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Loading...3,000 Year Old Giant Baobab Tree Tells an Amazing Story
For some 3,000 years, this Baobab tree has been a force of salvation in Southern Africa. Shoulder to shoulder, 23 people could line up across the face of this Baobab tree in Zimbabwe’s Save Valley Conservancy and if a pride of lions were to approach you’d see many of them quickly disappear into the tree’s hollow cavity.
“There are many Baobabs anywhere in Africa but what makes this one rather unique is its size,” Karen Paolillo of the Turgwe Hippo Trust explains. “This tree has been recorded as the largest in Southern Africa.”
Local people use Baobabs for prayer. If a white cloth is found attached to a Baobab, that signifies that it is a place of worship. And with thousands of years of dry season, of extreme droughts, this Baobab has hosted countless rain dances as both young and old lift their hands and feet in a desperate ritual for survival.
Over thousands of years, this tree has seen some of the most gorgeous spectacles on earth. A pride of lions napping in the afternoon sun. A massive herd of elephants padding through the bush on their way to get a drink in the river. A mother baboon craddling her baby in her arms. We pause today to embrace life here, even in all its frailty as increased risks of hunting in the Conservancy have left us all holding our collective breath.
Please take a moment to enjoy this slideshow of some of the creatures who roam beneath the Baobab trees.
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Read more: 3000 year old tree, Baobab tree, Save the Valley Conservancy, turgwe hippo trust, zimbabwe
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120 comments
+ add your ownbrilliant trees! if only they could speak eh? i've seen on a programme once where the inside of one of these is a pub!
Great story. Love the tree pic!
having care2 loading issues today. ugh. thanks for sharing
Beautiful! I hope it never gets disturbed.
Fantastic story, wish we could have saved all our giant trees......
wonderful story. amazing tree, love to see it myself
Wow! thankyou for this post!
"I'd just like to ask why she is so upset that I objected to a tree having "seen" anything?[...] However, my comment stands: trees don't see"
It's just an expression, Alison. You're taking it too literally. Just like "if these walls could talk". We all know walls don't talk, and trees don't see, it's just a way of saying that they've been around for a long time and lived through times we find interesting.
I cannot thank you enough for submitting this beautiful story. I feel this is certainly a tree of grand healing on so many levels. I appreciate this story more than I have words. Not only do I believe every word, I know there are very special (although few) sacred areas. Blessings and Gratitude to all~ SuSanne
Just a lovely tree, a place to sit back, rest and meditate. I wonder just how many people and animals have taken advantage of this tree over the years. I myself would love to see it in person just once. (May I ask why Care2 has a block for Share my comment on Facebook at the bottom of this block? If I wanted to share with Facebook, I'd go on Facebook but I loathe Facebook and would never do so. Plus if you forget to erase the check before clicking the "add comment" box, then your comment will not go through. I do wish they'd just eliminate. I've lost track of how many times I've had to start over because I forgot to erase that darned facebook check. Come on Care2, get rid of it PLEASE.)
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