Page 51 - Discover Botswana 23rd Edition 2023

out points when scanning the landscape for danger. And of course, leopards for which the area is famous, use them for sleeping and as a pantry for storing their well-earned kills.
Away from the rivers, the landscape becomes less hospitable, a harsh uncompromising land with its own unique beauty. Flourishing here in the hot, dry, rocky terrain are the Shepherd trees. Reaching around 7m in height they provide life giving sustenance and shade to man and animal alike. This is a tree African people hold in such deep regard that in many areas their destruction is forbidden. Incredibly adapted to arid conditions the Shepherd tree’s root system is one of the deepest in the world, extending to extreme depths in search of life sustaining water.
Further south, on the red rock ridges, tribes of Baobab, some thousands of years old, dominate the Tuli landscape, quietly observing the slow passing of time. Famously, Cecil John Rhodes scratched his name into the bark of one of these giants, which stands on the Mmamagwa cliff edge and is now known as the Rhodes Baobab.
Left: Perched on the edge of the Motobole river, close to the Fraze Jones crossing stands a young Baobab. Known to live for several thousand years, this Baobab is just a mere fledgling at around four hundred.
Below left: The author having tree thoughts under the leafy boughs of a Mashatu.
Below right: In the golden light of dusk, a Giant Eagle Owl perches within the recesses of Mashatu Tree.
TULI
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