The Big Tree

This is a large 1500 year old baobab tree near the Falls. The tree which has withstood the test of time is 16 metres in diameter and 20 metres tall.Big tree is in fact roughly 2 km from the river, the falls and the island where Livingstone arrived in a 'makoro' dugout canoe made landfall and wrote his records. Apart from being the best known this impressive tree is possibly the oldest and biggest Boabab in Zimbabwe. Some as impressive, or more impressive trees were sadly lost under the flooding further downstream that occurred once Kariba Dam wall was finished in 1956. Unlike the animals rescued and saved by Operation Noah during the flooding the trees had to stay where they were, many were bulldozed so they would not become underwater hazards.