9th Nov 2016
On our recent trip to the Kruger National Park we had a morning on a Safari walk with out two brilliant rangers, Civil - short for civilised which he really was - and Glen, who was the front tracker. Glen was very quiet, except for the moment when he saw a 10 foot python crossing the track in front of us (We were, thankfully, in the vehicle at that moment!)
On part of the walk, Civil picked up some dried elephant poo........absolutely odourless......and proceeded to light it. The dung just smouldered, releasing a very pungent smoke. Civil explained that the elephant's diet is bark which they strip from the trees. This contains various minerals of different sorts and he said it was used for medicinal purposes as well as basic fuel for the Africans.
I suffer occasionally from migraines and that morning, I had what I thought could be the start of one. Civil said the smoke cures headaches so I decided to try it. The idea is to sniff the fumes to relieve the pain. I had a shock as the smoke 'hit' the top of the inside of my nose, but the pain went immediately. We were left wondering if it was miracle cure or just a psychological fluke. All 6 of our group had a try which was good and quite amusing.
We, though, decided to bring some home! Just a very small amount which we put in a plastic bag. Thankfully no sniffer dogs were about at the airports. I have since twice used a tiny amount, and I have to honestly say it seems to work......I now ought to find a way to make it commercial, I could then give up the cross stitching business!!!!
Posted by Lesley Teare in category Blog on Wednesday, 9th November 2016
