Mazatlan has a tropical climate. For the likes of me, even in December (winter, here) it's been in the 80s (F), with 70% humidity, man. I get sweaty, sticky, and short of breath. Also? I got attacked by a gang of no-see-ums, the likes I haven't seen since BC. Check this out: 
Insects love to bite me to the exclusion of others nearby - I am the Human No-Pest Strip and people love to have me around for this reason. Invite me to an outdoor barbecue, and you don't have to burn mosquito coils or spray DEET on yourself. All insects come to me to partake of my precious bodily fluids. Deer flies, mosquitos, no-see-ums, tsetse fies, assassin bugs, you name it. Yep, I'm pop-u-lar.
Too bad I have a bad reaction to most insect bites. Pretty much, all my skin looks like that picture up there. From the soles of my feet to my hip joints. Plus a few random bites on arms, shoulders, scalp, eyebrows and palms of hands. I'm here to tell ya, bug bites on the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands; and bites through the clothes I wear. Red, swollen and painful bites all over. After a couple days they turn into blisters. Wearing shoes is very difficult - as is actual walking. I don't know how long it takes these bites to heal - because they're still there after two weeks. Oy.
The very nice local MD prescribed oral antihistamines, which took away almost all of the itching and about half of the swelling. Then he prescribed oral anti-inflammatories and a topical gel I've never heard of and have yet to Google. The gel worked fast on reducing the blisters, which the MD told me I got not necessarily from the insect bites themselves, but because the meds I take for my asthma and my spinal problems cause blistering when my skin is exposed to sun and warm weather. Heh - lucky me, sailing in the tropics for the foreseeable future. Oh joy.
I can hardly wait until I get to the real pestiferous jungles of Central America, where I can experience insects swarming to me from miles around. I shall see the glories of malaria, dengue fever and Chagas' disease. Maybe this is why some cruisers always stay 25 miles off shore...
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