Riverbend Crocodile Farm

A few weeks ago my family and I made our way to KZN to attend a family wedding. It was also a perfect opportunity for us to spend a few days at our holiday home in the picturesque coastal town of Margate. During our short trip we visited the Riverbend Crocodile farm located in Southbroom. This crocodile sanctuary was officially opened in 1981 with a few crocodiles obtained from a farm near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Today, the farm is home to over 200 Nile crocodiles. Almost every year 5000 hatchling crocodiles are produced.

When we entered the Riverbend Crocodile farm, we were taken aback by the sheer beauty and serenity of the farm as a whole. We were just in time for the very informative snake and crocodile educational program followed by a crocodile feeding demonstration. The owner of the farm is really passionate about his crocodiles and wildlife in general and so undoubtedly he is a fountain of knowledge and truly and expert  in his field. I was quite surprised to learn that crocodiles do not really eat during the winter months. They require high temperatures to assist them in digesting and metabolizing their food. At the time that we visited the farm, the crocodiles were being fed 3kg of chicken every ten days only.It is also interesting to note that the sex of a crocodile is not determined genetically. Sex is determined by temperature, where at 30 °C (86 °F) or less most hatchlings are females and at 31 °C (88 °F), offspring are of both sexes. A temperature of 32 °C (90 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F) gives mostly males whereas above 33 °C (91 °F) in some species continues to give males but in other species resulting in females, which are sometimes called as high-temperature females.

The Riverbend Crocodile farm also boasts a snake house that is home to some of Africa's most deadliest snakes. Other facilities include a fully kitted conference center and curio shop. If you are one of those adventurous types wanting to try different cuisines, why don't you try some crocodile meat at the fully licensed crocodile cafe that specializes in crocodile dishes.... EEWWWW.... not for me....

There is also an Art and Wine gallery located on the premises. The Gallery displays a wide variety of original artworks and crafts by some of South Africa’s best artists. A fine collection of wines can also be found in a cellar in the Art Gallery. These are provided for sale to the public or for tasting.

If you are visiting the Margate area why don't you make your way to the Riverbend Crocodile Farm.
The farm is open daily, except on Good Friday and Christmas Day.
The crocodiles are fed at 15:00 every Sunday, shortly after a snake demonstration at 14:30 to educate the public about snakes and dispel a few myths.Crocodile hatching demonstrations take place in January and February and are not to be missed.

For more pictures, click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/sumayya.mehtar/media_set?set=a.10152278221747782.1073741854.739292781&type=1

My creative side

Whilst cleaning out my cupboards I was quite amazed at the fact that mom had actually kept some of the gift cards and other art and craft items that I made during my schooling years a long time ago. I guess for her they were all items of sentimental value. It brought back so many good memories. The trinket boxes were made whilst I was in primary school.....

FANCY SALT IN YOUR CHAAI (TEA)

My initial experience with Kashmiri people occurred almost a decade ago during a family trip to India. Whilst walking through the older parts of New Delhi one chilly winter evening my family and I stumbled across a beautiful clothing boutique owned by a Kashmiri Family. The owner of the boutique uncle Muhammed Shafi Wani had taken an instant liking to me and had refused to take the money for the clothes I wanted to purchase. He gifted me with a beautiful Kashmiri embroidered waistcoat, shawl and jacket. I will never ever forget his sheer kindness and generosity. From that day onward he had considered me to be his adopted South African daughter. To this day we are still in contact and I do hope that I get an opportunity to visit his family home in Kashmir one day God willing.Whilst my adopted father begged us to have a meal at his home in Delhi, we were unable to due to time constraints and hence I did not get an opportunity of trying out Kashmiri cuisine. However, a few months ago I had the opportunity of visiting a Kashmiri family that resides in Kharj, a city located 77km south of Riyadh. The family cooked up a storm for lunch preparing an assortment of savouries as an appetizer followed by Bukhari plaau rice dish and then of course tea and cookies. I was however in for a surprise when my beautiful host with green almond shaped eyes served me tea. I was expecting normal five roses chai. To my amazement the tea that she had served me looked pink in colour and when I took a sip I found that the tea tasted salty. I was under the impression that the lady of the house has made a huge blunder by adding salt in the tea instead of sugar. After enquiring, I then discovered that she had actually made for me traditional Kashmiri Noon chai. Noon does not refer to the time of the day but rather Noon is the Kashmiri word for salt. According to wikipedia,noon chai is made from special tea leaves, milk, and salt. A pinch of baking soda is added to help give it a pink color. It is prepared with pistachios and cardamom and is consumed primarily at special occasions, weddings, and during the winter months when it is sold at many kiosks. Salt has antibacterial and antiseptic properties and thereby assists in preventing throat infections which tend to develop during the cold winter months. This is the rationale behind utilizing salt in the tea. Needless to say after having two sips of the tea, I just could not manage to gulp the tea down my throat. I did n't like the taste at all and apologized to my hosts for my lack of etiquette. Luckily, they were warm and understanding and so the lady of the house offered to make me a cup of normal tea that I of course thoroughly enjoyed on a cold winters afternoon......

http://www.lifensuch.com/noon-chai-salty-tea-pink-tea-kashmiri-namkeen-chai.htm - Picture

Cricket South Africa Awards Evening 2013

The Cricket South Africa Awards function was held a few nights ago at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. International cricket match referee Devdas Govindjee was present at the glitterati event and shared these pictures with all the blog readers.

The CSA Awards 2013 evening was a glittering function last night- moments to savour successes & meet so many in our cricketing family

The decor was stunning and the audio-visual presentations top class. Low lighting in the conference centre added ambiance to a special evening.

Popular T.V. personalities Carol Tshabalala & Robert Marawa were outstanding as program directors.

A lump in the throat moment for me when my great friend Hoosain Ayob received the CSA Khaya Majola Lifetime Award from Cynthia Majola and her son. Hoosain served cricket with distinction and is a special individual.

Congratulating Hoosain Ayob later in the evening was a special moment for me- we go back many years as players and have a mutual respect for each other- with us is Shafiek Abrahams now selector and commentator.

CSA umpires enjoying the evening . Murray Brown, Earl Hendrikse, Brad White and Marais Erasmus.

The legendary Cyril "Squire" Mitchley -now a Match Ref with CSA scorer Laura Webster 

Catching up with fellow Port Elizabethan and CSA Head Coach Russell Domingo

Geoff Dakin the former head of cricket presenting the Umpire's Umpire of the Year Award to Shaun George

The top honour of the evening Hashiem Amla getting the CSA Player of the Year Award- well deserved for an outstanding season

The drug epidemic- Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous article, the drug epidemic is a global international problem affecting all communities and drug awareness campaigners will unfortunately be fighting a losing battle unless they receive the support of the government and the police force. Whilst speaking to a Pastor who resides in the Florida region; the angry young gentleman mentioned to me that President Zuma's Eldorado Park fiasco was simply a political ploy. Whilst he has shut down the lollipop lounges in that part of Johannesburg, the problem has simply diverted to other areas in the West Rand region, particularly the Florida and Maraisburg suburbs. The police presence in that area is no longer there. It was just a temporary "Hoohaa". The truth about South Africa is that the public have lost faith in the police force. It is a known fact among community members here in Florida that the police themselves are involved with drug syndicates and are an integral part of a drug supply chain. Residents have informed me that many off duty police officers frequent the lollipop lounges in the area.When members of the community report these shady activities to the police, a police vehicle is sent out to these houses where drugs are being sold and the entire premises is raided. The police confiscate the drugs and they in turn resell the drugs to the same people who frequent these lollipop lounges and thus this vicious cycle continues. An activist and an active member of the ICE (In Case of Emergency) committee in the area, captivated me with a few of his shocking experiences. This is what he said," The streets of Florida at night after eleven o'clock changes drastically. The warm, friendly and pleasant ambience we all experience during the day suddenly changes to shades of grey. Shady men gather in the dark alleyways, mostly Nigerian and other foreign nationals. Prostitutes dressed provocatively come out to sell themselves to any man that passes by.Many of these women are from broken homes with nowhere to go and so they have decided to sell themselves in order to earn a living. A few weeks ago, as we were patrolling the neighbourhood, we gave chase to a guy. He was the runner. The middle man between the supplier and the customer. The guy managed to escape. He simply opened up a manhole and ran underground through the sewage and drainage networks and landed up on the other side of Ontdekkers road according to eye witness reports. The Florida community and business owners are trying to join hands to eradicate the crime and drug problem in the area. However, if you have police officers that are corrupt and working in cahoots with the drug lords, the battle and task ahead is a virtually impossible one. One disgruntled business owner made mention of the fact that bribery and corruption within the police force is the order of the day. A staff member of his was badly injured after her face was slashed. The perpetrator told the victim not to go to the police station as he has already bribed the investigating officer. Up until today no case has been filed and the perpetrator is walking the streets scot free. The woman, fearing for her life and safety refuses to pursuit the case any further. In yet another shocking incident, a police officer in the Florida area asked a Zimbabwean to produce her Identification documents. She was here in South Africa illegally and hence could not produce any legitimate paperwork. The policeman than asked her to get into the vehicle for deportation. She was under the impression that she is going to be sent home. However, the policeman drove to a deserted part of town and raped the woman. The woman did not go to the police station to report the rape as she is illegal in the country. The police officers would probably prioritize her illegal status in the country over the rape.
It doesn't help having the media and journalists boasting about how many drug lords and drug users have been apprehended. The bottom line is this: If the country does not have proper law enforcement policies in place, no strategy or awareness program can be a success. I don't care how many thousand drug peddlers get caught every day. What I am concerned about is, how many of these peddlers have been convicted? Why isn't there harsher sentences brought against them? In South Africa, bail is granted to murderers, rapists and drug traffickers. Where is the justice? As one Florida resident quite aptly mentioned. "It is about time that the government works for the people, not the other way round. We have put ZUMA into office and he should be working for us to better the lives of South Africans. He should not be at the top to soak in taxpayers money in order to facilitate his own lavish lifestyle but rather he should act as a leader who is concerned about his citizens. Safety and security should be at the top of his list. Thus far he has failed the people miserably. I pray that he sees the light and takes some kind of action to tighten the laws in this country. If the situation worsens, I then pray that he should be removed from office."

The Drug Epidemic - Part 1

Drug trafficking in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a serious criminal offence whereby drug traffickers are punished by death. Despite this harsh sentence as per Islamic Shariah law, many individuals still take a chance with trafficking drugs into the country due to the high profits and money involved with drug trafficking. The sale of illegal drugs throughout the world is a very lucrative business and unfortunately drug awareness campaigns have failed miserably with alleviating the drug epidemic that has spread across the globe and is not only a problem that the South African government is currently facing. Earlier this year according to the Saudi Gazette, border guard security patrols detained six smugglers with 64 kilograms of hashish. Customs officers at the Hudaitha border checkpoint also thwarted an attempt to smuggle 51,293 narcotic pills into the country. The pills were hidden inside oranges and lemons in two plastic boxes in a passenger’s luggage. Many drug traffickers would actually go through great lengths in order to smuggle the drugs into the country. In quite a bizarre incident reported by the Alriyadh newspaper earlier this year, customs officers at Prince Abdulmohsen bin Abdulaziz Airport in Yanbu Governorate foiled an attempt to smuggle 2,440 narcotic pills of type TEDOLX-225 into the country.The Governorate's Customs Director General Saad Al-Baqmi pointed out that a female passenger hid the narcotic pills in her handbag and inside 4 frozen ducks. In an even more bizarre story that made headlines two days ago, a Russian surgeon who helped himself to a bag of drugs he removed from a patient's stomach faces up to 15 years in prison for theft and possession.The doctor, who was high when police arrested him, had been asked to remove containers of heroin from the stomach of a suspected drug mule in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk. A spokesman for Ministry of the Interior said the 32-year-old who worked in the small city of Bogotol had helped himself to capsules of the drug after removing it from the man's stomach in a bid to save his life. Whilst the sentences for drug smuggling is harsh in other countries, I personally believe that South Africa is way behind in terms of imposing stringent laws and regulations with regards to drug trafficking as well as being in the possession of illegal banned drugs as a user. Whilst doing a locum at a pharmacy a few weeks ago I was quite astonished at the fact that almost everyday the police were arresting individuals found to be in the possession of drugs. The pharmacists on duty were asked to identify and weigh out the drugs so that the suspect could be charged appropriately. However, what really perturbed me was the fact that I found repeat offenders getting arrested. In other words, these individuals get arrested, go to jail for a night or two and then come out scot free after being granted bail. In many instances the police have also been involved with stealing the drugs and then either utilizing it themselves or selling it on the street in order to make more money. When we look at the drug issue globally, the focus should not only be on hardcore drugs such as heroin or ecstasy but there is also an increase in the abuse of prescription drugs. I was under the impression that prescription drug abuse was only prevalent within the rich affluent Saudi societies, but returning to South Africa I found that almost every second prescription I dispensed was for a tranquilizer type drug, a narcotic analgesic or a sleeping tablet. In part two I will discuss in detail some of my own experiences I encountered during my career....On a more lighter side to this topic whilst doing a locum at a pharmacy here in Johannesburg I encountered a Malay Afrikaans speaking patient. I found it strange that she kept on staring at me whilst I was dispensing her medication. Obviously it made me feel really uncomfortable. I was thinking to myself, is there something on my face..is there a pimple on my nose. After a considerable amount of time passed, she simply said, " Ooooo yarre...maar jy het groot oë." .. You have big eyes. I am sure that you abusing the drugs from the counter behind you." I simply started laughing and replied. "Madam, all the better to see you my dear."