Big Cypress Museum and Nature Walk

On our way towards a weekend in Sanibel, Joan and I stopped at the Big Cypress Campground to visit former Manotick neighbours, Dale and Dave Peters, for an overnight stay in their new motorhome. Old friends ensconced in camping luxury is always a welcome treat and a great combination!

We visited the local Seminole Indian museum and nature walk: both a very pleasurable experience. This first shot includes Dave and Joan, ahead of us on the very long boardwalk [a mile or so?]. This boardwalk snakes through a fairly untouched local swamp / forest that harbours great examples of the real Florida.

Somewhat out of sequence, this shot includes Dale and Joan inside the museum and one of the many displays of the Seminole Indian story.

Back to the boardwalk. This is essentially a rain forest with lush growth of ferns, palms, epiphytes, and as you'll see later, invasive non-native 'exotics'. The next picture shows the lush fern flooring, a few epiphytes on the central tree and a hint of the pink lichen that grows on trees and signifies a good and healthy habitat.

More of the lush forest floor: mostly ferns.

Invasive plants, bugs, and other nasties are a unavoidable by product of our global society. Even deep woods are not immune. Below are three shots of invasive vines slowly taking over; they will likely kill their host trees and change the landscape forever. So far, they have only touched a fairly small portion of this forest and I'm sure that forest management techniques are being used to limit the damage. In the meantime, these vines have created quite an un-eathly scene that I find quite magical and beautiful.

Here's another shot out of sequence, 'my bad' as they say. The museum itself has many scenes depicting Seminole life, this one being a ritual dance by the fire.

Back to the good stuff. Many different species of palms and ferns thrive in this warm humid environment.

Next is some lush resurrection fern, so called for its ability to dry up completely and go dormant when it is without water, only to be resurrected by the next shower. Quite dramatic.

Our visits with Dale and Dave are always lots of fun. Dale is a fine cook and sets a beautiful table. Dave is somewhat of type A, and researches everything of interest so he's a great source of knowledge. It's hard to imagine, but maybe a sign of things to get used to: I forgot the wine back in Port St Lucie! Fortunately, Dave, who worked in emergency preparedness, walks-the-talk, and friends forgive friends, so my omission was only a source of much laughter. Good friends = good fun!