We spent February and March in Bahia Honda State Park.  It’s a native environment that was left scarred by Hurricane Wilma when a surge of saltwater covered much of the vegetation. The salt would normally be washed off by rain in a seasonal hurricane of August or September, but Wilma blew through the  last week of October and there was virtually no rainfall throughout the winter. Now (spring 2006) the outer rim of the island is more gray and barren than leafy and green, but it should come back in a year or two, barring any more devastating storms. But they still have breathtaking sunsets!

Rangers strive to keep the park as it was in 1513 when Ponce de Leon arrived. Exotic invasive plants can take over and crowd out native vegetation, so if any are found they are promptly removed. Not only plants, but animals too, like the elusive three-foot-long iguanas that lurk well camouflaged in the underbrush. One morning I spotted one in a coconut tree and another was seen on the dock near our boat. People tire of their pets and dispose of them in places like the park.  

Manatees, sometimes with an offspring, would lumber into the marina every so often and would always draw a crowd of onlookers. The one in the picture must have been a young one,  as it has no scars on its back, but another one had slice marks from boat propellers all down its back and was missing part of its tail.

Tom volunteered his skills in park maintenance three days a week while I hiked, took bird and vegetation walks with park rangers, went snorkeling and kayaking, and tried my hand at finding lobsters. I found a few but my take stands at zero. I did, however, have a heck of a barter system with Steve, the park manager: his lobster in exchange for my key lime pies. Tasty!

Park volunteers are a friendly, harmonious group. Some have been spending the winter months in Bahia Honda for more than twenty years. Each time someone got ready to go north for the season it was good reason for a fish fry or get-together, always with an abundance of good food. I even learned a new game – hillbilly golf!

We had a chance to get together with Ted and Sarah, friends we first met along the Great Loop in 2003. They’d stopped in Marathon on Manatee after spending some time in the Dominican Republic. We went to dinner via their dinghy, all the way to the 7-mile bridge and back up to Marathon on the other side of the island. Tom and Ted had an especially good time that night sampling 12-year-old scotch!