Back to Key Largo

Every day off it's time to have another adventure. This one takes us back to Key Largo... the diving & snorkeling capital of the keys (or so they say). Not that this means all that much to me. I can't swim.... sink like a rock. We actually did a test... me vs the rock... I made it to the bottom of the pool before the rock did. Since I can't swim.. I certainly can't snorkel .... and I'm told that if you can't swim, you can't dive. Not to get side tracked... but diving with an air supply seems like the perfect solution if you can't swim. It kinda seems like telling a sky diver .... if you can't fly, you can't sky dive. If the parachute is the perfect solution to keep from crashing into the ground.... wouldn't air tanks be the perfect solution to not drowning? Must be something more to this than I know. Anyway... given the perfect place to dive or snorkel... and that I can't do either... it made perfect sense to go on a glass bottom boat to see the underwater sights. We chose a boat that departed right from John Pennekamp State Park, Key Largo. The park is nice, the boat was really nice, the crew was great, the price was right, the weather was beautiful, and the ride out to the reef was a true joy. The water was almost calm until we got to the reef. Where the ocean meets the reef ... the waves increased to 5 foot swells. Since the boat was slowly moving along the reef... the waves were hitting the boat from the side. We had about a 35 degree rise and fall from side to side. First all you see is sky.... than the horizon as it rushed past.... than all water. About 2/3rds of the guests... as myself... went to the upper deck within 5 minutes to keep from getting any sicker. By the end to the reef viewing time, almost everyone was on the upper deck. The fact that I had just ate a somewhat greasy gooey cheesy omelet probably didn't help any. But by god's grace... no one threw up... and everyone semi enjoyed the what was surely a beautiful ride back to dock. This somewhat spoiled the next few hours, and without taking any more pictures or doing anything but sitting with my eyes closed... Shelly brought me back home. She was not as bad as me. Everything in this part of Florida is on a great giant coral slab hundreds of miles square. If you are on dry ground... a 6-10 foot coral slab is only inches below your feet. The wetlands and shallow water is also just above the same coral slab. Where the water meets the land the are mangrove trees and the wetlands... for miles and miles. The actual water way ... about one mile long... that we traveled through to get to open water was all dug out making passage possible. The coral slab is about 1-2 feet below the water level... mangroves trees as far as you can see. All in all it was a nice day trip ( except for the getting sick part) and I would say that the trip was worth doing... although I wouldn't do it again. I got to see a sea turtle, Shelly got to see a ray jump out of the water, and we got to see lots of other non spectacular fish. We did see lots of birds... all kinds of birds. I have learned a thing or two about the local birds... they love to eat snakes. So I guess that I could conclude that if you have snakes nearby, you will have lots of birds to eat them. Okay that sounds good. But if you have birds does that mean you have lots of snakes? or if you don't have lots of birds that there are little or no snakes? We do have crocodiles... hense the warning signs... Crocodile Crossing... I think I'd rather see Deer Crossing signs.... at least deer don't think you are food! Oh... that's a big one!
Can you say telephoto lens .... 20x zoom!
Focus, snap, get back into the truck, go...go...go! I think I know what that croc was thinking... "Bet he (meaning me) tastes just like chicken... I love chicken!" Did you know they have been known to bite your tires? I could see me calling road care for that... bring a big jack... and a big gun! (Don't forget... click on any picture to enlarge!) Later....Richard.