Tree of Ténéré Site

For decades a single acacia stood in the Ténéré with no other tree within some four hundred kilometres, marking a well on the salt caravan route and appearing on maps as a landmark in an otherwise empty quarter. A lorry driver hit it in 1973. The trunk went to the national museum in Niamey and a metal sculpture now stands at the spot, in flat sand with nothing else in view.

What to look for

• The metal sculpture - the marker standing where the tree grew.
• The well - the water the caravan route depended on at this point.
• The empty quarter - flat sand with no other feature in any direction.
• The isolation - a tree that stood with no other within 400 kilometres.

When to go

November to February is the cool season and the only practical window. Summer heat in the open Ténéré is extreme. Wind can erase the piste entirely.

Good to know

This is deep desert crossing that needs a guide, convoy, permits and full self-sufficiency arranged well ahead. There is nothing at the site but a sculpture and sand. The original trunk is in Niamey, not here.

Nearby

Bilma is east, and Agadez is west.