Paddling the Everglades

On Saturday we decided to take a 4-hour paddling trip across Chokoloskee Bay from Everglades City into the Ten Thousand Islands, which are mangrove islands strewn between the mainland and the Gulf of Mexico.  This trip was led by a National Park Service ranger, from the Everglades National Park visitor center in Everglades City.  There were approximately 14 people on our trip, most in double kayaks or canoes.  We decided to rent single kayaks.

Here's a photo of Kathy, on the left, preparing to set out on the water in her kayak:

There is an airport on the water in Everglades City, and as we started our trip, we were buzzed by about a half dozen planes, each in turn approaching over the water to land on the airstrip:

The most exciting things we saw on this trip included dolphins.  Our first spotting was in the open waters of the bay:

Later, in the islands, we saw two dolphins working cooperatively to circle a school of fish, herd them toward the mangrove island, and then feed on them.  Later, our group encountered a dolphin in a cove among some islands, and the dolphin clearly wanted to play with us.  It raced around like a torpedo just under the surface of the water.  Our kayaks were about 20 feet apart, and the dolphin sped between us, heading straight for the ranger's kayak as if to play a marine game of "chicken," then veered off at the last second.  The dolphin leaped and turned in the air, and eventually headed down a channel away from us.

The ranger, Shannon, explained local flora and fauna to us, including a discussion about the conglomerates from which many of the islands were accreted, made of oyster shells.  We saw crabs, live conchs, and other small marine life.

After about 3 hours, we stopped for lunch at Sandfly Key (aptly named for the - you guessed it - sand flies that grace the island).  Although the trees on the island offered shade, we found that the only way to escape the sand flies was to sit out on the single dock on the island as we ate our lunch.

After lunch, the ranger and her volunteer assistant, Mike, told us we were free to paddle back to the visitor center with the group, or stay and explore the island, or even paddle around on our own before heading back.  We decided to paddle back with the group but then spend another couple hours on our own paddling along the shore.  Others, however, took the opportunity to relax on Sandfly Island.  Here's a photo of two of them fishing happily on the dock:

On our way back, we passed a fellow fishing out in the flats by one of the islands.  The water throughout the bay and among the islands was typically only a few feet deep, and in many places it got shallow enough that our paddles struck the seabed as we moved along in our kayaks.  Clearly, the shallow water made it easier for him to fish, as well:

Back at Everglades City, we set out on our own 2-hour paddle trip around past the airport and up Barron River along the western edge of Everglades City:

This was quite a different environment from Ten Thousand Islands.  There were houses large and small, docks, restaurants, boat yards, and the like.  A constant flow of small boat traffic kept us on our toes as we shared the waterway.  We saw our first Everglades air boat, cruising along the river:

Winter is the dry season, and water levels are down, so air boats really can't get back into the marshes during this season the way television portrays them doing in the rainy summer months.  So these air boat operators, having advertised "real" Everglades air boat rides, were trying to persuade their customers that a very slow (but LOUD) ride along the river was a satisfactory substitute for a speeding, spraying ride through the marshes.

We even shared the river with birds, including this cormorant proudly laying claim to No. 37 Barron River as his home --

- and this Jaba the Penguin holding court on his royal piling among the swaying palms:

 Jaba did not like having his photo taken, and he soared away in indignation:

 Yet another bird shared the river with us:  a mother osprey, sitting protectively on the lower right rung of this telephone pole, while her chick was squeaking noisily in the nest above.  The telephone pole perched on the bank of the river, so Mother Osprey had no trouble looking for food while tending the nest.

Alas, it was after 3:00, and time for us to paddle back to the ranger station and turn in our kayaks.  As we headed back out the mouth of the Barron River, the palm trees lining the base of the airstrip were silhouetted in the afternoon sun, with Chokoloskee Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands on the horizon.

The waters were peaceful, the sun was warm, the breeze balmy, and we couldn't help but imagine we had found our own little paradise here in this corner of the Everglades.