The Levy Preserve

It was a beautiful Friday morning when we left Kiawah for the Levy Preserve in Governor's Harbour, on Eleuthera Island. We landed the dinghy and then followed the signs that led to the beautiful native plant preserve that was two miles away.  We planned to hitch-hike because a four mile round trip hike was a lot.  A nice Bahamian man picked us up and dropped us right at the Levy Preserve.

  

One major point of the Levy Preserve is to teach people about the native plants in the Bahamas, and to show them how the non-native (invasive) species are taking over.  The Casaurina pine and the Lionfish are just two examples of invasive species in the Bahamas.  The Casuarina pine drops needles that create a sort of blanket that suffocates the native plants.  They also add acid to the soil making it hard for other plants to grow.  The lion fish was brought here from South America in the ballast water of ships, and also as a  pretty aquarium fish. They are now eating all the native fish that are important to the  Bahama's coral reefs and underwater ecosystems.  Fishemen are encouraged to kill lion fish when they get the chance.  Most people are scared off by the venom in their fins, but they are actually very good eating if you clip off the fins with scissors.  We ate three of them and they were delicious.  There are many more invasive species that are affecting the Bahama's wildlife.

Another big point of the Levy Preserve in to educate people about the Bahama's bush medicine.  Many of the Bahamian islands do not have access to a doctor so they use plants for medicine. Most Bahamians rely on bush medicine.  Not only does it work, but it is also a big part fo Bahamian culture.

We walked into the main office of the Levy Preserve and it was lovely!  There was a big file cabinet filled with insect collections.  There were spiders too.  The lady told us about the insects as we looked.  

We thanked her and headed off to the wild trails.  We walked past a stinky mangrove swamp, poison wood trees, and papaya plants.  It was really cool.  

Blood-red water from the tannic acid in the mangrove roots 

We also saw blue tailed skinks  and curly tailed lizards and a big emu looking bird.  There were lots of plaques that told you not to touch some of the  plants because they were poisionous.  We took a trail up to a big tower and we could see forever in that thing!  There were lots of trails with different themes.  One was the orchid trail.

Mmmmmm..........

One of my favorite trails was the one that led you by a big swamp that had stepping stones so you could get closer to the turtles that lived in the swamp.  It was really cool.  The turtles would poke up their heads and look at you from the murkey water, thinking you had food.  The turtles have a really cool history in the Bahamas. They are special fresh water turtles and are very rare because people killed them for their priceless shells and tender meat.  They need blue holes to survive.  There is a special layer on the top of a blue hole called a lense.  Lenses are fresh water on top of salt water becasue the salt is more dense than the fresh.  The turtles live in these lenses.  The lenses are being mixed because of human activity and high winds making it harder for these turtles to survive.

There was a Lucayan Indian hut there too that was made out of sticks and palm fronds.  When Christopher Columbus came here he found people.  These native people were the Lucayan Indians.  Columbus enslaved and killed many of the Lucayans off, until there were only a few people left.  It is a sad story.  Most Bahamians today are descendants of African slaves, and not Lucayan Indians.

Lucayan indian hut

The nursery where they grow some of the plants

Gag me with a bromeliad

"I wonder if I can eat these..."

After we had looked at every plant and hiked every trail we caught a ride home to Kiawah with a woman who owned the local grocery store.  What a wonderful day!

Love to all,
Riley