The Fever Tree Guest House, Hluhluwe

27/03/2026

During the Christmas Break we had ample opportunity to visit Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
With all the rain we had all the puddles were full and the warthogs took great pleasure in their mud baths.

23/03/2026

We were fortunate to run into two white rhino bulls having a battle. This is quite a dangerous place to be. Their eyesight is very bad and they are so intent on destroying each other that they are totally oblivious to anything else. If they inadvertently run into your car they can do serious damage.

02/11/2025

31/10/2025

Our garden is 99% indigenous. We have non-indigenous fruit trees and tubs of joyous petunias to brighten up our grounds.

28/10/2025

Once again, Thanks to Yvonne for these very interesting titbits.

Snakes, many lizards and some frogs have a split tongue. I have seen it so often, but I actually didn't know the reason of their split tongue so I did some research

The split tongue helps them to "smell" their environment in stereo. The tongue is split and therefore has 2 ending, this is allows the animals to determine the direction of scent. They use this scent for hunting and navigation.

You often see these animals stick out their tongue, they just sit still and the tongue comes out and almost immediatelyd goes back in again. When they do this they collect odor particles (airborne chemical particles, including pheromones, moisture, and scents from prey). These particles are then transferred to a special organ in the roof of their mouth called the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson's organ.

The forked shape of the tongue helps them to figure out wether to go left or right. The Jacobson's organ will tell them from which direction the scent is stronger.
It would be similar to having two noses, one on each side of your head 🤣

This by the way doesn't mean that they don't have a real nose, because they do. It's just something extra.

There isn't much more to tell about the split tongue, but I thought it was a fun little fact to share and of course some split tongue photos

27/10/2025

Thanks Yvonne.

26/10/2025

Yvonne, thank for sharing with us.

The ni***es/teats of an elephant are placed between the front legs. This is different from most mammals as they have teats/ni***es placed between their back legs or like dogs, cats and pigs the whole underneath is just ni***es ni***es ni***es.

The teats of an elephant are more like us and other primates. A female elephant has her ni***es at the front, between her the front legs. Kind of the same place as we humans have them if we would walk on 4 legs. She also only has 2 ni***es like humans as she normally only has one baby/calf at the time (twin are definitely possible too, but not common).

Why do elephants have them in the front?
Having ni***es between the front legs helps the mother to better reach the calf with her trunk. She can watch over it and protect it if she needs to. Having the baby at the front also helps with bonding as she can actually touch her baby when it's feeding.
Another reason might be that mom has less change to step on her baby. The difference between mom and calf in size is huge and she could easily trample her baby (by accident). With the calf drinking at her front side she can watch the baby and it reduces the change of stepping on the little one

The ni***es/teats on a female elephant are usually something you don't notice. They are often hidden between the front legs, but not always.
I haven't seen it a lot, but I have seen a female elephant with huge teats a few times now. I found some photos of one of these encounters to show you the size and where they are actually placed

I have no explanation why they are so huge with these specific females. They all seemed to have a little one, so it can't be that she produces and is just stuck with it. She does feed a little one, maybe they just come in different sizes like they do with humans 🤣 oh and maybe interesting to know females elephants will nurse somebody else's baby if that mom can't do it anymore

The first few months the calf will only drink milk and slowly vegetation will be introduced.
A newborn can drink up to 11 liters (3 gallon) of milk a day and they will be nursed till they are around 2 years old.
Two years is often the moment they stop, but there are also elephants who have been drinking mom's supply for 10 years.

In assume in those cases the older siblings has to share with the younger ones. African elephants are pregnant for about 22 months and the intervals are between 4-5 years. So basically when the baby is past 2 mom will be ready for the next one.
Atleast with elephants the whole breeding herd will help with the care of the little ones

Oh and for those who wonder the calf uses it's mouth to drink, not the trunk. When they are born they don't know how to use their trunk. It's something they have to learn

With this post some photos of the teats on an elephant to show you what I mean

17/08/2025

Our last group from Italy has left. It is always such a pleasure and privilege to host our guests from and .
Thank you Paola for your arrangements.
Coco is getting a last minute tummy scratch and Lucy is hoping for a head rub.

03/07/2025

So what do you do when you have a ceiling on the point of collapsing? Why, you rip it out and put up a new one. And while you are at it, why not do a whole makeover?
Not finished yet but surely getting there.
Some good blues to accompany the blue room.