The southernmost wild African baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) grows in Kruger National Park between the rest camps of Satara and Tshokwane. This spectacular tree is a regional landmark listed on maps of Kruger, and is readily accessible via a short drive from the main highway going through the park. I’m not able to find the exact dimensions of the tree listed online at this point, but I estimate it to be approximately 50 feet tall, 60 feet wide across the canopy, and with a trunk about 15 feet thick (15m x 17m x 4.5m).

The baobab’s massive trunk stores water so that the tree can survive long droughts, making them the world’s largest succulent plants. The wood is soft and spongy, and is sometimes attacked by hungry elephants gouging around, seeking nourishment and water during droughts. Elephants also sometimes strip bark off of baobab trunks for food (which humans do as well, albeit to obtain fibers instead), which is not usually fatal to baobabs as long as the damage isn’t too extensive. They are capable of growing new bark tissue over even extensive wounds, which is extremely unusual for trees; entirely girdling the trunk of most other tree species kills them.

The exact age of baobabs is uncertain, since unlike regular woody trees they don’t produce annual growth rings that can be easily counted, but estimates of ones this size are frequently about 1000 years or so, with the largest individuals perhaps reaching over 2000 years of age. Tourists are forbidden from exiting their vehicles in almost all of Kruger National Park so we weren’t able to get out and walk around for a closer look. But it was a nice thing to see this giant plant in its native habitat, the lone wild individual we saw on our excursion.

The fluted columns of this baobab tree trunk develop only with great age. Younger trees are typically smooth-barked and rounded.

I wonder what the precise age of a tree 5 meters in diameter might be? A reasonable estimate might be 1200 to 1500 years. It is unimaginably long for a human lifespan.

It would have been nice to be able to get out of the cars and walk around to touch the tree, but exiting vehicles outside of designated rest camps is staunchly forbidden in Kruger and many other African wildlife parks. Violations can get you ejected from the premises. This strict policy is there to protect both the animals and humans from conflicts, and in some ways it benefits wildlife viewing since animals have become very habituated to vehicles which allows for close approaches. The animals might become alarmed or aggressive with humans walking around trying to snap selfies or otherwise harassing them, which sets up conflicts, so it’s generally better this way. In any case, it is what it is….

This baobab tree is planted at Durban Botanical Gardens and is about 100 years old now. While substantial in size at over a meter in diameter and 60 to 70 feet tall (18 to 22 meters), clearly this tree has a few more centuries to grow before it even begins to approach the size of the Kruger tree and others in sub-Saharan Africa. This Durban tree is located a bit farther south in latitude than the one at Kruger, but it’s planted, not wild, so it’s a categorical difference.

Text of the sign accompanying the Durban Botanical Gardens tree.

A wider-angle view of the Durban tree showing the size context relative to other nearby trees and plantings.

This baobab above is another cultivated tree, located in the conservatory at the amazing Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. Like the Durban tree, it too is about 100 years old and has a trunk of around one meter diameter and similar height. Unlike the Durban tree, this individual was moved at roughly this size, salvaged from development at a diamond mine in Limpopo Province in northeastern South Africa. According to an explanatory sign, an 80-ton crane was used to hoist the 8-ton tree onto a large truck, which then drove it hundreds of miles to its new destination in Cape Town. This makes it the southernmost baobab tree in Africa, and also a hybrid of wild and captive at this point. Quite the story! I hope it is happy in its new, somewhat cooler and more temperate climate.

Text of the sign in the conservatory adjacent to the Kirstenbosch baobab tree in Cape Town. This one made quite a journey!