Saving plants so they can save people - Kauai

Our day at the Allerton and McBryde gardens was not just beautiful, but also educational. The gardens are right next to each other on the southern shore of the island of Kauai. They are part of the national tropical botanical gardens. See the website at ntbg.org.

During the 2.5 hour tour we learned about the gardens mission to save plants so they can save people. 

We saw the Madagascar periwinkle, an unassuming little flower that is responsible for not one, not two, but three anti cancer chemotherapies. 

Then there is a whole section devoted to breadfruit. One tree can feed a family of four all year long. 

Our very knowledgeable guide tells us all about the breadfruit

Then there the other end of the spectrum, the pong pong tree bears a very poisonous fruit. Just a bite can kill you, giving it the name suicide trees. It lives in an area of the gardens known as death row, along with several other deadly plants. 

It's true, the fruit of the Pong Pong tree is deadly.

Our tour guide was 2d generation Hawaiian and very knowledgeable. We learned history as well as science. This property was originally owned by King Kamehameha and there are records of Queen Emma Planting a certain mango tree in the 1800s that is still there and produces fruit. 

The incomparable beauty of the gardens has been used for the backdrop of many movies. Jurassic Park among them. Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, loved the place so much, he got married there.

Our tour guide told us that Michael Chrichton got married right here.

Finding a dinosaur's egg! 😮

Chris is looking for dinosaur's eggs. 

After the garden tour we walked across the street to the "Spouting Horn." This is a natural phenomenon - we would call a blowhole - where an old lava tube funnels water in such a way that the waves burst thru and shoot up, sometimes 20 feet or more. We were told it is tied for second place among the most visited sites in Kauai - tied with ... Costco!

Then we hailed an Uber to take us back to the port and we had lunch at Duke's. A great day of beauty and learning.