When you think of the chain of Florida Keys, you think of
Key Largo as the “First Key”, though it is actually just the first key you can drive
to. North of Key Largo are keys that are part of the chain, and that are protected as part of Biscayne National Park.
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| Biscayne National Park |
Biscayne National Park is located just a few miles south of
the Miami. The park encompasses mangrove
forests protecting the shoreline; the fertile sea grass beds of Biscayne Bay; a
string of keys rich with plants, insects and birds; and coral reefs bright with
colorful tropical fish. 95% of the park
is water. There are even a few ship
wrecks thrown in as well.
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| Boardwalk along Biscayne Bay |
You really need a boat to visit this beautiful national
park. We visited during Spring Break,
and families had reserved all of the spots on the boat, snorkeling, and kayak
tours that are offered by the Biscayne National Park Institute. It was also too windy to launch our
kayaks. So, we enjoyed walking along the
park nature trail/boardwalk along the edge of Biscayne Bay, and visiting the visitors
center.
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| Green Heron hiding in the mangroves |
We learned that an “island” is a body of land surrounded by
water that is created by geological processes.
A “key” is a body of land surrounded by water that is created by
biological processes. Keys are ancient
coral reefs exposed by a drop in sea level long ago.
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| Cape Florida Lighthouse, Key Biscayne |
Key Biscayne sits to the North of Biscayne Bay. At the southern tip of Key Biscayne is Cape
Florida and a beautiful lighthouse. One
day, we braved Miami traffic and drove to Key Biscayne. History buffs might remember Key Biscayne was
the location of President Nixon’s “Winter White House.” You enter Key Biscayne from the north,
driving first through Crandon Regional Park.
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park is on the southern part of the key. Between the two parks is the tiny, lovely,
ritzy town of Key Biscayne.
Everglades Alligator 
Such a pretty smile...
We camped in the town of Homestead, Florida (history buffs
might remember it from Hurricane Andrew). Key Biscayne
National Park is an 8-mile drive eastward from there through agricultural
fields primarily growing nursery trees.
11 miles to the west is the entrance to Everglades National Park. Given that it was too windy to be on the
water, we made our third visit to the glorious Everglades, saw a wonderful
Ranger Talk, and walked by a lazy alligator dozing in the sun alongside the
path. It is such a beautiful and immense
“River of Grass”. Always worth a visit.
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| River of Grass - The Everglades |
30 miles or so to the south is Key Largo. As you drive further along the Keys beyond Key Largo, toward
Key West, the Keys become more natural and less populated. Key Largo is the “First Key” and a very busy
place. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State
Park in Key Largo protects the southern section of the same coral reef system
as Key Biscayne National Park. Once
again, families on Spring Break crowded the State Park with lines of cars
waiting along the highway to enter the park.
It was (again) too windy to kayak.
So, we had a leisurely few days, hung out at our lovely
Bougainvillea-lined campsite, enjoyed the mild temperatures, swam in the campground
pool, and rode our bicycles to lunch at a Cuban restaurant.
Pretty, pretty campsite in Key Largo
When the winds finally diminished on Easter Sunday, we
jumped on a snorkel tour boat for a lovely snorkel along a coral reef called
Hen and Chickens. We saw many of our
favorite tropical fish. Visibility was
poor, so our photos are not really suitable for sharing. Sorry.
"Giant stride" entry to snorkel
We did see some of the “bleached coral” that we had heard
about. Tiny cells called zooxanthellae live
with the coral polyps. They help the
polyps survive by providing food from photosynthesis. The polyps in turn protect the
zooxanthellae. When sea water gets too
hot, the zooxanthellae can die, and then the coral polyps die without
them. According to our snorkel boat
First Mate, the water in the Keys got up to 100 degrees last summer, causing
some of the zooxanthellae to perish. The
result is white sections on the coral heads where the polyps have died. While we had seen photos of this phenomenon,
it was tough to process seeing it “in person”.
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| White patches are "coral bleaching" |
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| The water behind us is Biscayne National Park |
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