And while you could sometimes forget the lack of fences at Anabezi, there's no chance at
Sausage Tree.
It also brings them closer to our camp and to the
sausage trees.
Some of the unusual trees found in the Serengeti have very strange names, such as: *
Sausage Tree -- which has long sausage-shaped poisonous fruit; * Toothbrush Tree -- local people cut its green shoots and use them to brush their teeth; * Umbrella Tree -- it arches over the plains like an umbrella; * Candelabra Euphorbia -- when a branch is broken, a toxic poison drips out that can burn the skin; and * Whistling Thorn -- this tree's thorns are filled with biting ants.
Ebony is good for dysentery, sticks from the guarrie tree make excellent toothbrushes, and the
sausage tree can cure skin cancer.
And prima my favourite snippet from the pupils at one primary school is still, one little boy telling me that he grew potatoes because he likes chips, a little girl adding that she grew tomatoes because she likes tomato sauce and another little lad chipping in cheekily, "I wanted to grow a
sausage tree but we couldn't find any sausage seeds."
They are taking part in Fight Night 2, which organisers hope will raise up to pounds 20,000, to be split between the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the Brain Tumour Research Campaign and the Zambian children's charity
Sausage Tree.
By the way, the shampoo also clears up dandruff." Zambesia Botanica is made from an extract of the African tree Kigelia, nicknamed the
sausage tree because of the bitter-tasting, extract-producing fruit pods which hang from the branches and resemble sausages.
And as always it's great to see the school children becoming more and more involved; I will always remember a little five-year-old telling me he wanted to grow a
sausage tree and this year there was a wonderful moment when one of the teachers was explaining pollination to her young class.
Details: Aardvark Safaris (01980 849160, www.aardvark safaris.com) offer seven nights in Zambia including three nights at the
Sausage Tree Camp from pounds 2,950, with British Airways flights from UK, internal flights, all meals and drinks.
A new herbal cream called Zambesia Botanica, made with the fruit and bark extracts from the African
Sausage Tree, is highly effective on all irritated skin and has little or none of the harmful side effects of steroid equivalents.
One little boy told me he had grown potatoes so he could make chips, another had grown tomatoes so they could have tomato sauce with their chips whilst their friend chirped up, "And I wanted to grow a
sausage tree." Brilliant.