Description

The Baobab Avenue, also known as the Alley of Baobabs, is located along a dirt road between Morondava and Belon’i Tsiribihina in Madagascar. This place is very scenic, with a cluster of giant baobab trees lining the path to the right and left of the roadside with their dramatic silhouettes. Along the Avenue are about a dozen of huge trees about 30 meters in height, some of them over 800 years old.
This striking landscape is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Madagascar, drawing travellers from around the world.
These giant, dry season-deciduous trees (members of the Mallow family), many of which are more than 800 years old with trunks that are over 150 feet around did not always stand alone. At one time the trees dotting the lane were part of a rich forest of the trees and other plants, but the encroachment of modern civilization and increasing populations in the area led to massive deforestation leaving the remaining baobabs to stand in relative isolation. There are also a handful of the ancient trees remaining in the outlying areas but both the trees along the road otherwise are under near-constant threat of destruction.