Day 142: Ticks, persona non grata

Day 142 - Monday, August 27th 2018: Schull to Skibbereen 25 km / Total 2929 km, 16°C, sunny Despite the morning rain when I woke up, I just wanted to get dressed, pack my stuff as quickly as possible and get breakfast in town: real French crêpes of Brittany! Best way to start the day: one with bacon and maple syrup, the other one with banana and Nutella. After that, I was definitely ready for my long day of the walk.  Maybe because the summer holidays were over, there was a little bit more traffic on the road, especially on the national road. So I decided to take a walking path, the Old Butter Road. That's how I learnt that Cork County used to be the first butter exporting area more than a century ago (now I know why there's so many cows here). The new main road has been built during the Great Famine, men were employed on its construction so they could get enough money to buy food.  After lunch in Ballydehob, I decided to follow the little roads parallel to the Wild Atlantic Way. It was a peaceful walk, with a lot of trees. As I took a break in the late afternoon, I discovered a tick on my body. I could remove it very easily, and could see that its belly was full of my blood, but it was still small. With all the ticks I found climbing on my tent, that had to happen, and that's what I was scared of. These very little bugs can give many diseases, including Lyme which is dangerous. I put some alcohol where I've been bitten, and will take a look to be sure I have no bad reaction. Meanwhile, I'll take some probiotics to help my immune defence. And I think when my trip will be finished, more checkup could be useful.  I finally reached Skibbereen, a big town compared to what I was used to on the West Coast. After buying food for the next days and for my dinner (yummy noddles, yogourt, Irish strawberries) I walked the last two kilometres out of town to the hostel, located in an former mill. I took a very long hot shower and tried to check all my skin just to be sure there was no other unexpected guest, but I found nothing.  After that, it was just so good to fall deeply asleep in a bed!