Written by:

David Hosea

Last updated: November 1, 2023

Ahhhh…. travel day to one of our most anticipated destinations, Key West.

Leaving southbound from Fort Myers, we turned left at Naples and traveled east along the Tamiami Trail, through the Big Cypress National Preserve. There were miles of highway carving a path through the otherwise undisturbed flora and fauna and there wasn’t a lot to see along the route. We noticed that the highway was lined on both sides with tall game-fences which kept alligators, Florida Panthers, and other wildlife from crossing the highway.

About an hour into the drive, we stopped at the Nathaniel P Reed Visitor Center to get the preserve’s cancellation stamp for our National Parks Passport.   

One of the rangers asked about our plans and recommended making a quick stop at the Kirby S. Storter Roadside Park on our way through the everglades.

Kirby Storter Roadside Park, Everglades

The short hike is entirely along a boardwalk, and we were told to pay attention to the sounds of the swamp (including the occasional absence of industrial/traffic noise), smells, and to keep our eyes open for orchids, birds, and alligators in their natural environments.

We found informational signs along the way and one of them described the orchid habitat.  Some of you may already know this – we didn’t – but the orchid’s natural habitat is a moist forest with year-round warm temperatures and high humidity.  The Everglades is well suited.

The orchid is epiphyte which means that it attaches itself to trees and other plants and grows without being parasitic. Once we learned that, we started looking above the surface of the swamp and into the trees as well.

The boardwalk extends about a half mile into the swamp with a viewing platform at the end overlooking an alligator pond.  That is where we saw the alligators.  We counted about eight juveniles in a short span of time and in a relatively small area.  All of them were roughly two feet long so it appeared to us that they may have come from the same clutch.

The walk lasted about an hour, so it was a nice break for us.  It did not add a lot of time to the day’s trip overall and we rolled back onto the highway looking forward to they day’s final stop in Key West.

Our trip to Key West was planned for early 2019, but we delayed the trip because Florida seemed to be exploding with new Covid cases. This trip then should be very satisfying.

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