As Matt finished last time – we were in the Everglades and as I write tonight we are back in them.  Anyone who has been here might be surprised by that as there is only one road in and out.  We are not lost!  It is because there has been so much to do, as well as having spent the weekend in the Florida Keys.

So, after collecting Reg we drove into the Everglades and did the Anhinga Trail which is a boardwalk, one mile long.  In all the books it said you could not fail to see wildlife and armed with our new binoculars (thank you Shaun for the recommendation) and our new camera – we were a perfect target for a mugging!  But compared to some of the equipment people were producing we looked rather modest!

On the trail we saw amazing things – just as they said.  Ibis, herons, anhingas and a purple gallinule on the bird front and then turtles and plenty of alligators.  They were all asleep in the sun at the end of the boardwalk. There must have been about ten of them, some draped over each other and one with all his legs at ninety degrees to his body which was very amusing.  A little later we saw some swimming with their trademark eyes out of the water.  They are very beautiful in a sinister way.  I recalled all the handbags I have bought with that pattern on them!!

It was the most wonderful introduction to the Everglades and I know everyone who has been here will understand that it is just captivating.  Although it is of course very flat – the vastness of it is beautiful and the contrast and tranquillity after Miami and America generally is superb. 

We came back the next day early on to get a pitch on one of the official sites – Long Pine Key campsite.  No hook ups – so we are getting good at being self-contained for water and power.  We got on our bikes and did a trail to a lake – hot work as it was in the mid 80’s, but gorgeous. 

In the afternoon, we had one of the highlights of the trip.  We did the Slough Slog which is where the ranger takes a party of 15 into a dome which is a flooded depression in the ground where cypress trees will grow in a circle.  The experience was awesome and I kid you not the group were all ready to high five as it was very surprising from the outset. You had to wear lace up shoes and long trousers and be prepared to be wet up to your thigh.  We were given a stick to walk with, so we set off into the dome. 

Everyone was very giggly at the start as mud started to go over our ankles but after five minutes when we were properly wading at the bottom of the dome – a sense of calm and serenity prevailed.  The water was clear, and not at all smelly.  Alligators will not go into domes as they are tightly packed with trees so not enough space for them to wiggle their tails – so we were assured it was safe.  It was one of those very precious experiences where we are reminded of how exciting nature is.  No one would ever have had the nerve to walk in there if you had not been told it was safe and you soon were totally immersed in walking around the trees and seeing the wildlife. Completely peaceful and a good reminder of how all of this wildlife goes on without us thinking or being aware of it.

We saw ibis in the trees, wood storks and the highlight were two barred owls guarding a nest where one of the eggs had fallen on to the ground. 

Everyone was buzzing when we came out and we then drove to the mahogany canopy where the trees grow over as cover for other species.  Saw a wonderful hawk as we went in with a peachy coloured breast.  We have a lot of birding knowledge to acquire!

Wednesday night we went to a brilliant talk about the Everglades that the rangers put on at the outdoor amphitheatre and it was all about how the Everglades are completely ruined… Man’s interference with water in Florida means that all we are really seeing is the after effects of having messed it up by altering the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee near Orlando.   Even in these more enlightened times where they are trying to reinstate some of the water that would naturally have been in the Everglades – it will only be achieved now by digging trenches and installing gates. 

People did not realise in previous generations but what a complete shame. That said it is still so beautiful. The talk was called ‘the Everglades – America’s ugliest national park’.  The ranger made the point that compared to mountains, redwoods and geysers you have to look for the beauty in the Everglades.  It is not sexy, being no higher than 8ft – but well worth seeing.

Next day on our way we went to – Pa-hay-okee, a lookout point – yet again we marvelled at the wet prairie and watched the birds.  Matt is now taking over to tell you about the Keys …

After the tranquillity of the Everglades (apart from the attention of several billion mosquitos of course, the visitor centre had their level at bearable, the chart goes up to unbelievable!) we drove back through the numerous nursery farms (i.e. growing pot plants for the world it seems) around Homestead on to Highway 1 which runs from the Canadian border down to Key West and unfortunately for much of its length resembles a strip mall.  Our destination was Key Largo and the Key Largo Kampground RV Park as we couldn’t get into the local Florida state park.  The site was largely populated with permanent ‘caravans’ for Sun Birders, northern states old people who travel down to Florida for the winter.  This meant the plots were jealously guarded by devices to protect individual property rights leading to tight corners around the site and a minor dispute between Reg and a pot plant. 

Having snugly parked Reg we got on the Thompson Twins and cycled to investigate the local John Pennekamp Coral Reef state park the first Coral Reef state park in the US, i.e. most of it is under water.  So, as we aren’t Jesus (more of him later) we booked ourselves onto the snorkelling trip out to the local reef for the next day.

Fortunately, the next day dawned bright and windless, a blessing after the day before, and we set off for our ‘cruise’ around 9:30.  It’s worth noting that Alex hadn’t snorkelled before, apart from an attempt on holiday as a child in Portugal when she and her mother wore their glasses under their goggles, so there was some trepidation amongst our party.  This led to the additional hiring of wetsuits to add buoyancy and extra warmth and the fear amongst others in our party we would end up looking like to portly seals.

We boarded the boat to take us out and got into conversation with a couple who turned out to be similar in age who had also just bought their RV and were travelling around Florida for the same period.  Michelle and John are from Long Island and were great company who we also went for drinks with later and also met for dinner.

After a safety briefing from Dean and some expert advice on how to snorkel proficiently we arrived at the diving point on the reef.  It’s here that Jesus appears again, literally in fact as at some point a group of locals had decided to emulate Genoa in Italy and place a life size statue of him atop the reef for divers and snorkelers to admire.  We were warned, however, not to hug Jesus as after his placement he had become home to a number of ‘Fire’ corals that if touched create a strong burning sensation that takes a time to dissipate. 

So, suitably dressed as seals, with a lifejacket on top to add even more buoyancy we set off to meet one member of the holy trinity.  I have to say that although it was odd to see a holy figure cast in concrete atop a beautiful natural sight it was a good way to get orientated in the water as the water was clear to at least 20 feet and he acted as a good marker for snorkelling the rest of the reef.

After our encounter with the son of god we went on to see a large number of beautiful and diverse sea creatures, including shoals of brightly coloured fish, big blue and green groupers, parrot fish, several menacing and eerily still barracuda and a small ray.  Alex’s worries proved groundless and we both spent the whole one and an half hour gliding over the top of the water admiring the scenes below.  To help Alex find me out of the group of us, I kindly had my bald spot atop my head plainly on display.

After drinks watching the sun go down with our new friends at Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill restaurant (he is a Super Bowl winning ex-coach of the Dallas Cowboys, although funnily enough he doesn’t seem to work in his restaurant) we went to sleep exhausted but exhilarated by a day of admiring the beauty of the natural world.

And on to Key West, billed as one of the big ‘party’ and ‘alternate’ towns in the US.  We stayed at Boyd’s campground, another large commercial site, this time with a little more space with our site being handily placed next to the communal toilet and shower block.  This lead to being awoken one night by people using the hand dryers at 1:15 in the morning which I took to be possible robbers.

Our problem with Key West was the weather, after going for drinks at Sloppy Joe’s on the Saturday night of our arrival, Sunday dawned very wet.  As this is meant to be the dry season it was disappointing to say the least, we spent most of the day doing mundane tasks (i.e. laundry and cleaning) and only once the rain stopped around 3pm did we get a chance to go back into town to sight see.  The principal attraction of Key West is that it is the southernmost point of the continental US.  This fact only holds up if you ignore the fact that the Florida Keys are actually a string of islands joined by an highway, but never ones to be put off by such things, the locals claim it as the southernmost point in any case.  We went on a tour of the Hemingway house, where he lived with his second wife (he had four) and up to 70 cats.  He believed that cats brought good luck and consequently collected them, there are still 43 cats on the property which are descendants of those he owned.  The house is interesting in its own right as the largest residential property on the key that was built originally by someone we would euphemistically call a ‘salvage’ expert but who was basically a wrecker, i.e. someone who profited from salvaging valuable goods from ships regularly shipwrecked off the island.  We also watched the sunset with approximately 5,000 other tourists, took in a couple more bars, notably the Green Parrot and walked down to the old navy yard. 

The next day we woke early to see if we could get a cancellation at Bahia Honda state park, that will have to wait for next weeks thrilling instalment from South Florida ….