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This is the story of my painful Leishmaniasis journey - a deadly flesh-eating parasite that I caught while traveling in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle.

In the past 14 years of full-time solo travel around the world, I haven’t run into one series problem or illness. That was until exactly 8 months ago, when a trip to the Amazon Jungle changed my life forever...

Back in March of 2023, I spent a beautiful week in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle. I met the most amazing people. We ate together, drank together, bathed together, fished together - I felt the most alive I have on a trip in a long time.

Watch the Amazon Tribe episode here ►    • Day in the Life of an Amazon Jungle T...  

Fast forward two months after returning from the Amazon, and I started to notice something growing on the back of my left calf. I went to a primary care doctor and two dermatologists before a biopsy was sent to the CDC for testing.

The CDC came back with the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis. The culprit was an infected sandfly carrying the flesh-eating parasite known as leishmania.There are three main forms of leishmaniasis:

① Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, which causes lesions on the skin.
② Mucosal Leishmaniasis, which attacks the nose, mouth and throat.
③ Visceral leishmaniasis, which attacks your internal organs and severe cases can be fatal.

What species of leishmania you have is larger based on where you traveled to. I was diagnosed with Leishmania braziliensis.

This is the frustrating true story of my Leishmaniasis journey.

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——— WHO IS GARETH LEONARD? ———

Hi! My name is Gareth Leonard, an American Travel YouTuber with a passion for slow, meaningful solo travel. I have spent the past 13+ years traveling around the world while creating travel vlogs to help educate and inspire people to “Travel Deeper.”

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