Experiencing Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park Using the Five Senses
by Frances Daniel with collaboration from Val Kegel
Visiting Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park can overwhelm even the most well-planned traveler simply because the Park consists of 65 fabulous acres! Spending just 15 minutes on the website will certainly help. Both an overview of the Park’s attractions and a printable map are on
the Nature page. The Events page provides information about major activities held at the Park throughout the year.
However, some visitors to the Park might not have had the time or the opportunity to formulate a plan. No worries! By using their five senses, all visitors can pass an enjoyable couple of hours at Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park.
Let’s consider how this plan can work for you. You will purchase tickets inside the Visitors’ Centre where you can inquire about guided tours, Blue Iguana Safaris, maps, and any special seasonal blooming plants. Spend a few minutes looking at postcards in the Gift Shop to gather ideas of what you might see on your visit. Before you leave the Park, be sure to 
stop at the Gift Shop to purchase some lovely souvenirs. A practical thing to know is that restrooms are available at the Visitors’ Centre and in the Floral Colour Garden. Now, head out with all your senses on high alert!
Your first stop will be the Orchid Boardwalk which, at 600 feet long, offers an easy way to see both regional and local orchids. Even if orchids are not blooming, you can enjoy the quiet walk, an opportunity few of us experience in our typically busy, noisy days. As your hearing adjusts to the lack of traffic noise, pay attention to the sounds of nature: birds chirping and singing, leaves rustling in the occasional breeze. If you happen to visit the Park during April, May, or June, you can see the beautiful blooms of the local orchids. June is the best time to see the Cayman Islands’ national flower, the Wild Banana Orchid (Myrmecophila thomsoniana var. thomsoniano). Give yourself time to gaze at this beauty! Start at the base. Those banana-looking shapes are pseudobulbs, the storage organ of the orchids. You might not remember “pseudobulbs” once you return home, but their banana-like clusters are 
easy to recall! Refrain from touching these delicate flowers, but look at the thin spike that ends in a gathering of delightful flowers with white petals and purple “lips”. That spike can be from 1 to 2 meters long (3 to 6 feet)! If possible, carefully lean towards the flower and use your sense of smell to enjoy the light, pleasant scent. Many orchids thrive in this habitat, and you will find informational signs about the different varieties as you continue along the boardwalk. Insects also thrive in this habitat, so you might experience some unpleasant sensations of touch as some insects get a little too personal with you! During our walk, we saw many orchids in addition to the Wild Banana Orchid and also a Northern Flicker, a type of woodpecker. The Orchid Boardwalk offers a pleasing way to awaken 
your senses before you investigate more of the Park.
After wandering the Orchid Boardwalk, go towards the Heritage Garden where you will see Rankine House, a pink restored traditional Caymanian house in the midst of a white sand garden. As you gaze over the property, consider your own home space. Does Rankine House have anything in common with your own? How about the sand garden? 
Standing at the white picket fence, look at the charming map of this property to help you decide which areas you have time to visit. Then notice the informational sign about the sand garden. Read it aloud so that others can hear about the important elements of this type of garden. Walk the path and listen for the clicking sound of the seashells and the scratching sound of your shoes on the sandy path. Notice the conch shells that line the path. Bend down and touch one. Imagine stubbing your toe on that on a dark evening! Consider how paths are lined in your neighborhood—bricks? plastic edging? In this environment, people used natural resources, and conch shells were readily available. When you view this area with only your eyes, you see an interesting house and yard. But once you add your own knowledge to your senses of sight, hearing, and touch, then you have created your own experience that will be a meaningful memory of the Heritage Garden.
We were fortunate to be able to have a guided tour with Hal Miller whose abundant knowledge was particularly impressive in the Floral Colour Garden. With Hal’s guidance, we fully experienced its beauty as he made sure that we saw a range of colours and types of plants and that we touched certain leaves and bark. If you have a guided tour of the Park, then look at everything as directed by your guide! But if you are on your own, then perhaps you could focus on one or two colours so that you don’t experience sensory overload in the midst of this fabulous garden. Or direct your attention to the plants with which you are familiar. Fuchsia Bougainvillea towered over us as we lamented 
our inability to help even a small hanging basket thrive back home! Wander, don’t rush. Allow your eyes the time to process each shade of color—red, orange, yellow, white, blue, purple, lavender, green. Choose a favorite flower. Even six weeks after my visit to the Park, I continue to enjoy my memory of seeing Cat’s Whiskers, a charming white flower that looks just like …well, a cat’s whiskers! The stunning yellow and orange Lobster Claw plant brought to mind a delicious lobster meal on a trip to Maine a couple of years ago. The sense of taste doesn’t have to be an actual experience. Sometimes the memory of a taste is almost as fun! 
I have no doubt that future meals of seafood will generate a mental picture of the eye-catching Lobster Claw plant. Giving special attention to our five senses is a fascinating way of linking one pleasant experience with another.
The Park includes other areas that you will want to visit. The two-acre lake provides a habitat and breeding area for beautiful birds and ducks. The names alone stir the imagination—Tri-coloured Herons, Green Herons, Blue-winged Teals. Bird-watchers will enjoy having their binoculars with them here. Stand by the lake, close your eyes, and listen. Perhaps you will hear the calls of birds, the rustling of the palm fronds, the unknown sound caused by something in the water. Open your eyes! Meander along the Woodland Trail where you will experience a variety of landscapes on the almost a mile path. As you read the informational signs, look for interesting facts that connect with your own knowledge base. I read that logwood is an invasive tree that was 
introduced to the Cayman Islands, a fact which made me think of the dreaded invasive kudzu vine near our home. Continue 
to stop and read the signs of interest to you, but keep looking and listening for anything along the way! We saw a blue iguana on the path and a snake off the path! And engage the senses of touch and smell, too. Notice the feel of the air. Is it dry or moist? Breathe in deeply. Just as the sounds of the Park can be quite different from the usual sounds in our environments, so can the smells. Sometimes we simply need to slow our busy minds and fully experience wherever we are.
The final focal point will be the Blue Iguana Habitat where you can peer through openings in the wooden fence and, possibly, view the fascinating Grand Cayman Blue Iguana in a safe habitat. The National Trust for the Cayman Islands has its Blue Iguana Recovery Program here. Blue 
iguanas roam freely throughout the Park, so you might have seen one or more at other places during your visit. Although we didn’t eat the plums we saw in the Heritage Garden, we watched a blue iguana nibble a plum! And the two that we saw in the Floral Colour Garden were impressive. One seemed to stop and pose beside the sign as if to show that blue is the best colour in the garden! Another posed in a grassy area of the Floral Colour Garden and allowed us plenty of time to capture its regal appearance with our cameras! Wherever you see these fascinating reptiles, stop and look. Touching is not allowed, but imagine how the thick, scaly skin might feel. Without getting too close, look at the shape of the head and at the claws. Enjoy the moment, but from a safe distance!
A visit to Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park will certainly delight the senses, and using the five senses will create a meaningful memory of your time in this beautiful place. Long after you return home, your mind will transport you back to the Park when you see even the smallest lizard, hear a sound similar to that of your feet walking a sandy path, or enjoy the delicate scent of a flower.