Silicon Moulds in Botswana
On the 16 th January 2016 the great Chapman’s Baobab tree fell down after commanding a majestic place on the edge of the Makgadikdadi Plains, for some say as long as 2000 years. I visited the tree in 2014 and was devastated when I heard about it. I immidately suggested to Ralph Bousfield who had hosted me at Jacks Camp in 2014 that I would like to go back and make silicon moulds of some of the carvings that people had made in the bark of the tree, including Livingston who is thought to have carved a cross on the trunk in 1852. I was able to return and I spent 3 days taking moulds from the tree and then went to visit Greens Tree which is also marked by a cross carved by Livingston and a inscription recording Greens Expedition of 1858. The plan is to cast some of the inscriptions into bronze for the museum at Jack’s Camp.
