Here are some things I saw on Wednesday, 20 Dec 2023 while out riding my bike around Hilo, Hawaii.

There is a loop path lined with giant banyan trees, dedicated to people with some Hilo connection. Above are the trees of Babe Ruth and Amelia Earhart — they each planted them! The plaques commemorate that exact date.

The Babe was in Hilo to pay some exhibition ball games, and I learned (from wesisland.blogspot) that some park commissioners in Hilo sprang an idea to invite dignitaries and visiting celebrities to plant banyan tree saplings all along the Waiakea Peninsula. Pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart must have stopped here on her many flights.

Banyan trees at nearly 100 years old, like the dozens that now line this Banyan Drive loop road, are amazing, with their dense tangled forms. They are members of the strangler fig family. That is one heck of a family.

(After I posted all of this, my brother Dan sent along a link which has some more interesting historical information about the Banyan Drive: https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/hilo-walk-of-fame/ Thanks, Dan!)

So, I found the Giant Banyan Tree because it is on the Google Map. I suppose I would have eventually noticed it without having been alerted to its existence via my phone. But it is nice to see that a tree is on the map. Until, that is, you start reading the reviews.

Only 4.6 stars ?? What does a tree have to do around here to get 5 stars? Giant Banyan Tree is open 24 hours, for heaven’s sake. This tree is clearly a century+ old, and has withstood tsunamis, recessions, wars, colonial and neo-colonial politics, and the fashions of the 1980s. And still it stands, with extreme majestic grace. On a hot day, like the one we had here on Monday, it is a good 10°F cooler under those vast, sheltering boughs.

I have now written my own Google review of Giant Banyan Tree, hoping to skew its feedback more towards the 5 stars which it so clearly merits.

4 days ago    NEW

This is a most excellent tree! Spend some time with it. I give it 5 stars.