Lost Tree

The tree is an acacia clinging to its exposed root mound, and annually denuded by passing travellers seeking firewood.

Despite its small and diminished state, the tree's remoteness makes it an important visual landmark on the desolate route between Adrar Bous in the northern Aïr Mountains, and the outpost of Chirfa on the edge of the Djado Plateau.

The Ténéré was special to Sabine after he was stranded on the nearby Tchigaï Plateau during the 1977 Abidjan-Nice rally.

Rally maps printed after his death were the first to call the tree as "Arbre Thierry Sabine".

A marble and brass plaque on rocks below the tree is dedicated to his memory, and the original supposedly read: "For those who take a challenge – for those who follow a dream".