Herbal Remedies Walk
with Erik Leacock
EVENT UPDATE
Sunday 24th April
9:30-10:30am
The Botanic Park, Grand Cayman
On Sunday 24th April, members in Cayman met up at the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park to take a relaxing stroll in nature and learned more about Caymanian bush medicines and other plants at the Park.
Learning about and understanding our natural heritage and the importance of plants in our world is key to our newly formed Bush Club. With thanks to Erik Leacock and Bush Girl Medicine Hannah Reid Ford, we were able to learn about some of the key flora that was used throughout Cayman history.
Our first Bush Club event in Cayman began with a meeting in the beautiful Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park gardens. Members were welcomed and assembled in the Park Schoolhouse where they were offered a freshly made Moringa Tea. The properties and importance of the Moringa plant was the focus of the morning talk, guests were shown the leaves, stem, and how to crush and use the seeds, with guidance and stories on all of the health and medicinal benefits and water purification capabilities of this valuable and. significant plant. The second plant discussed was the Mint Pectis caymanensis – with instructions on where it is found, how to use, and its medicinal benefits and historical use in the Cayman Islands.
The talk and demonstration was followed by a gentle stroll around the gardens to the Bush Medicine Garden and Heritage Gardens. Guests were shown culturally significant and medicinal plants around the gardens and given demonstrations on how to use the plants and the history of how the plants were used and viewed throughout history in the Cayman Islands.
Members were grateful and engaged and special thanks to all who participated was shared among the group.
Thank you to all who came to our first Herbal Remedies Bush walk in the Cayman Islands – we do hope that you will continue to engage with us through our Bush Club and join us on more events to come.
Erik Leacock has a passion for herbs and plants in the Cayman Islands, and has also travelled the world to study the positive benefits of different herbs and plants. He done extensive research on Caymanian bush medicines, and is keen to share his knowledge for others to understand more about Cayman’s natural heritage, with thanks to the National Trust.
When exploring plant life in Cayman, Erik works full-time at his family’s business, Brand Source. He is also studying full-time to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition at Huntington University of Health Sciences.
“Inspired by a profound life-changing experience about 10 years ago, which was the beginning of my journey of learning about plant medicines. I spent many years working with plant medicines in Latin America; such as in the Yucatan jungle in Mexico, to rainforests in Costa Rica, to the Darién Gap in Panama, to as far South as the Amazon jungle in Peru. Since being back home the past 5 years, I’ve obtained a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition, an Associate’s Degree in Applied Nutrition and currently finishing my Bachelor’s in Nutrition to become a Nutritionist. As a Caymanian, I believe strongly that learning and sharing knowledge on Caymanian Bush Medicines to be enormously important for our culture and critical for maintaining our traditions.”
