29/10/2026
🌳🐘 A TREE WITH A CRIMINAL PAST!
Just when you think Botswana has shown you everything, you discover a tree that has been a prison, a post office and a recruitment station. And it’s still standing.
Meet the extraordinary Kasane Prison Baobab, one of Botswana’s most unusual living historical landmarks.
Long before modern prison buildings arrived in Kasane, people were reportedly held inside the hollow trunk of this enormous baobab. Imagine being locked up inside a tree!
But its story doesn’t end there. The baobab also served as a postal collection point for surrounding villages and, during the 1960s, was associated with the recruitment of young men travelling to South Africa to work in the mines.
And then there’s the folklore. 🌿
African legend says the baobab was planted upside down, which is said to explain its strange branches that look like roots reaching into the sky. Some traditions even describe baobabs as sisters of the elephants.
Today, this remarkable tree stands as a reminder that travelling through Africa is about more than wildlife. It’s about discovering the history, people, stories and places that make every journey meaningful.
From Kasane, our adventure continued through Ihaha and along the magnificent Chobe Riverfront, where elephants, buffalo, hippos and countless birds bring another chapter of Botswana to life. 🐘🦛
Real journeys. Real stories. Unforgettable Africa.
Planning your own Botswana adventure? Get in touch with Impi Safaris.
