Last Day :(

[Friday June 10, 2011]

We got to sleep one hour longer this morning - yay! But then it was up and on the bus for a ride back to the Everglades. We went to a different place in the Everglades than we did last night - the Everglades is a really big place (60 miles wide and 100 miles long)! We went to Shark Valley, which had no sharks and is not much of a valley! (although geographically it is a slight valley from west FL to east FL). On the drive there we passed a fire that the ranger later told us had burned 33,000 acres of the Everglades so far.

Anyway, we saw MANY American alligators! It was quite exciting, especially when the ranger let us get out of the tram and walk around the perimeter of a borrow pit and one of the alligators in the water very slowly came toward a group of people! That area (where we were walking) is usually under water so most of the time tour groups can't go there. But since everything was so dry, we were able to walk on the squishy ground.

We also saw many birds - Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Red Shouldered Hawk, Anhinga. Also there were large soft shell turtles. The mosquitoes were not too bad, thank goodness. There was a slight wind, so it was not so terribly hot. The tram took us to a large lookout tower where we could see more alligators, birds, etc. from a better vantage point. The Everglades certainly is a "River of Grass"

Next and last stop - Miami International Airport. The traffic was horrible getting there, mostly because there were many people there trying to get a look at the world's largest commercial airliner, the Airbus A380 [see the link http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Lufthansas-Airbus-A380-Lands-at-MIA-123663829.html]. Finally we got to the terminal, said goodby to our friends, and went on our merry way. What a FABULOUS trip! One that we will always remember!

Lots of Critters

[Sorry, no pictures yet for this day - check back later]

We saw so many different animals today - wow! Starting off in the morning we drove from Key Largo to Marathon Key, about 1.5 hours. In Marathon we visited the Turtle Hospital - they told us a lot of interesting information about the various kinds of sea turtles, and we got to see the operating room and one sea turtle that was getting ready to be operated on. Then we saw many water tanks outside that each held a sea turtle, and our guide explained the various reasons why the turtles were there (been hit by a boat, swallowed some debris, had tumors, etc.) and how the turtles were being rehabilitated. There was a nice gift shop with all the proceeds going back into the hospital, so we all shopped!

Next up was Curry State Park, where we ate lunch (sandwich wraps from Publix grocery store) next to the shore. A couple of guys were kite surfing next to us, which was very cool to watch. After lunch our guide Kim had a "dip net" activity for the students. Armed with nets and water shoes, everyone tried to find various living creatures in the water and then put them in smaller containers of water for identification and classification. They found crabs, a fish, some coral - not quite as much as we wanted to find, but still fun and scientific!

Onward to Robbies, a local marina where you can buy bait fish and feed the tarpon off the dock. There were many, many tarpon there - some were extremely large! There were also brown pelicans trying to intercept the fish that was being thrown to the tarpon. We also saw egrets.

Dinner was at "Rib Daddy's" and was delicious. In the restaurant they had 2 large colorful aquariums with coral and fish, etc. so it definitely fit the theme of our trip! Afterwards we left the Keys (boo hoo) and went to our next hotel in Homestead (just north of Florida City, and south of Miami).

After a little down time and swimming in the pool, we got the bug spray and headed to the Everglades! By this time it was dark, and we went around a walking trail in the pitch black (but we had some flashlights). We saw many alligators - it was really cool to find their shiny red eyes in the dark with the flashlight. We also saw some mating walking sticks, a snowy egret, and lots of mosquitos. Back to the hotel late, but well worth the trip!

Two Boats, Plankton, and Pizza

After another yummy breakfast at the hotel, we headed back to John Pennekamp State Park and went kayaking! Our guides gave us a short lesson on how to kayak, then we paired up for our tandem boats. We kayaked through the boat channel, and then turned into a maze of smaller passages through the mangroves. All we could see was mangroves on both sides, the water below, and the blue sky above. Sarah was our group's guide and she explained many things about the red and black mangroves. She also showed and told us about the 3 kinds of sea grasses that were found in the water there (manatee grass, shoal grass, turtle grass), and she pointed out various birds (loggerhead shrike, white heron, white crown pigeon) and other plants. Caitlin and Kimita's kayak capsized in one of the very narrow canals, but with a little help they got back in the boat and continued on - what good sports!

Great lunch at DJ's Diner - a small local hangout where we had burgers, etc. Back at the hotel we had "Plankton Races" in the hotel pool. Teams of three people each designed and constructed a "plankton" out of various odd materials that were provided - things like pipe cleaners, playdoh, rubber bands, sponges, empty yogurt cups, etc. The goal was for the "plankton" not to float on the surface of the water, not to immediately sink down to the bottom, but to slowly go through the water column - the slowest plankton won. Team "Palm Girls" (Kimita, Erin, and Faith) did very well in the competition, coming in second. Team "I Don't Know" also did very well with a colorful entry.

Then it was out into the deep blue sea. We took a dive boat out to a reef named "Grecian Rocks" - it was about a 30 minute ride from shore. Once outfitted with masks, snorkels, fins, and buoyancy vest, everyone plunged in. Our students were great at this! The water was quite rough due to high tides and wind, so the swimming was not easy. But we all swam around the reef and saw: barracuda, parrot fish, snapper, grunt, angel fish, sea anemones, coral, fan coral, brain coral, conchs, etc. Then we headed back to land. Luckily, no one in our TSD group got seasick, but several other people on the boat did.

Pizza for dinner, then a debriefing on the days activities with Group Leader Kim. Some down time by the pool and beach outside - a few students saw 2 manatees off the beach at our hotel. Another great day in paradise :)

Snorkels, and Dolphins, and Squid...Oh My!

Wow - today was jam-packed with activities. We had a great breakfast at the hotel, then on the bus we went to John Pennekamp State Park (still on Key Largo). We got outfitted with masks, fins (not flippers, only tourists call them flippers!), and snorkels (they even let us keep the snorkels!). OurWorldStrides Leader Kim gave us a lesson in how to snorkel, including the most important part, having a BUDDY! We all spit in our masks to keep them defogged (Faith especially liked that part) and off we went. We snorkeled off Cannon Beach and saw cannons and an anchor in a reconstruction of an old shipwreck. We saw many fish (grunt and snapper) and even a squid and a baby barracuda. On land we saw ibis and even an iguana (not indigenous).

For lunch it was sandwiches by the shore; some of us went on a short nature hike and others went into the Visitor's Center (great museum of marine life). Back at the hotel for a bit of pool time, and we happened to see some folks in a nearby canal helping some pilot whales rehab to go back in the wild.

On to the dolphins! We went to Dolphin Cove and had a fabulous time! We played with the dolphins named Alfonse and Kimbit, and they did various tricks with us. It was truly a wonderful time - all the students enjoyed it and the looks on their faces were priceless!

Changed clothes and headed to dinner at the Pilot House - good seafood and burgers. Afterwards we went to the Dolphin Care Center where the students dissected squid - the looks on their faces were priceless again! Alot of "ewwws" were going on, but they did dissect their own squid, found out if it was a male or female, found the beak, broke the ink sack, and wrote their names with the ink! Then everyone went to the "Touch Tank" where they learned about and got to touch many other sea creatures such as starfish (btw not a fish), conchs, hermit crabs, brittle sea stars, sea cucumbers, sponges, etc. Remember the squid that was dissected? While we were at the Touch Tank, the squid was fried and so we had a snack afterwards! Yum!

We Made It!

Austin to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Miami, Delta airlines flew us effortlessly on to our destination. We arrived at Miami International Airport and met our Program Director Kim, and the other two groups with us - China Spring School from Texas, and Hood Canal School from Seattle, WA. We boarded a cushy bus, and headed out for dinner at Golden Corral in Florida City. Then just a little further on we arrived at our hotel, the Hampton Inn Key Largo - very nice! We had a short orientation with Kim, and then swam in the hotel pool before calling it a night! Tomorrow is a big day, so let's get some sleep!

Getting Ready...

After much fundraising, meeting, planning, and packing, the 6 awesome TSD students are ready to leave for Florida! Stay tuned for more about their adventure....