Avenue of the Baobabs

The strikingly unique Avenue of the Baobabs is a 260m stretch of unpaved road in Madagascar’s western region of Menabe, lined with over 20 giant baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri).

Also known as Grandidier’s baobab, this species is best known for its distinctive fat trunk and flat crown. Part of the Malvaceae family, it’s deciduous, reaches up to 25-30m in height and can live for well over 1,000 years.

‘Avenue’ has been a conservation area since 2015 but still deals with man-made problems like effluent poisoning and deforestation. Meanwhile it faces natural dangers including drought, flooding, forest fires, lightning, fungus and even thirsty elephants munching the bark for water.

Baobab is known as the tree of life as it stores huge amounts of water in its trunk, enabling it to produce nutritious fruit even in the driest periods.

Due to horrendous deforestation, these baobabs are all that remain of what was once a dense tropical forest. It’s no coincidence that locals still call the species ‘renala’ – ‘mother of the forest’.

Baobab cover photo by NikkyS (Pixabay)

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Eight species of baobab exist with six endemic to Madagascar. A. digitata is found in mainland Africa and southern Arabia, A. gregorii in north-western Australia.

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7 km away from ‘Avenue’ lies Baobab Amoureux, two za baobab (Adansonia za) that grew entwined. According to local legend they represent an unrequited inter-village love united in another life.

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Giant baobabs have star-like palmate leaves, smooth red-grey bark and ovoid fruit with a hard, hairy shell that contains large kidney-shaped seeds.

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Giant baobab flowers (May-Aug) bloom and release all pollen after dusk as their pollinators are nocturnal, e.g. certain bats, lemurs and moths. They also smell bad.

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The largest known living baobab is Sagole Big Tree in South Africa’s Limpopo province. It stands 19.8m high with a diameter of over 10m and an estimated mass of 54 tons.

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The oldest known living baobab is the Dorsland tree in Namibia at around 2,100 years old. Carbon dating has suggested baobabs can live as long as 3,000 years.

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