24/09/2026
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One of my recent baobab paintings did extremely well on my art page, with more than 220000 views.
I love painting baobabs. Naturally, despite being the artist, I still have my favorites. This painting of Chapman's Baobab is probably, if not my absolute favorite, at least among the 3 best baobab paintings I've ever done.
Something about Chapman’s Baobab: It was one of the most famous and culturally significant natural landmarks in southern Africa. Located on the edge of the Ntwetwe Pan in the greater Makgadikgadi Pans region of central Botswana. Locally it was also known as the "Seven Sisters" because it possessed six massive fused trunks with a seventh offset.
The tree had a trunk circumference of nearly 25 meters (82 feet). It was widely considered one of the three largest trees in Africa. Historically it was of significance. Because the Makgadikgadi Pans are vast, flat salt flats with virtually no visual features, Chapman's Baobab served as an indispensable navigation beacon for travelers crossing the arid wilderness. In the 1800s, European explorers including James Chapman (who named it during an 1861 expedition with artist Thomas Baines), David Livingstone, Robert Moffat, and Frederick Selous used a hollow cavity in its trunk as an informal "post office". Explorers heading north would leave letters in the tree, which travelers returning south would retrieve and forward to their destinations.
Then on January 7, 2016, the unthinkable happened - Chapman’s Baobab unexpectedly collapsed, separating into fallen sections.
Botanists and environmental scientists cite a combination of factors for its fall, including extreme drought, prolonged high temperatures, and structural stress on its aging, hollow interior.
Either way, the tree must pass as one of the most beautiful trees anywhere.
