Along the Baobab Boulevard

Baobab trees (Adansonia) are fascinating trees. At glance their unusual "bottle-like shape" immediately draws attention of any curious hiker. They are many species of this tree originated from Madagascar: They do bear heat and some have adapted to coastal regions. Digging out a bit more, one learns that they don't produce annual growth rings, which make difficult to determine their age. Carbon 14 methods (radiocarbon dating) are then used and confirm that they can grow for some of them extremely old (>1000 years) reaching impressive heights and sizes. In dry seasons they can even store water inside their swollen trunks. On the top of that, seeds, fruits and leaves have edible qualities among other uses.
Last but not least, have you ever seen a baobab flower? At day it looks passed or withered and surprisingly, this miserable flower takes all its beauty at night: the white colour becomes then a little sun in the night.

Young baobabs have been successfully planted close to the Roches district in Kourou. So don't look for the Sunset Boulevard but just enjoy a jogging early morning when it is still fresh between the beach and the Baobab boulevard....