1992. Hiking in Sinai. The view from the top of the mountain is breathtaking. We were hiking alone, Tal, myself, the desert and….Hadlil (our Bedouin tour guide which is mandatory in Egypt).
4 tiring days. We had spent the nights sleeping in the open desert. The weather is fabulous. As usual, I was carrying a lot of gear on my back which included a first aid kit, 3 head torches and my hiking boots. Tal, as always, travels light and is wearing sandals.
On the third day, we woke up as the sun started to rise. Wearing my hiking boots, we started gathering wood for our bonfire. After a few steps I felt as if my foot was on fire. I stopped, took my shoe off, and shook it……out comes a yellow scorpion. The pain was fierce and spreading quickly up my leg into my lymph nodes that were starting to swell up. I could feel my head starting to spin. We are in the middle of the desert. No phones. No rescue unit. The pain is getting worse by the minute.
How are we going to get out of this?!
Hadlil, at a loss, disappeared. A few minutes later he came back with an old Bedouin woman. She glanced at my leg and said: “Tell him to drink olive oil and hopefully Allah will help him!” I understand Arabic, so I translated what she said to Tal. Tal, in turn, decided that there is no point in waiting and that we should start making our way to Sheik Musa’s tent – the man of the mountain. We started the long walk to the camp- Tal, with both bags on her back and Hadlil supporting my every step. The desert sand must have spread the news – several Bedouins from the area were waiting for us when we got to the campsite. As we walked in, one of the Sheiks hugged me and offered to take me straight to the local doctor. I declined. Then, he offered to take me to the next campsite for leech treatment. Again, I declined. The Sheik started to lose his patience and announced that his next offer is his last offer: “You have to agree to my last offer as this happened on my watch. I have a cousin who has special healing powers and I want him to treat you.” I agreed.
A few minutes later we heard an old motorbike approaching. The Sheik’s younger cousin had arrived. He walked in, smiled, and bent down to look at my foot. He mumbled a few words in Arabic and….the next thing he did was spit! With all his might, all over my foot! And just to be sure, he then rubbed the spit all over the swollen area.
That night we slept at the campsite in one of the tents. The next morning, the swelling and pain had completely disappeared. We decided to carry on with our hike. Sheik Musa couldn’t have been happier. We thanked him for everything he had done and just before we left, I asked him: “Sheik Musa, how does your cousin have these incredible powers?” He looked at me and smiled: “My cousin’s mother was a shepherd. As a baby he was out in the field with her all the time. One day, they sat down to rest for a few minutes and he was bitten by a snake. For 7 days he lay in critical condition until he started getting stronger, eventually making a full recovery. Then, when he was 13, he sat down to have something to eat, when out of nowhere, a yellow scorpion appeared and stung him. He spent 40 days and 40 nights barely hanging on, until again, he made a full recovery. Ever since, he has antivenom properties in his saliva that neutralize venom.
I’m very glad I made the right decision on that fateful day.
