Tale of Two Trees

Upside Down

Alongside flowing rivers one sees life to impress, big or small birds always first to get us clicking like the Goliath Heron seen here at the start of the walk, now entering into the wooded area one witnesses different types of life, so the tale of a young Baobab unfurls ending with another beauty in a flowering tree.

Too much of anything can lead to disaster.

Stories about the Baobab go along the lines of god Thora did not want in them in his garden, threw them over the wall and they grew upside down, never giving up on living, the tree continued to grow.

Strange stories about this unusual tree around the fireside, it offers some shade in the summer, an exotic fruit renowned for it's healthy-life uses, pollen used to make glue, leaves that can be eaten when boiled. (Not sure who climbs the trees they have a smooth texture and leaves are pretty high up!)

Oh, the bark is used to weave baskets, mats, rope, paper and cloth. Talk about a tree giving much of itself if treated in the right way, locals who do strip bark to use, know not to harvest too much from one tree as it will grow the bark back again, greed can lead to killing trees where too much bark is removed.

When out walking we have watched this tree grow, being deciduous they shed leaves annually, with finger like branches reaching toward the sky during winter not a leaf in sight, giving it the root affect during the winter more than summer months.

Sadly this one did not make it, with soil too wet along the coast it eventually toppled and fell, a young tree in the wrong climate for it to thrive and grow into a giant of a tree the ancestors have many stories to tell.

Pieces left cut smaller, obviously still to heavy to move this tree must have been saturated, look how fibrous the trees is. New branches are now starting to grow currently, perhaps one piece will regenerate new life.

Baobab

A Tribute to Africa’s Tree of Life

At the heart of the African plain
Stands a tree both old and sage:
A survivor of sunshine and rain
Silent witness to many an age

But this is no ordinary tree
For her trunk is hollow inside
And faithfully she keeps unseen
The secret of her native tribe

For her cave’s a place of birth
A haven safe from danger
This womb of Mother Earth
Is Africa’s child manger

The Baobab stands proud and strong
She serves her people as midwife
It’s been thus generations long
She’s Africa’s great Tree of Life

Colour Your Life

Finding the Coast Hibiscus is more the type of flowering tree to find along our coast, so to bring some cheer and a smile this tree is also known as a wild cotton tree, lagoon hibiscus or tree hibiscus, has been known to be planted on pavements offering a tremendous amount of shade.

Once a year this tree flowers where you find two shades on one tree in our local parks, yellow and orange (I believe some come in red as well), it has massive leaves the size of an adult hand, you can see by the flower how it is related to the hibiscus.

Find them along lagoons, rivers near estuaries from the Eastern Cape all along Zululand coast when out walking, they love the wet sandy conditions. Normally flowers arrive during late summer, if ever you end up on the riverside for a day it most definitely is a tree that will bring a smile to your face for shade.

Tree is used for living fences and bark also may be made into rope, everything has a purpose when given opportunity in the right place.

Goliath Heron has absolutely nothing to do with the trees, it will be found down on the river fishing around, enjoying the trees sheltering him from prying eyes and camera's.