Under the Baobab Tree

Sleeping under a giant baobab tree is one of the most magical experiences we have had so far on our adventure. Looking up at the network of branches with stars twinkling behind from our dome tent placed between giant roots and feeling the calm supportive energy of the tree is a feeling we would like to keep with us forever.

Baines Baobabs campsite is set on the edge of a dazzling white pan with a view across onto the iconic baobabs that the 18th century explorer Thomas Baines recorded by painting and which remain unchanged through time. These ancient wise trees are over 1500- 2000 years old and sit as silent sentinels over their vast wilderness surrounds witnessing the passing changes of the world.

Giant elephant tracks imprinted in the sun baked mud mark the passage of lone elephant bulls across the pan to browse the trees on the island and we are lucky enough to have one visiting our camp in the morning probably coming to check what we are doing in his quiet paradise home.

In one of the oldest baobab trees fallen over and still growing we hear the noise of a chick calling for food and spy the parent hornbills flying down to feed him through a hole just large enough for his beak to open and receive a grasshopper.
Beneath the shady canopy a paradise flycatcher hops from branch to branch and at night the call of an owl lulls us to sleep.

The sunsets over the pan are simply magnificent and we place our dinner tables in the middle savoring the vast expanses around us and sit long after under the River of Stars.Read more