This beauty is called "l'arbre du voyageur" (the traveler's tree). I've been told the name stems from the fact that its leaves always fan out from east to west, pointing the way for any lost desert trekkers. I don't know if I buy that one, as our neighbors' trees seem to be pointing in all different directions. Others, however, have told me that the name is due to the fact that each branch contains potable water down at its base, always ready to quench the thirst of lost desert trekkers. Testing this theory, I asked Amadou to cut a branch off so we could inspect its insides. While it was indeed filled with water, I haven't yet dared drink any...
And here is a flower called "la trompette de la mort"(trumpet of death). I'm told you shouldn't boil it to make a drink. Fine by me. We've got a whole bush of these pretty things.
We also have numerous hibiscus bushes around the house. These grow with great ease in this climate, and Cecilia enjoys picking the flowers for inside decoration and an occasional tropical behind-the-ear look.
We are fortunate enough to have a great deal of these heliconia flowers growing in a few different spots around the house. They sure make a beautiful bouquet on the dining room table!
Here's a wide shot of our mango tree...
And then there's the baby banana tree we planted a year and a half ago that grew to full banana-growing status only recently. Seems like a long time to grow bananas to me, but it was definitely well worth the wait!Here's the plant from a distance. If you look carefully you'll see a large, purple flower dangling down in the middle. The bananas grow row by row beneath each petal of the flower.
As each petal lifts up to reveal a row of mini-bananas (look closely under the raised petal here), the flower grows slowly southward, reaching closer to the ground while a new row of bananas is revealed under each layer.
As you can well imagine, the kids and I had our eye on that bunch of bananas in the backyard as it grew bigger and bigger over the months. I figured we'd have to pick it while still green, but I didn't know exactly how green. Then one day, like magic, Amadou announced that it was time. 
So we cut the darned thing off and boy was it heavy! Home-grown bananas have a much sharper flavor than those cut and shipped to the store, and with all the mangoes we've collected from our mango tree we sure are enjoying Gabonese fruit these days! I plan on letting a number of these bananas go black so we can use them in our next batch of banana-mango bread. So while life on the equator may not be perfect, I quite enjoy that the kids' school snacks are baked with fruits grown right in our tropical backyard! Yum. 
