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| Florida Keys sunset from our campsite |
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| Great egret |
It is difficult to describe the beauty of the Florida Keys:
emerald-blue-turquoise-green water, dark green mangroves, elegant white egrets, colorful
fish swimming in clear water, prehistoric-looking pelicans gliding over the water, bright green iguanas
with really long tails, and stunning orange sunrises and sunsets. Hopefully, we will be able to share some of
this vivid magic in pictures in our post today.
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Florida Keys sunrise from out campsite
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| Ibis |
We arrived on April 1, the day that traditionally marks the
beginning of the Snowbird exodus from the Keys.
In fact, the Snowbirds left this park in dribbles over the next few
weeks only to be replaced by Spring Breakers, who were replaced by folks from
Miami setting up for long stays through the summer. The Keys are a destination for lots of reasons.
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| The Wildlife Refuge on Ohio Key |
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Cormorants everywhere!
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Ocean front campsites (not ours...)
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We are staying at Sunshine Key RV Resort located on Ohio
Key. The only thing in addition to us on Ohio
Key is a small wildlife refuge of stone, mangrove, and a small pond. So, Sunshine Key RV Resort IS Ohio Key. This is a huge campground resort with a marina,
beach, pool, fishing/sunset pier, kayak put-in beach, gas station/convenience
store, and more than 400 campsites, some along the ocean side (we aren’t in one
of those). If you don’t have a camper,
they also have tiny houses and trailers located near the beach that you can
rent to stay in. There is a farmers
market on Fridays, along with a street taco food truck. We are like a little resort town here.
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| Our shady campsite |
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| Our iguana neighbor |
Our campsite has a clump of foliage including 3 small palm
trees, 2 medium sized gumbo limbo trees (also known as tourist trees because of
their red peeling bark) and a shrub full of yellow flowers. With our awning and table umbrella up we have
a shady sanctuary; the perfect place to snooze or read away hot
afternoons. We are joined by doves,
grackles and red-winged blackbirds that wander under our chairs or roost in the
trees while they coo, cluck, shriek, and chatter at us. Yesterday, a small-sized iguana climbed down out of our trees; wonder how long that has been there...
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| Missouri Ohio Channel Bridge |
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| Peaceful paddle |
Ohio Key is located near the south end of the 7-mile bridge
from Marathon, and is the next Key before gorgeous Bahia Honda Key State Park. We have kayaked over to Bahia Honda and also
around Missouri Key, a small, uninhabited Key to our North. We have also kayaked around Ohio Key several
times. There is no shortage of beautiful
shoreline to explore by water.
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| Cattle Egret in breeding plumage |
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| Shore bird chicks on a deserted beach |
Movie - Reddish Egret's have a distinctive walk
Along the way, we have seen a pair of reddish egrets
hunting, and cattle egrets in mating plumage. There were about 30 fluffy shore bird chicks (too tiny and grey to determine their species) loudly peeping their way along the water's edge on a deserted beach. Cormorants dried their wings on branches and pilings. Pelicans and osprey plunged dramatically into
the water to catch their meals. We’ve seen
ibis’, great egrets and one lonely little blue heron. We watched a pair of green herons start to
build a nest which they later abandoned (too public a spot?).
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| Manatee nose |
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| It flipped on it's back to drink the water |
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| That's a big Manatee - about 8 feet long |
We came across a manatee who quietly submerged as we paddled
up. We saw it later drinking from a hose
while our neighbor cleaned his boat with fresh water in the marina. Fishing is not allowed in the marina, so it
is teeming with fish: tarpon, sergeant-majors, damselfish, parrotfish, a nurse
shark or two, and a very large grouper hanging out at the bottom.
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| Such clear water |
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| Bahia Honda beach |
We have spent our time “at home” here, biking, kayaking,
swimming and snorkeling. For a change of
scenery we’ve driven 2 miles over to Bahia Honda and swum off the beach
there. We are happily basking in “island
time.”
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| These mangrove shoots are expanding the land mass of Missouri Key |
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