Ages Apart
On our way to Hoedspruit, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, We were told about a tree which stood in the middle of a village. A seemly untouched part of the country, tucked away in the mountains and not within walking distance of any big towns. The tree was a 2000 year old Baobab tree which towered above the small stone houses. When we arrived at the village we found a rocky road which was too rough for our small car and so we set off on foot for the rest of the journey. After a little while of walking we still hadn't found the tree and so we decided to stop and ask for directions.
We came across a family and after a quick chat with them the grandmother called over her grand daughter and asked her to take us to the tree. On our walk I chatted with the girl and found out her name was Naledi, she was 9 years old and that she attended a school in the village, she was in grade 3 and her English was very limited.
I asked Naledi to pose under the tree for me to get a shot. At the time all I was thinking about was the cher size of the tree compared to this tiny girl. When I got back to our campsite and started to edit the shots for the day thats when it dawned on me, the age difference between the two living beings in this picture was immense. This tree has seen the life and times of many of her ancestors and her life, only 9 years so far, is merely just a chip in the bark in comparison.
Apart from these odd revelations I also managed to befriend some of the younger kids which had started to crowd around to see what we were up to.
