The Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park

South Africa has dedicated more than three million hectares of its total land mass to the conservation of its natural heritage. You will see a great variety of habitats and wildlife when you visit these amazing sites.

The Kruger National Park covers around 2 million hectares and is the largest game reserve in South Africa. It is roughly the same size and shape as either Israel or Wales! It covers 20 000 square kilometres and it stretches 350 km from north to south and 60 km from east to west. To the north of the Park is Zimbabwe and to the east is Mozambique. The Kruger National Park will be extended into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park by taking some fences down between the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. This will then cover more than 36 000 square kilometres and will be larger than Switzerland.

In 1896 the rinderpest virus wiped out most of the region’s game and cattle, leaving the area crippled. Hunters decimated the originally rich game stock between the Crocodile River in the south, Sabie River in the north, Lebombo Mountains in the east and the Drakensberg in the west. Therefor President Paul Kruger opened the National Park to protect and ensure the survival of the remaining animals. Funds for the Sabie Game Reserve were allocated in 1898, but then war broke out.

After the second Boer War, James Stevenson-Hamilton, a Scottish born individual, was appointed the first warden in 1902 and a few months later the area from the Sabi River all the way to the Olifants River was added. He removed all human inhabitants from the reserve and began to shoot all predators in order to protect the antelope herds. By 1905, the Sabi Game Reserve had expanded to include more than 17 000 kilometres.

In 1926 the reserve was named after President Paul Kruger and was declared South Africa’s first National Park. In 1927 the park was opened to the public and they were charged a £1 entry fee. Only a few people came to visit the park during that year, but by 1935 more than 26 000 people passed through the gates.

Today more than 1 million people per year visit this magnificent park. Stevenson-Hamilton was very surprised when lions became one of the biggest attractions and he stopped the shooting of predators. The extended Kruger Park was only fenced in for the first time in 1962. On the 31st of May 1972, the Sabie and Shingwedzi reserves together with 70 privately owned farms were consolidated into the Kruger National Park, one of the greatest parks in the whole of Africa.

Altogether there is about 1 982 species of plants, 517 species of birds of which 253 are residents and many other animals. Some of them are the African buffalo, African hunting dogs, cheetahs, eland, bushbucks, zebra, black rhinoceros, white rhinoceros, giraffes, kudus, hippopotamus, leopards, lions, impalas, mountain redbucks, nyalas, redbucks, antelopes, sable antelopes, hyenas, elephants, warthogs, waterbucks, wildebeest, baboons, monkeys, duiker, steenbok and klipspringer.

There are also 120 species of reptile including the Nile crocodile, 52 species of fish and 35 species of amphibians. The best time for observing all these animals is the dry winter season (during the months of April to September). The Kruger National Park is a summer rainfall area and during the winter months, the grass is low and bushes don’t have leaves, so you will have an unobstructed view.

It virtually does not rain during the winter months which forces the animals to come to the water holes and six rivers that feed this magnificent Park to drink in the mornings and evening. The animals can easily be watched from the comfort of your car. During the summer months the rain transforms the earth into a lush green haven, a flowering paradise and watching birds during this time is excellent.

There are also 130 recorded rock art sites in the park you can go and see while you spot the animals on the way. Make sure to take your malaria tablets though before you visit the Kruger National Park. This is malaria area although it isn’t as dominant as in earlier years. Take the necessary precautions by taking tablets, wearing light long sleeved clothing and also protect your ankle area. Read more about malaria before travelling to any malaria destination.

Nutraceutical Industry and Sports Nutrition

Nutraceutical Industry and Sports Nutrition

The role of food in total health care is not something new to mankind. The use of food to maintain man’s health is as natural as day and night. More than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates, considered as the father of medicine, said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” It is this principle that eventually led to the explosion of the nutraceutical industry.

The nutraceutical industry is concerned with nutraceuticals, that is, “ food or part of a food that offers medical and/or health benefits including prevention or treatment of disease.”

All therapeutic areas such as anti arthritic, cold and cough, pain killers, digestion, sleeping disorders, blood pressure, cholesterol, prevention of certain cancers, osteoporosis, depression and diabetes are covered by nutraceuticals.

Products range from herbal dietary supplements, actual food components in dosage form such as capsules or tablets to beverages fortified with vitamins and genetically engineered designer foods, functional foods, processed foods such as cereal, soup and beverages.

Functional foods, the most popular term among consumers are modifieds food or food ingredients that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains.

Nutraceuticals is widely popular in the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe and has garnered billion dollars in revenues. The demand for nutraceuticals has been growing worldwide due to consumer awareness of the links of diet and disease, aging population, rising health care cost and innovations in food technology and nutrition.

Sports and Food

In the last decade, sports and fitness nutrition has emerged as one large distinct category in the nutraceutical industry. Three main products contributed to the market’s dramatic 2004 growth:

• low carbohydrate products – which grew by as much as 154%

• sports energy beverages – which grew by 18%;

• sports supplements – which grew by 6%.

Now, the billion-worth sports nutrition industry has moved away from the plain-tasting protein powders into a bigger pool of choices for customers. Available in almost any drug stores or supermarkets are energy bars, meal replacement products, protein powders, individual items (e.g., creatine, L-carnitine), amino acids, herbs, prohormones (hormone precursors); vitamins; minerals; and combination products. Because of this the sports nutrition nutraceutical industry is considered a ‘niche’ market and an offshoot of the mainstream food industry.

Competition factors for the Sports Nutrition Market

Product/brand differentiation

Because of greater saturation and competition in the marketplace sports nutrition products look alike and sound the same. Maintaining a brand that stands apart from the rest is difficult but a thing to strive for.

Research-substantiated claims.

Consumers’ ability to make intelligent choices should never be underestimated. People place more faith endorsements by university professors and doctors and claims backed by independent research than by endorsements by celebrities.

Core products and strategies

A good strategy now is to focus development of core products or integrating with large food and pharmaceutical concerns (e.g., Powerbar, BalanceBar).

E-commerce

For small companies that cannot or will not rely on strong distribution relationships, e-commerce is an increasingly attractive option.

Basis for marketing strategy

The factors for competition stated above have been gleaned from researches of what consumers are willing to pay for. Overall, customers want:

Something New

Retailers and consumers clamor for “new,” whether it means new forms of delivery (gels, effervescent tablets, functional beverages), new applications of or combinations with existing products, or all-natural sports nutrition products that are free of artificial ingredients and solvents.

Excellent Tasting All-natural products

Consumers are also looking for products that taste good and are easy to take. Taste is a major feature that can either make or break a product. The hunt is on for manufacturers to come up with better and new flavors.

High quality and safe products

Regulatory agencies exist to protect the consumers. It is the responsibility of product manufacturers to undertake sound research and prove the efficacy and safety of their nutraceutical products. Products that are based on false or misleading marketing should be and are banned and condemned.

Through product sales and advances in research and development, the Sports Nutrition Nutraceutical Industry is now validating what was proven, early on, by the fitness and nutrition pioneers — sports nutrition products provide easier access to a healthier way of performing and living.

What are Vitamin Supplements?

What are Vitamin Supplements?

Everybody needs vitamins for the body to function properly
and to stay healthy, among other things. The foods that we
eat are the most common sources of the vitamins that our
body absorbs.

Each food contains a particular vitamin and the amount of
vitamins we get depends on how much we eat of that
particular food. But more often than not, the vitamins that
they provide simply aren’t enough. That is why we need to
take in vitamin supplements.

As its name suggests, a vitamin supplement adds the
necessary vitamins to a person’s diet for the normal
function of the body.

More so, these supplements are needed by people who are
deficient in a particular vitamin because of a kind of diet
that they are taking (as in the case of vegetarians) or
their present condition (such as in pregnant women).

Some of the most common vitamins found in supplements are
vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6 and C, among others. These
vitamins are sold in a variety of forms such as capsules,
tablets or gels.

It is said that each form has its set of advantages over
the others in terms of effectiveness in delivering the
vitamins to the body. Their differences will be discussed
in another article.

All in all, vitamin supplements can help us become stronger
and live healthier lives by providing us with the essential
vitamins that we may not be getting from the foods that we
eat.

Just a tablet per day can produce great results on our
bodies if we take them.