Natural wonders

When Sudan makes the news, it is usually because of some conflict or famine or other disaster. While it's true that this part of the planet endures more than its share of sorrows, year after year, I can assure you that Sudan is also a place of breathtaking beauty: in nature and in its people. In the next few posts, I will highlight a few of its many natural wonders.

Here we see a banyan tree (well, not being a botanist, I am guessing it is a banyan tree--you readers can set me straight!). It's growing in a semi-arid part of South Sudan, in the town of Nimule, within the compound where I lodge when visiting. As you can see, it's a magnificent,  towering tangle of roots and trunk and branches and foliage. Almost a whole community of trees wrapped into one vital pillar of strength and provider of shade and shelter!   Doesn't it help you understand why people become huggers of trees?