Baobab Trees

The Baobabs - The Tree of Life


Baobab trees are very eerie looking and in addition to being Senegal's national symbol, they're used for nearly everything under the sun.

Boababs are fat-trunked trees that are native only to Madagascar and North-Western Australia. They have been known to attain girths of almost 30m, with a diameter of about 9-10m. It is thought that boababs live up to 2,000 - 6,000 years.

The bark of the African baobab tree can be used to treat fever and combined with another plant was used toprotect against malaria. Leaves and roots are used for medicinal purposes, primarily gastric and chest complaints.

The Baobab is also to be considered an aid to fertility. Infertile women place their hands on the tree and promise to either offer sacrifice, or the naming of their child after the tree in return for fertility. Breaking the promise results in the death of the child. Different parts of the tree can also be taken to enhance fertility or induce an abortion.

You can also eat it! The seed kernels are eaten raw or roasted, and are a highly nutritious food source and the bark can be ground into a powder for flavoring food. The leaves of the baobab were traditionally used for leaven but are also used as a vegetable. Its fruits and seeds are also edible for humans and animals. The pulp of the fruit, when dried and mixed with water, makes a beverage that tastes similar to lemonade. The seeds, which taste like cream of tartar and are a valuable surce of vitamin C and calcium and were used to protect against illness, were traditionally pounded into meal when other food was scarce.

The Boab's bark contains a fiber that is used to make string, rope, fishnets, twine, cords, sacks and clothing and the gum of the tree can be used as glue. Other products such as soap, necklaces, rubber, musical instrument strings, waterproof hats and cloth can be produced from the various parts of the baobab tree. The bark of the baobab tree has to be removed to obtain the fiber but the baobab tree can regenerate the loss of bark if it is cut away.

Baobabs can be used for shelter, as they develop hollow trunks. A hole is carved in the trunk to form a door, the soft pulp removed and a fire lit inside to dry out the hollow. The bark grows around the cut and over the internal surface of the tree, which is unharmed by the excavation. Or if you wait long enough...after 1000 years the trees naturally hollow.

In the early pioneering days, Boabs were often temporarily used in this way to contain prisoners. Grates were fitted to the openings, the prisoners put inside and the grate locked.

In Senegal they are sometimes used as tombs for Griots (or village storytellers and keepers of heritage). We saw one of these trees at the wild animal reserve we visited. The tree was 900 years old, the trunk had hollowed out and we peeked in one of the holes at the base and there were human bones and skulls. !!! Our guide told us that people were sometimes buried in the trees if they didn't work the land because if they didn't work the land they didn't deserve to be buried in it.

This Baobab has been converted into a bar! I didn't see it personally, I just found this pic on the web but it says the tree is 6000 years old, 155 feet in circumference (takes 40 adults to hug it) and is 72 feet high. That’s a big tree.