{"id":6323,"date":"2014-06-28T11:30:54","date_gmt":"2014-06-28T10:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bvblog.wpengine.com\/?p=6323"},"modified":"2014-06-25T12:00:36","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T11:00:36","slug":"madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Madison Kane<\/a>, Expedition Manager, Madagascar\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from \u00a0redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia. You name it, they\u2019re all over. However, never had I seen such an incredible and out-of-the-ordinary kind of tree until I saw the legendary baobabs of Madagascar.<\/p>\n

As the volunteers set out on the \u2018journey of a lifetime\u2019 and make their way across Madagascar on the pre-expedition overland tour<\/a>, they will see many firsts \u2013 incredible rock formations, amazing landscapes, lemurs, varieties of captivating skills and talents, and of course the famous baobabs.<\/p>\n

One’s reaction to these often shockingly massive phenomenons often consists of something like \u2018whoa, look at the size of that tree<\/em>!\u2019 or \u2018that is so cool, what is it?<\/em>\u2019 followed by the immediate need to grab a camera and take photos of the fattest, tallest tree they\u2019ve ever see in their lives. It was for me, at least.<\/p>\n

\"P1040718\"

The baobab forest near Andava<\/p><\/div>\n

The baobab genus (or Adansonia<\/em> in latin) is also called \u2018boab\u2019, \u2018upside-down tree\u2019, or \u2018monkey bread tree\u2019 consists of nine\u00a0species, six of which are indigenous to Madagascar (two are native to mainland Africa and one to Australia!). Their name in Malagasy, \u2018renala<\/em>\u2019, means forest mother and whilst living on-site in Andavadoaka, I always jump on the opportunity to venture out during sunrise on a rickety wooden cart pulled by Zebu to see this imposing and unusual tree up close – and \u00a0is an absolute expedition must do for all our volunteers. There is a forest full of a species called Grandidier’s baobab (Adansonia grandidieri<\/em>), which is endemic to SW\u00a0Madagascar, just seven kilometres away from what volunteers will call \u2018home\u2019 for six weeks.<\/p>\n

Grandidier’s baobab is the largest\u00a0and most famous of Madagascar\u2019s baobabs, and from experience, an unforgettable expedition day will be your visit to the baobab forest outside Andavadoaka. After rising before the sun, which many villagers do here, you will meet up with Jacks, Blue Ventures’ Volunteer Liaison and your personal baobab tour guide, for a journey in a colourful wooden cart hitched to two zebus. Still half asleep, you\u2019ll head to the local coffee shop and grab some coffee and a legendary breakfast of \u2018boko boko\u2019 (deep fried donut-like dough balls) to take on the road. As you travel into the sunrise, waking up at an hour much earlier than normal won\u2019t seem half bad. Off on the horizon, you can see these structures that all travel books call a \u2018must see\u2019 and knowing you\u2019re headed much closer than your previous out-the-car-window view is thrilling. As you arrive next to a forest of massive cylindrical trunks, you will hop out of the zebu cart and try to give it a hug realizing you can\u2019t nearly match their wide girth, nor can you see twenty metres up to their branching tops.<\/p>\n

\"P1040716\"

Zebu cart – the only way to travel!<\/p><\/div>\n

Trees have characters, and so over the years our volunteers have named the various baobabs; you will see the \u2018elephant baobab\u2019, \u2018Bob Marley\u2019 and one with a perfect read-made opening, which is a perfect place for eating breakfast. During what most would call \u2018spring\u2019 back home (April-July), the flat-topped crowns bear palmate leaves and spectacular flowers with white petals. In the winter months (November-January), these trees bear large, dry fruits, which you can purchase in the village and from which you can make a delicious juice.<\/p>\n

Andavadoaka, and the SW, \u00a0has quite a harsh, dry climate compared to the rest of Madagascar, but baobabs have the ability to store large amounts of water within them to endure the harsh drought conditions. These trees, with their incredibly swollen trunks, can hold up to 120,000 litres of water! Unfortunately though such an astonishing plant and absolute must see for tourists and nature lovers, Grandidier’s baobab was classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List in 2006. Their seeds are rich in Vitamin-C (possibly more than oranges), leaves are sold as vegetables throughout mainland Africa and their thick bark and long, tough fibres are used for various sorts of building. Since their population is declining, consider yourself lucky to witness the beauty of the baobab forest.<\/p>\n

\"P1160173\"

Even in a human chain you can’t always reach all the round these forest giants<\/p><\/div>\n

After wandering throughout the forest, eating a breakfast that mom would never approve of, and \u00a0filling your memory card with photos, you\u2019ll head back to site. Jacks will give you the chance to drive the zebu cart, which isn\u2019t nearly as easy as it looks but is definitely worth the challenge. If the season is right, normally just after the rains (March \u2013 May), it\u2019s worth taking a detour home, past the salt ponds where you may lucky enough to see beautiful pink flamingos bathing in the water. Enjoy the journey home because as you arrive back at site, you\u2019ll have a peek at your watch and realize its only 10am. Already completely satisfied, you\u2019ll think, what\u2019s next for the day??<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Madison Kane, Expedition Manager, Madagascar\u00a0 Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from \u00a0redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia. You name it, they\u2019re all over. However, never had I seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":6330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,471],"tags":[526,512,485,511],"class_list":["post-6323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-velondriake-madagascar","category-volunteer-expeditions","tag-baobab","tag-expeditions-2","tag-marine-conservation","tag-volunteering"],"yoast_head":"\nA Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-28T10:30:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2014\/06\/PB230419-cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"767\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Madison Kane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Madison Kane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Madison Kane\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2798c343eface19787988176392aea87\"},\"headline\":\"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-28T10:30:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":880,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/PB230419-cropped.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"baobab\",\"expeditions\",\"marine conservation\",\"volunteering\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Velondriake\",\"Volunteer Expeditions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/PB230419-cropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-28T10:30:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2798c343eface19787988176392aea87\"},\"description\":\"Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/PB230419-cropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/PB230419-cropped.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":767},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"description\":\"Voices from the front line of marine conversation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2798c343eface19787988176392aea87\",\"name\":\"Madison Kane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3d262925a8d48348b7555e4266b257fcf8cdbec630b6d13aee5809597d90ef9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3d262925a8d48348b7555e4266b257fcf8cdbec630b6d13aee5809597d90ef9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3d262925a8d48348b7555e4266b257fcf8cdbec630b6d13aee5809597d90ef9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Madison Kane\"},\"description\":\"Madison started with Blue Ventures as an expedition volunteer, then returned to Andavadoaka to work as a dive manager before taking on the role of expedition manager! She's a certified PADI instructor and loves diving with the purpose of supporting our marine research, as well as meeting volunteers from all over the world.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/madison\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","og_description":"Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia.","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/","og_site_name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","article_published_time":"2014-06-28T10:30:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":767,"url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2014\/06\/PB230419-cropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Madison Kane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@blueventures","twitter_site":"@blueventures","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Madison Kane","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/"},"author":{"name":"Madison Kane","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2798c343eface19787988176392aea87"},"headline":"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees","datePublished":"2014-06-28T10:30:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/"},"wordCount":880,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2014\/06\/PB230419-cropped.jpg","keywords":["baobab","expeditions","marine conservation","volunteering"],"articleSection":["Velondriake","Volunteer Expeditions"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/","name":"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2014\/06\/PB230419-cropped.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-28T10:30:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2798c343eface19787988176392aea87"},"description":"Anywhere you go you\u2019ll see trees; from palms in the Caribbean to snowy pines in Canada,from redwoods in California to eucalyptus in Australia.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2014\/06\/PB230419-cropped.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2014\/06\/PB230419-cropped.jpg","width":1600,"height":767},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/madagascar-phenomenon-baobab-trees\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Madagascar Phenomenon: Baobab Trees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/","name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"Voices from the front line of marine conversation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2798c343eface19787988176392aea87","name":"Madison Kane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d262925a8d48348b7555e4266b257fcf8cdbec630b6d13aee5809597d90ef9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d262925a8d48348b7555e4266b257fcf8cdbec630b6d13aee5809597d90ef9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d262925a8d48348b7555e4266b257fcf8cdbec630b6d13aee5809597d90ef9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Madison Kane"},"description":"Madison started with Blue Ventures as an expedition volunteer, then returned to Andavadoaka to work as a dive manager before taking on the role of expedition manager! She's a certified PADI instructor and loves diving with the purpose of supporting our marine research, as well as meeting volunteers from all over the world.","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/author\/madison\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}