Sacred Trees

Old Baobab in Meru Reserve; BOTTOM: Rhinos in Meru Reserve

crossed one made of loose logs and railway sleepers several times. It overlooks the ruined concrete structure made of culverts, in which is lodged half a tree. The rushing flood waters of climate change’s response to the extended drought before it, cracked it and washed most of it away.

Peterson and I talk of excesses, adventure freaks, land grabbers, alcohol, tobacco and drug misuse. He is a Maasai, a long way from home, the people around here are the Ameru, they eat locusts, termites, chicken and the most unpalatable of all, fish. They are his friends and he speaks to them in Kiswahili.

On a drive around the rhino sanctuary outside which the camp is located, we meet armed rangers, sitting in bushes, concealed from sight and the sun’s rays, Peterson speaks to them in Maa replying in quick succession to short questions asked with “Eey”. The traditional Maa protocol over, he talks about the animals that have been spotted.

Peterson can see rhino pug marks some distance from the car and says many rhino have crossed along here. He has to stop to show me the difference between elephant spoor and the claw marks of the rhino. He sees them even when they are behind trees and eventually I am able to spot two rhinos in different areas of the thicket. The woodland is so lush, it conceals everything except what is to my imagination the wars between the plants and trees. Some allelopathic tree exuding chemicals to kill another, a leaf’s warning to its own species to exude toxins that taste and smell awful to approaching browsers and the fig creeping up the large trunk as yet still alive.

We observe grevy’s zebras and a mother and baby rhino, together in a lush papyrus swamp in the sanctuary through which Rhino River Camp is accessed. Just about 1000 feet above sea level, here

giant Baobabs, over 200 years old, reach across the overstory with tales immortalised by writers like David Njagi. In his book, “The last Mau Mau Fieldmarshalls”, he describes freedom fighters who were based in Meru National Park during Kenya’s struggle for independence between 1952 & 1963 using a Baobab tree as their meat store and hideout. The trees hollow could accommodate 15 adults.

“At Kina area in Meru National Park, we found a large baobab tree with a hollow trunk which we used as a kitchen. While we were there we were found by white colonial soldiers and a big battle ensued. The exchange of fire was intense and the whole area was covered with smoke and dust. I was pushed to the edge of Tana River which was not far from the hollowed baobab tree and I had no alternative but to jump into the river. Once in the river, I was lucky to find a drifting log which I held onto and drifted to the other side of the river.”

The forests on the banks of the rivers drip with vines. The creeping tendrils of the strangling fig or sacred Mugumo tree, is where the spirits of ancestors reside.

For the Ameru whose ancestral lands are around the Nyambene hills which surround the views from the National park, the Mugomo tree houses spirits that should not be disturbed. In the Gikuyu who also live in central Kenya and for the Maasai, the Mugumo is in their origin stories.

Ficus natalensis is a tempestuous tree, starting its life as a soil-based seedling, later wrapping itself around another tree and eventually replacing the original tree with a hollow. Pollination is effectuated by a fig-wasp. While mostly one fig species is associated with one wasp species and vice versa, four wasp species were found to visit a single Ficus natalensis tree in Uganda.

In Meru National Park there are several species of Tsetse fly, that Peterson points out on the windscreen and whenever they bite him. I am wearing light khakis, greys and earthen tones that do not attract them.

Meru National park forms a network of animal corridors with neighbouring Bisanadi, Mwingi, Kora and Rahole reserves. Of all the reserves there is lodge accommodation only in Meru. Here 13 rivers feed the park. Rhino River Camp is located in its deep and savage wilderness along the Kindani river, which tumbles past five of its seven tents. Gentle rapids crash past the pool which at this altitude is naturally warm. Gamewatchers Safaris own Porini Camps who have taken over Rhino River Camp. Since November last year, there’s been canvas sewing, painting, plumbing and repairing of decks onsite. Porini means wild and this landscape is confoundingly feral.

Vervet monkeys land on the decking, curious but shy. Carol my room steward, who is also a small but strong masseuse, tells me not to fear mosquitoes because strangely in this humid jungle, with its low altitude, flowing water and rampant vegetation, there are no mosquitoes. I apply repellent anyway because I’ll be going to sit by the fire pit with a drink, where the air is stiller.

Grevy's and Rhinos in Meru Swamp. TOP: Kingfisher on fence post Meru

www.porini.com

Rupi Gill

Fig trees were here when dinosaurs first roamed the planet. Ficus is a genus of some 850 species that exist world wide. Scientists have been studying the reverence for fig trees since the 1800s. They’ve found that myths from all around the world have helped preserve these trees.

The tree grows in the forests of East Africa which is a highly competitive space where every species must use what it has, to get what it needs. The environment has four layers. The forest floor is very dark and makes up the bottom layer. This is home to rodents and insectivores, fungi and bacteria.

Leaves, fruit and branches fall here and decompose quickly. A leaf that would otherwise take a year to rot will disappear in six weeks.

The next layer is the understory.

Shrubs and stunted trees with broad leaves grow here as taller trees prevent much light from reaching them. Huge leaves help absorb as much light as possible. Plants in this layer grow no taller than 15 feet.

Most insects, jaguars and leopards are found in this layer.

The canopy is the overstory, comprising the tops of all trees covering the forest. Trees in this layer typically grow as high as 100 feet and absorb lots of light. Many animals, snakes, tree frogs and toucans live in this abundant layer.

Finally, emergents make up the top layer, wide leafed and tall at 250 feet, they are evergreen hardwoods and home to monkeys, eagles, bats and butterflies. The strangler fig or Mugumo has evolved to compete for forest resources by beginning its life as an epiphyte high in the canopy.

Epiphytes are plants that grow on top of other plants, though they do not harm their host. Instead, they get their nutrients from the air, water and sunlight. The strangler sprouts from a small seed that gets to the canopy in the faeces of a monkey, bird or bat.

At this stage, the strangler grows upward, developing leaves to absorb sunlight. But unlike a regular epiphyte, the strangler fig also drops its aerial roots, enveloping the host tree, driving its gnarled roots into the ground.

The strangler fig helps itself to the sunlight and other nutrients the host tree needs, strangling it in the process. Ultimately, the host tree dies, leaving the strangler with a hollow trunk.

But it gives year round fruit, stabilises the soil from erosion and its roots form channels deep and wide, bringing ground water up to the surface for other life to exist. Birds, bats, reptiles and small mammals also live in its many nooks and crannies.

Its pollination is yet another dramatic story. Each species of Ficus has a corresponding specialised species of wasp that fertilises it. A female wasp forces her way into an immature fruit through a natural opening. She

Fig Fruit. RIGHT: strangler fig or Mugumo

loses her wings and antenae in the process, lays her eggs and dies. The fruit digests her. The male wasps hatch first, impregnate the females before they are born, tunnel their way out of the fruit and die. The females hatch and using the tunnel escape, carrying with them pollen. They mature and enter another fig to continue the life cycle.

In some figs, a wasp that actively collects pollen in its sacs is forced to keep up its side of the bargain. A recent study by Cornell University found that the tree dumped the fruit, by dropping it if the female wasp