For years, the area's weavers have used banana and sisal fibers to make their wares.

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He eventually found fishing line, and a large undamaged mosquito net, and sisal bags large enough to tie together and use as a blanket.

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On the estate of the aristocratic French de Heaulme family in the south of the island she discovered an untouched forest fragment amid the sisal plantations.

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Heading west from Dar es Salaam, the road traverses the Ruvu River, tracks along the base of the Uluguru Mountains and meanders through sisal plantations and a string of small villages.

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In a broad sweep, she ranges from the sometimes vicious territorial disputes between rival lemur troops (described with excitement and, at times, sentimental anthropomorphism), to the history of the mica mines and sisal plantations that drove the island's economy after the second world war.

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The foot-friendly furry rug makes the floor exciting. (Money-saving tip: Use a large, inexpensive sisal rug as a base, and layer it with a small version of the pricier rug you love.) Windows with wow factor: Embroidered Roman shades add warmth and contrast and function as art against understated blue walls.

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All have been individually decorated, so it is impossible to generalize, but ours came with cream walls, bleached wooden floors covered by sisal matting, wicker screens, a four-poster king-size bed, wingback armchairs, a large writing desk, dramatic framed black-and-white photography and decoration that ranged from traditional African sculptures to a tower of Louis Vuitton steamer trunks.

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