We toured the swimming pool, sunken into a garden of banana palms, with large ugly cubist sculptures poised on platforms above the water.

A banana palm went in next, then a set of three heliconias near the path.

You won't find a stray banana palm escaped to Erika's Folly.

Tropical and subtropical foliage (including burly banana palms) is thick and alive with colorful birds and butterflies.

"This is a splendid hydro," she said, and paused as the path took them to the banana palm.

A long furry rat-like creature scurried under a banana palm.

The landscaping consisted of a cluster of banana palms with dark green battered leaves that looked like they'd been slashed by a machete.

In the villages and towns, every plot of red earth and banana palms has burial mounds.

In places banana palms were scorched where the flames had spread more quickly than a farmer wished.

The wind was billowing the silk curtains on its way through the acres of banana palms.