Camp hazards: Acacia thorns

 

Ouch.

 

Acacia trees are one of the biggest hazards of bush life. There are a variety of species but all of them have thorns in various shapes and sizes, some are hooks while others are spear shaped. Regardless of their shape, all of them can easily tear clothes, scratch faces, and pierce the bottom of even the sturdiest shoes. In the dry season the trees are dry and thus the thorns are hard and inflexible. In the rainy season as the tree retains more water the thorns can actually be flexible and although they are still sharp they are not nearly as piercing.

I spend a lot of time in flip flops and the above photo shows the dangers of this. Acacia trees shed their branches and it's common to have the ground littered with thorny branches of various sizes. They can not only pierce the shoddy flip flops but I've had them pierce the soles of my Merrell hiking shoes! The worst is when you break off the thorn trying to remove it and then you're left with an embedded thorn that only pokes you when applying a specific amount of pressure like when running or climbing stairs. 

You might notice that many of my camp clothes also have small tears and holes. These are undoubtedly from being snagged on branches which is unavoidable. It's one of the reasons I have bush clothes! It's also not uncommon to see us with scratches on our face and our arms and a tell-tale sign someone has had a bush expedition. 

It has taken some adjustment but now we are very careful when moving through the bush and I hope that we've reduced the amount of shoe-piercing and face-scratching incidents but the hazards still remain! It is one of those things that you have to experience to really take care; one brand new shirt ripped wide open, a seemingly innocuous branch that brushes your face and draws blood, or a harmless branch that pokes through your shoe leaving you hopping around on one foot. Everyone's gotta go through it to learn their lesson!

This species of acacia can seriously impale someone