During the summer you will be mined by mosquitoes, startled by scorpions and see the occasional snake hurrying away. Always wear insect-repellent and be armed with some type of sting-relief; if sitting outside burn 'spirals' and for inside use a small plug-in device that heats up an impregnated tablet which works for around 12 hours - all widely available. You would need to be very unlucky to be stung by a scorpion but anyway the sting is no worse than a wasp's.

In the countryside people tend to be paranoid about snakes; they exist here, but the majority are harmless and all are scared off by noise and open spaces. If it is brownish-grey with a zigzag pattern and an arrow-like head it may be a viper, but the number of people bitten a year is inconsequential. Worry more about the mosquitoes!