Yesterday, we went down to the Everglades and took an airboat tour. It was fun, but mostly just an airboat ride, not an everglades tour because the airboat is so noisy that all you see is birds flying away and an alligator or two. The airboat had 4 passengers and the driver for the tour.
We went through a maze of mangrove islands and waterways, where it would be easy to get lost if you didn't know your way around. However, it's a huge area names Big Cypress National Refuge and we only saw the teeny part where the airboats usually go. The mangrove island channels were sometimes only as wide as the boat.
We also went through the "river of grass" areas. The airboat would run in an inch of water or even over just plain mud.
There was also a trail through the swamps where you could get a feel for the oppressive, closed in, watery jungle of the area. In the freshwater swamps there are lots of cypress trees, covered with ferns, epiphytes, and moss. This huge staghorn fern is the biggest one I have ever seen.
Today, we left early because it's a 9 hour cruise to Key West and said goodby to Marco Island in the sunrise.
It was a fairly uneventful ride to Key West, in somewhat lumpy seas because there were 3 foot waves straight abeam for most of the trip. We only saw the Key West fast ferry and this shrimp boat during the crossing.
It was nice to arrive at Key West where the islands blocked the waves as we passed by on our way to the marina on the Atlantic ocean side of the island.We're docked there now and will be leaving the boat in the hurricane rated dry storage facility here for the hurricane season.
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