Jellyfish Stings

This is from Dawn—a new charcoal enthusiast living in South Africa who loves exploring nature in the water and on land.
“I have a charcoal story that may be new for you. While snorkeling in Zanzibar, Tanzania a few weeks ago, a beautiful purple jellyfish wrapped its 7in. tentacles around my forearm. Ouch!!! Once I got back to the boat I cracked open a charcoal capsule and smeared it over the area, effectively painting my arm black. 90% of burning sensation faded quickly. Several concerned passengers offered me painkillers and antihistamines, which I refused with a smile. Thankfully no one offered to pee on me as that would have been awkward. I refreshed the charcoal paint job a couple times and kept swimming relying on the seawater to maintain moisture. The angry red raised tentacle marks subsided within a couple hours. No painkillers, nor anything else, was needed.”


John Dinsley
Born in British Columbia, Canada, John Dinsley has lived, and worked from South America to the North Pole, from Nova Scotia to Nepal. He is trained as a lifestyle counselor, teaches public health programs, home remedies workshops, and has operated a family care home. He and his wife Kimberly are the owners of Charcoal House LLC. They often travel together across the U.S. and internationally to conduct charcoal workshops. He is a carpenter by trade, has managed an organic market garden business, and volunteered in overseas development work. When he is not building, teaching or gardening, he enjoys writing.