With Viagra banned, Pakistani men turn to lizard oil to make them ‘strong like steel’, boost sexual stamina
- Men seeking a better sex life line up for ‘sanda tael’, a balm made from poached Hardwicke’s spiny-tailed lizard, in the conservative country where infertility is deeply stigmatised
- While doctors say quacks are making fools out of their customers, the oil’s sellers and users claim it ‘works like a miracle’
In a clamorous bazaar, hot-blooded Pakistani men seek a cold-blooded cure for their sexual ills – freshly rendered lizard fat, marinated in scorpion oil and garnished with filaments of a fiery red spice.
Unsurprisingly, the black market balm known as “sanda tael” – cola-coloured, with the whiff of burnt frying pan – has absolutely no scientific backing.
It also relies on poaching the reclusive Hardwicke’s spiny-tailed lizard, which is cruelly butchered on the pavement before its innards are cooked on a crude gas hob.
“You just apply five drops over the affected area and massage,” said Yasir Ali, one of four vendors in Rawalpindi’s Raja Bazaar.
“It does magic in terms of promoting sexual stamina,” the 40-year-old said.
As he speaks, a lounge of paralysed lizards is spread out on his tarpaulin sheet cluttered with glass vials.