Kwa hiyo, mhasiriwa hapaswi kufanya shughuli yoyote ya kimwili. Pia, jaribu kumtuliza - hofu itaongeza mwendo wa moyo. Ili kumtuliza mhasiriwa, kumbuka kwamba ingawa kuumwa na nyoka ni jambo lisilo la kupendeza, ni nadra sana kumwangamiza. Ili kuua binadamu mzima, inahitajika karibu 15mg ya sumu ya nyoka, lakini nyoka hawezi kuhifadhi zaidi ya 10mg. Na jambo muhimu zaidi ni kwamba, kwa kawaida nyoka-mwitu huhifadhi sumu hiyo kwa ajili ya mawindo ambayo anaweza kula kama vile panya au mamalia wadogo. Inachukua majuma kadhaa kukusanya sumu kamili na nyoka hawezi kupoteza sumu hiyo yote kwa mwanadamu. Kwa hiyo kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba hata kama nyoka huyo alikula, hakutoa sumu yoyote. Matibabu ya jeraha - acha limwagike damu kwa dakika chache, kwa njia hii, linajisafisha lenyewe. Kisha funika kwa upole kwa kitambaa. Ondoa vitu vyote vinavyofinyanisha kama vile pete au viatu ambavyo vinaweza kuwa vikali sana mara tu eneo la kuumwa linapofukuka. Kisha fanya sehemu hiyo iwe imara kwa kutumia kiunzi - inapaswa kusonga kidogo iwezekanavyo. Ikiwa inawezekana kumpeleka mhasiriwa hospitalini, inapaswa kufanywa mara moja. Ikiwa umekamatwa nje katika jangwa bila mapokezi ya simu, labda ni bora kupiga kambi, acha mhasiriwa apumzike na kutuma mtu kwa msaada. Kama unavyoona hapo juu, safari ya Georgia sio hatari sana ikilinganishwa na sehemu nyingine za ulimwengu. Hata hivyo, itakuwa ni busara kusafiri bila bima (Nafikiri tayari unaona ni wapi hii inaenda - Ningekuwa blogger mbaya sana wa kusafiri ikiwa singejaribu kukuuza bima ya kusafiri). Katika miaka kumi iliyopita ya safari za miguu, nimekuwa na mikataba miwili. Nilipokuwa mchanga, nilikuwa na wakati mwingi na ningeweza kufanya safari kadhaa ndefu za kutembea kwa miguu kwa mwaka. Jambo la kwanza nililopaswa kufanya ni kujilinda na watu wa familia yangu kutokana na matatizo. Kwa sababu hiyo, nilikuwa mshiriki wa Klabu ya Alpine ya Austria (Alpenverein). Baada ya kulipa ada ya kila mwaka ya € 60, nilipata bima iliyoundwa kwa ajili ya milima ambayo ilifunika gharama za uokoaji, matibabu na gharama za kurudishwa (ingawa wazazi wangu hawakuonekana kuwa na furaha sana wakati nilisisitiza ukweli huu kabla ya kusafiri nje ya nchi). Kisha mambo niliyopaswa kutanguliza yakabadilika. Kwa kuwa sasa nina familia, mimi hutumia muda mdogo wa kutembea na ninahitaji bima ambayo haifai tu kila kitu kilichotajwa hapo juu lakini pia itawapa ikiwa kitu kinatokea kwangu. Kwa sababu hiyo, nilianza kutafuta bima ya jumla zaidi kwa ajili ya tarehe hususa. Kwa safari zangu za kupanda milima ya majira ya joto, mimi hutumia bima ya usafiri ya SafetyWing kwani ninaridhika sana na chanjo inayotolewa kwa gharama yake. UsalamaWing pia inatoa Afya ya Mbali - bima ya afya yenye nguvu zaidi, kamili ambayo, tofauti na bima yao ya kusafiri, inashughulikia pia nchi ya nyumbani na hali na magonjwa yaliyopo hapo awali. Kutowajibika: Viungo hivyo vya SafetyWing ni washirika. Kwa hivyo, ikiwa utafanya hivyo, na kununua bima kutoka kwao, utapata tume ndogo. Lakini hiyo sio sababu ninazitangaza, zinaonekana bora kwangu (kilinganishwa na makampuni ya bima ya ndani na pia ya kimataifa kama vile World Nomads).