The Magnolia glade had the feeling of a room. A giant, magical, and whimsical room filled with sunlight, but a room nonetheless. The Baobab glade was a rocky scrubland, with blue sky and orange-brown desert in all directions for what seemed like limitless space. A sprawling village of houses clustered around us, each painted with a vibrant array of turquoises and purples.

The Baobab tree stood proudly at the center of it all. It was wide, impossibly wide, with a rippling, irregular ...