We Got Eaten Alive - But At Least it Wasn't By Alligators

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Key Largo is very close to the Everglades National Park, which is back on the Florida mainland, so we drove back there for a day. It was still very stormy and, whilst this was not a major issue directly, it did get all the mosquitoes worked-up, which was a very, very big issue. Of all the places that I have visited, I have never known the mosquitoes to be so bad. As soon as we left the car we were surrounded by swarms of the little gits and, despite covering ourselves in insect repellent, we got bitten to pieces.

Talking of getting bitten, we walked along the Anhinga Trail, which is supposed to be one of the best for spotting alligators. We spotted loads and were hence a bit concerned that there didn’t seem to be much to stop them crawling up to where we were walking – particularly the parts not on the raised boardwalk. I’m not sure how safe it was, but no one else seemed too worried about it and no one appeared to have been eaten recently, so it was presumably quite safe.

We tired out a couple of other shorter trails – the Long Pine Trail and the Pa-hay-okee Trail. These were more closed in than the Anhinga Trail and hence the mosquitoes were a lot worse. We were attacked from the moment we got out of the car to the moment we got back in. Despite our best efforts to get in and out as quickly as possible, several of the little sods managed to get into the car with us, which meant that we had to hunt-down and kill all of them before we dared to start driving. We decided to give up and head back to Key Largo.

On the “It’s tough to be a bug” ride at Disney, they said that there are one million bugs for every other animal on earth (see The Mystery of an African Safari). I’m sure that it’s the Everglades helps to bring that average up considerably.

The moral of this story is don’t go to the Everglades if it’s stormy.

On the way back we stopped at a place called “Robert is Here”, which was recommended. They had excellent Key Lime milkshakes, as well as loads of local produce to buy. Apparently when Robert first selling the produce by the roadside people couldn’t find him so he put up a huge “Robert is Here” sign- and it has become a bit of a local institution. I have no idea if there is any truth behind that however.

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Photos

Everglades National Park
The sign marking the entrance to the National Park

A Crocodile
One of the crocodiles we saw from the Anhinga Trail

A Crocodile
And another

A Crocodile
And another

A Crocodile
And another

Long Pine Trail
Woodland on the Long Pine Trail