Oct 242012
 

Baobab trees really are fascinating. Grand in stature they loom over the Zambian landscape like giants frozen in time. Surprisingly, they are completely hollow on the inside. We got to experience this first hand when our guides took us to a lodge where they’ve actually put a door in the side of one of these mammoth trees that opens up to reveal a bathroom! This discovery was pretty shocking, but  I found that people actually used this toilet more shocking. Just above head height, sleeping inside the tree were a handful of bats. I wonder how many people wound up running out with their pants around their ankles after startling the bats.

Another interesting thing about baobabs is that their greatest enemy is elephants. Using their tusks, they peel the trees and eat the bark, causing big holes to form. We can see the result of this practice in today’s picture.

Baobab tree with large doorway-size hole in trunk caused by elephants in the center of a dirt field in Zambia.

  2 Responses to “Elephant Damaged Baobab”

  1. Gorgeous photo!

  2. Really fascinating! I’ve never heard of these trees before ! How do they survive and grow ? Where are their roots ?
    I loved the photo !

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