A visit to an African traditional healer

When I enquire about a cure for my cold, I am not expecting to be handed the head of a deadly black mamba snake.

But that is exactly what Fikile Sikhali pulls from a plastic supermarket carrier bag as I describe my recent symptoms. Pointing to the reptile's fangs, gleaming proudly from a lifeless jaw that has been propped open with a match stick, she shows how me to grind the snake's head in a steel pestle and mortar, sprinkle the acrid grey powder on my hand and lick it off to absorb its nutrients.