Travel and Leisure

Planting a Tree for World Environment Day in East Africa

            <br />It was World Environment Day and what better way to celebrate than head out to a sacred forest along the south coast of Kenya and plant an indigenous tree or two. We were visiting Kwale on an Africa Overland Safari Adventure Tour. We were picked up in Diani on a huge safari truck and driven about 10km down the road to a very small village on the edge of an ancient Kaya or Sacred Forest. As soon as we arrived we were greeted and after a quick coffee we set off into the forest with some of the Tribal Elders. We came to an area that was in a clearing and informed that this was where we were to plant our trees. Everyone was given a hoe or jembe as they are known in East Africa. There is quite an art to swinging your hoe and not taking off a toe! It was quite some work digging through the thick rich soil to make a hollow deep enough to plant a tree.<br /><br />Once our hole was deep enough we went over and each picked an indigenous tree from the collection and took it back over to the hole that we had dug. We were instructed on how to place the tree into the hole and carefully remove the outer plastic wrapper that was protecting the roots very carefully. Once this was done we could gently start filling the soil back into the hole, until the tree roots were covered and the soil was a couple of inches below the ground level. It was then time to go and fetch a couple of watering cans and start watering the future. A quick photo with our newly planted tree and it was time to plant another. What an amazing event to be able to participate in, we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience on our <br />Kenya Overland Camping Safari Holiday.<br />
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