Back to Long Key

Well we are into our last two weeks in the Keys but Long Key is a great place to wind up our stay in the islands. Long Key puts us back in the middle Keys with sites that are on the beach. I mean on the beach with sand in our site. Blue is enjoying his walks around our campsite with little to no interest in leaving. There was a small music festival in the campground yesterday and lots to see as we walk the beach. We can watch the sun rise over the dash and a few steps from the front of our rig, we can watch the sunset on the beach. Man this is so easy to do.

An invasion in Florida

It seems that there are as many invasive species of flora and fauna here as there is native. While many are beautiful, like the Lion Fish, they are hard on the local species, competing for resources to survive, and sometimes dangerous. In some instances, like the Burmese python, there are no competitors and they flourish in the tropical climate. Our campground neighbor’s children found a Takoy Gecko in the tree behind our rig. They had no idea what the Gecko was and Gary found them poking sticks and reaching in to see if they could cox it out of it’s hiding spot. In an interest of saving the creature from torment, he went outside with the iPod to help identify. After a few minutes we found a match and realized the colorful gecko is also an invasive species with a bite that would surely hurt a young boy. In the evening when we take Blue for his night walk, the flashlight reveals many other nocturnal creatures we can not identify.

Key Largo Coral Reef National Marine Sanctuary and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

We backtracked to Key Largo to spend a few weeks in Pennekamp, the first state park as you enter the Keys. It is also the the beginning of 70 nautical miles of the first US underwater park with a large reef system. The reef system extends and parallels the Keys, coming closest in the middle keys to within 3 miles from the islands. Pennekamp provides glass bottom boat trips, snorkel trips and diving outings. It’s a sanctuary for the hundreds of fish, corals, Seashells, sponges, sea horses and turtles. And it’s here in our back yard, amazing.

Kite at Curry

On the weekends, the locals come out in numbers with their Para-kites and boards. With the nice winds they were busy from sunup to sunset. It is fun to watch and I'm sure, even more fun to actually do.

Kayaking the Mangroves at Curry Hammock.

Even when the wind is up, there are a number of places to Kayak around the state park, including the narrow passage under the road into Curry Hammock. At high tide today we ventured into the Mangroves and fond the trail. Through some sections I would pull us through because it was to tight for Gary to paddle. It is a great place to see the young marine life that hide out from larger species that would eat them and we surprised several birds from their roosts.

Sunrise and Sea Beans

We've had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets from our hiding spot in the sea grass. They are hard to capture with the point and shot camera but I will keep trying. As we walk the beaches at low tide, I am pleased to see how many Sea Beans were available. I recall hours of searching the beaches while sailing with our friends Kathy and Stan in the Exumas to find one our two beans on a good day. As you can see from the photo, this is a few hours effort along a relatively small beach. If you are wondering, "what's the big deal with the beans", the joy is in the finding, but when sanded, they shine up nicely, are often made into jewelery and the hard surface last for a long time. Some of the beans, like the Nickerbean are from local waters. In fact I found the plant that the Nickerbean grows on. But many, like the Sea Heart, Sea Purse, Star Nut Palm and Hamburger can ride the ocean tides up from the West Indies, some as far as South America. Once caught in the oceans currents, the sea beans drift for many months and eventually end up on the beaches along our shores and as far north as Greenland. Some of the beans, like the Golf Ball have an edible meat (if they haven't been floating for months)and some like the Poison Apple, as the name suggests, you would be wise not eat. But for the most part, they are fun to find and very pretty to look at.

Green Iguana

We share our campsite with a few green lizards (Iguanas) for Blue to watch. The two we watched today were almost 3 feet long and blend in well with the vegetation. These are invasive and very successful in the islands unfortunately.

Best view, ever!

The sites in Curry along the water have some of the best views we have enjoyed in our travels so far. While it is not the best swimming beach with sea grass just off shore, it is a short kayak trip out to a sand spit for walks in the warm water. Or one can do as we did today and kayak along the Mangroves in search of stray marker buoys, we found 4 nice buoys to bring home. Or you can check out the nearby homes and see how the other half lives. This home, while modest in comparison to many is said to be owned by the founder of Bass Pro Shops. It is about the land in his case which includes several acres on the water with a deep water access which is sheltered.

Into the Keys

At last, into the keys to our favorite camping site of all, Curry Hamock. You know you are entering the Key's long before you see any water by the sea foam blue green barriers along the road, and then you spot it. That water which is a color of the Carribean. Just above sea level these island get pounded by the hurricanes that frequently hit this area. But at this time of the year, it is paradise. Our little spot in paradise for the next month and a half.

Polar bear plunge, in Florida, really?

Well it is new years, and there is water every where but really? No kidding it is 80 degrees and the water temp is around 68. I think they got the polar bear part wrong.