The skies are in constant movement over the stillness of Dead Vlei in Namibia. Dead Vlei, meaning “dead marsh,” is a clay pan studded with the remnants of trees that died hundreds of years ago. The star trails are a fitting backdrop to a landscape that looks otherworldly even in the light of day.

I have never before heard about this place and I must say - it's quite interesting, isn't it?

To rescue or not

Today, when I was coming back home from the university, I saw a baby bird (I have no idea which species was it) which was sitting under the stairs near my block of flats. He was squeaking in a way that everybody would be concerned if everything is ok with him. I had no idea what to do, I even thought of taking him with me and give him some food and water but I decided to look for some information on the internet and I found an article which said that really, we shouldn't try to be a hero. It might seem like a baby bird needs our help but the truth is that his mother is definitely near him, looking for some food and if we take her baby with us, well, it's bad. Of course there are some cases in which a bird, a cat or any other animal won't survive without our help, so we should be careful in distinguishing both of this situations. 

Booze with rare animals

Sometimes wheat and grapes won’t suffice. Some drinkers in Southeast Asia prefer their alcohol distilled with animal parts, a tradition stemming from the supposed curative powers the creatures provide.

Chinese media report that a liquor manufacturer in Guangdong Province hoped to capitalize on the custom by selling bottles of alcohol stuffed with parts of rare species such as the common water monitor lizard, crow pheasant, and Tokay gecko, which is considered vulnerable.

Snake wine, made by drowning a live snake in alcohol, can also be found in Southeast Asian countries (on occasion, the snake awakens from a drunken sleep to bite the person drinking the wine), as can wine steeped with the bones of tigers. Neither of these have proven medicinal value.

It’s illegal in China to hunt, kill, and trade protected animals. Last January police busted the man and confiscated 24 bottles of the alcohol. He’s been fined 50,000 yuan ($7,690) and sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.

Awful, I would never taste it!

Sambal sauce

Yesterday I had a craving for a pizza, I really had to eat it. I ordered my favourite one with a lot of cheese and salami and for the first time I ate it with sambal sauce instead of garlic. I have to admit, really, that it was the best spicy sauce that I've ever eaten! I checked a recipe immediately and I want to share it with you:

Ingredients

1/4 cup seeded dried hot red chilies

1/2 cup minced red bell pepper

1/3 cup minced onion

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced dried shrimp (or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste)

1/4 cup minced seeded fresh hot red chilies

2 teaspoons salad oil

3 tablespoons liquid tamarind concentrate (or lime juice)

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Soak dried chilies in 1/4 cup hot water until soft, about 10 minutes. Whirl mixture in blender until smooth.

2. In a 10-inch frying pan over medium-high heat, stir bell pepper, onion, garlic, dried shrimp, and fresh chilies in salad oil until vegetables are limp, about 3 minutes.

3. Stir in dried chili mixture, tamarind concentrate, brown sugar, and salt; cook 2 to 3 more minutes.

As you can see, it's really spicy but I definitely recommend it to those who like it as much as me. ;)

a gator-eat-gator world

It's a gator-eat-gator world - at least in Florida, where a large American alligator was videotaped this week chowing down on a smaller member of its own species. The grisly encounter was recorded by Alex Figueroa at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland on April 13. The larger gator was 11 to 12 feet (3.3 to 3.7 meters) long, Figueroa estimated. Although he has never seen such cannibalistic behavior in person, it is not unheard of in alligators, says Christopher Brochu, a professor at the University of Iowa who studies crocodilians."Gators are very opportunistic and will eat whatever they can find; anything that can fit down their throat is food," says Brochu. This includes other gators, alive or dead.

I know it's awful, sorry! While watching it what came to my mind was - "I wonder when people will start to eat eatch other? Maybe they have already been doing it." :D

Prairie Dog

Few weeks ago I watched a polish TV program called "Rozmowy w Toku". The topic was "Strange Pets" and one of the participants came with a prairie dog! I'm definitely in love with this little creatures and to be honest, I didn't know that they are allowed to be kept at home in Poland.
I watched a videoe with a prairie dog and I have to admit that his behaviour is very similar to the behaviour of a ferret which I actually have.

Vinted

Do you know what is vinted? 

It is a peer-to-peer marketplace to sell, buy and swap clothes. It allows members to communicate directly and has the features of a social networking service. As of December 2015, it had 11 million members, mostly between the ages of 14 and 25, on its free iOS and Android apps. It also reported a total of 22.3 million listings in December 2015.The company defines its mission to be “making second hand clothing the first choice worldwide”

How it works?

To sell on Vinted, members take a picture of an item, write a description and set a price. The item is then put into Vinted’s feed. The app has messaging features for buyers and sellers to communicate about purchases. Buyers pay inside the app and Vinted holds their money until the item is received.

Do you use this site? Make some purchases there or just exchange your clothes with other users? Well, I'm a big fan of vinted, because I can get there very very cheap and fashion clothes, which are sometimes new. I recommend this site to every woman who loves clothes just like me and don't want to spend so much money on them.