The Lonely Tree of Tenere

The Lonely Tree of Tenere

L'Arbre du Ténéré, known in English as the Tree of Ténéré, was a solitary acacia that was once considered the most isolated tree on Earth — the only one for over 400 kilometers. Standing there in the Sahara Desert, it had once been part of a lush and populated forest, but as fortunes changed and other trees disappeared, it stood alone in a barren desert, 120 miles from any other tree, an isolated landmark for caravan routes through the Ténéré region of the Sahara in northeast Niger for hundreds of years. The tree was so well known that it and the Arbre Perdu or 'Lost Tree' to the north are the only trees to be shown on a map at a scale of 1:4,000,000.

The tree survived hundreds of years of desertification, until one day in 1973, a drunk truck driver struck it down.

The Tenere region was not always a desert. During the prehistoric Carboniferous period it was a sea floor and later a tropical forest. Dinosaur roamed the region and it was once the hunting ground of a crocodile-like reptile nicknamed the SuperCroc. Tenere was inhabited by modern humans as long ago as the Paleolithic period some 60,000 years ago. They hunted wild animals and left evidence of their presence in the form of stone tools. During the Neolithic period about 10,000 years ago, ancient hunters created rock engravings and paintings that can still be found across the region.

But gradually, climate change reduced the area to a desert as the trees perished. The Ténéré region became inhospitable with little vegetation and an average annual rainfall of only 2.5 cm. Water ended up being scarce even underground. By sometime around the early 20th century, a small group of the thorned, yellow-flowered acacias were all that remained of the trees of the Ténéré. Over time, all but one died, leaving it as the only surviving tree in a 400 kilometer radius.

When Commander of the Allied Military Mission, Michel Lesourd, saw the tree in 1939, he wrote:

One must see the Tree to believe its existence. What is its secret? How can it still be living in spite of the multitudes of camels which trample at its sides. How at each azalai does not a lost camel eat its leaves and thorns? Why don't the numerous Touareg leading the salt caravans cut its branches to make fires to brew their tea? The only answer is that the tree is taboo and considered as such by the caravaniers.

There is a kind of superstition, a tribal order which is always respected. Each year the azalai gather round the Tree before facing the crossing of the Ténéré. The Acacia has become a living lighthouse; it is the first or the last landmark for the azalai leaving Agadez for Bilma, or returning.

After the tree was struck down, the dead tree was moved to the Niger National Museum in the capital Niamey. It has since been replaced by a simple metal sculpture representing the tree.

Tree of Ténéré in 1939


Tree of Ténéré in 1967


Tree of Ténéré in 1970


Tree of Ténéré in 1973 after it was hit


Tree of Ténéré in Government issued stamp in 1974


Tree of Ténéré today


Tree of Ténéré National Museum in Niamey, Niger

Read More

The UTA Flight 772 Memorial

I Noticed This Tiny Thing On Google Maps. 

When I Zoomed In… Well, Nothing Could Prepare Me.

A friend told me to go to a certain latitude and longitude on Google Maps (16°51'53"N 11°57'13"E). When I noticed it seemed to be in the middle of an African desert, I thought he was just sending nonsense. But when I zoomed in, my mind was blown. I noticed a tiny icon that looked like an airplane.

So I did some more research and discovered there’s an incredibly tragic and beautiful story behind it. Here it is, from start to finish.

UTA Flight 772 was a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo to Paris CDG airport in France.

 The flight never made it. All on board perished.

Eighteen years later, families of the victims gathered at the crash site to build a memorial.

Due to the remoteness of the location, pieces of the wreckage could still be found at the site.

The memorial was created by Les Familles de l’Attentat du DC-10 d’UTA, an association of the victims’ families along with the help of local inhabitants.

The memorial was built mostly by hand and uses dark stones to create a 200-foot diameter circle.

The Tenere region is one of the most inaccessible places on the planet. The stones were trucked to the site from over 70 kilometers away.

The memorial was built over the course of two months in May and June of 2007.

170 broken mirrors, representing each victim, were placed around the circumference of the memorial.

The memorial is anchored by the starboard wing of the aircraft which was trucked to the site from 10 miles away. Workers had to dig up the wing and empty it of sand.

The memorial is anchored by the starboard wing of the aircraft which was trucked to the site from 10 miles away. Workers had to dig up the wing and empty it of sand.

The memorial was partly funded by the $170 million compensation package provided by the Libyan government.

The completed memorial.

The memorial can be seen from Google Earth and Google Maps.

Six Libyans were ultimately convicted of this terrorist attack. They used a suitcase bomb to blow up the plane, which resulted in 155 passengers and 15 crew members meeting their demise.

Even in the face of this tragedy, the families constructed this beautiful memorial to never forget what happened. They will live on in their hearts, in the desert, and even on Google Earth forever.

Source & UTA Flight 772 Wikipedia Page

Share this touching story with others.

Read More