the Baobab tree
The Victoria Falls, to the local people, was a sacred place where it was believed a huge snake called Nyami-Nyami (river God) lived. Therefore human beings never stepped foot there especially in the Gorges. As such the place used to be an animal sanctuary as it remained undisturbed.
African ancestors protected the Baobab tree because of it’s fruits and because they believed that the spirits of the ancestors inhabited it’s blossoms and anyone who plucked a flower from a baobab tree would be devoured by a lion.
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A lone Baobab rises mightily over the rest of the bush. Their is a ladder resting on the side of it’s trunk, with a small platform built into it’s branches.
We get permission to climb the sacred tree, and view, once again, the mighty Victoria Falls, the Nyami-Nyami.
The power of Africa never ceases to amaze and inspire me.
