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Hello forum members
Can someone tell me what a "maroelas" is ? I have never heard of it before.

Not to worry Elena! Unfortunately I haven't got a picture but it is a tree. The fruit are called Marula (English)/ Maroela (Afrikaans) and is definitely edible. It's Latin name is Sclerocarya birrea. There is a huge Marula tree behind the reception offices at Malelane Gate, and we watched a troop of monkeys enjoying themselves thoroughly. Nkuhlu Picnic Site also has a lot of these trees.
The fruit have very funny consequences if left to "rot" - somehow it turns into a highly intoxicating substance. Elephants and baboons turn into complete drunken idiots when they eat it. Try getting hold of the Jamie Uys movie "Beautiful people" which was made on wildlife in South Africa. The scenes involving the rotten marulas are hilariously funny!

Thanks GP,
I heard that a drink was made with the marula tree, but I didn't know that you could eat the fruits.

Elena
The fruit of the Maroela tree Sclreocarya birrea subs. caffra (in KNP) is perhaps the most well known tree in Southern Africa. Maroeals trees flowers from August to September and Male and female flowers are found on seperate trees (Male and Female trees)

The fruit contains high levels of vitamin C and sugars. Although the fruit weighs in at about 18g, only 6,5% is edible. The seed also called nuts are roasted or eaten raw and contains a lot of oil. a Beer is also made from the fruit, but about 200 maroelas are needed for a litre.......

This is a bush-myth. Neither elephants, baboons or any other animal (and there are many which eat them) get 'drunk' on fallen Marula fruits.

As an aside, Marula fruits, and the nuts inside, have a very high concentration of Vit C - and the nuts, if you have the wherewithal to extract them, are very tasty, while the fruit is somewhat sharp.

That's interesting Tabs. I don't know if you ever saw the Jamie Uys movie, if it wasn't the marulas that made drunk, what happened to the animals then? Any idea?

GP wrote:

I do know that this is not so and that the whole thing was a setup.... Lots of animals prefer the falen fruit. Imagine a drunk Ellie in the road

Tabs is right about the myth - there was quite a bit of controversy about Jamie Uys' film and he later admitted that they darted the animals and filmed them while the drugs were taking effect. So no marulas involved. There were even allegations that they "lost" an elephant during the filming - it stopped breathing and they couldn't rescue it ?

GP wrote:

Oranges injected with 80% alc will do the trick. you'll neet a few bags for a ellie though

WOW .... certainly sheds new light on the movie! I was very young when it was released and remember those scenes well. Pity they had to go that low to get the footage.
Thanks for the info Tabs and Herman! I've learnt something as well.
Ag shame Pilane, I love elephants too much to do that to the poor things!

GP, I've also heard that the fruit is intoxicating so dont feel alone.

And this is why I only consume the liquid form of it:

"Amarula Cream" on ice

You know what, Bwana/W@H, I can live with the truth about marulas - I really didn't know that , I love the stuff and have always wondered how on earth it was supposed to get intoxicating if rotting.
What I'm disgusted about is the ethics or lack of it used by one of SA's well-known filmmakers. How many people still believe those sequences in the movie were real? At least I can stop looking for a copy of it now that I know the truth.

*Note to myself* Take time out for a entire day to read through each thread and digest all the new things I've learnt from the forum.

So did I ....

According to the Wild in Africa mag it states that animals don't get drunk on Maroelas. A bush legend!
Another bush legend states that you can determine the sex of an unborn child by giving the mother the bark of a male or female(carrying fruit) tree.

The bark actually has got high tannin content and has anti-histamine and anti-diarrhoea properties.

Great medicine in the bush!

But what I realy want to say here is that all those nice wooden crafts and statues you c on the roads to Kruger r mstly being made of the Marula tree. These artists chop doen trees at an alarming rate! Please think twice before u buy anything from them.

ps: Maroelas has got 4 times more vitamin c than orange.