Bahia Honda State Park - end of stay

Our last night at Bahia Honda State Park before we move to John Pennekamp State Park, also on the Florida Keys, for another 4 nights. We’ve hit some great weather (or perhaps it’s just “normal” for around here). The days are warm and sunny at around 75F then cool off a little in the evening to high 60’s. We have split our time between two campsites within the park to make for a longer stay here. Our van’s water pump that proved faulty on the first night ended up being an easy fix – much to our relief – so that the Key West return visit (about 30 miles from here) we had planned a few days into our stay turned into a fun one and was not ambushed with a van water pump search-and-replace mission. We took time to set up our big tent for the longer stay and it’s been great as a place for the girls to hang out during the day. Doug and Rose have also taken to sleeping out there where it is cooler, if a bit noisier as the sound of traffic on Highway 1 drifts across the Park. We’ve enjoyed the beautiful sandy beaches and the few Ranger programs we’ve attended. A surprise has been the Park’s increasing population of non-native Iguana lizards. The largest is very impressive, measuring some 4 feet in the main body length before her equally long tail. There are a ton of smaller ones as well – all apparently thriving due to the absence of any natural predators and a park with abundant greenery on which to feed. They are a pest to the Park but there is no current plan for their removal or extermination. Meanwhile, we’ve been enjoying the South American accent they have brought to our visit. Our second campsite (Site #12) backs onto a small lagoon and one large Iguana lazes in the sun on the mangrove trees across from our site. Also resident are some large parrot fish, fast moving pipe fish and thousands of small bait fish. At night the waters churn and splash with the sound of the food chain in full operation. Ruth got a new fishing line for early-Xmas and once we figured out that frozen shrimp was the best bait the girls have enjoyed their first dock-side catch-and-release fishing. As chief hook baiter, Doug was having relatively less fun fighting off an ever persistent swarm of No-See-Um’s and mosquitoes while working with head down in the pungent odor of rotting shrimp guts. Also in the mangrove trees are large Pelicans who come to rest for the day. We even spotted a shy Night Heron who roosts during the day before taking flight at sundown for her night of hunting. Of course the sundowns are magnificent. Within the park there is a lack of some of the raucous party atmosphere to be found at Key West but this is replaced with a quiet, respectful celebration each evening – in reverence of the vast painted sky that occurs as the giant orange orb of the sun drops into the ocean. It is quite a majestic marking for the end of a day and foreshadowing of the change to night ahead. Although we’d hoped to do snorkeling together as a family it has not really happened. There has been some attempts but not everyone out at the same time. In fact, Ruth has yet to go out. We think the girls might have over-imagined the perils of spending time in the ocean water after all the warnings and stories we’ve been told of what lives in and around these warm Florida Keys. They do not seem to appreciate that the stingray or poisonous jellyfish is not waiting just off shore to get them when they enter the water. We’ll continue to work on dispelling this notion for them. That said, it did not help that Rose lost the tip of her thumb today to an over-sized and overly aggressive Hermit Crab. Denise had found the magnificent Hermit Crab sample and brought it back to camp to share. When Rose was holding it, the angry crab apparently reached out and clamped a large pincer onto her thumb. The only release was to pry off the crab who took a large skin chunk trophy with it, much to Rose’s pain and horror. She still can’t believe she has lost the tip of her thumb (though her skin will certainly grow back). On the bright side, we’ve also seen some great live nature shows. At dusk one evening we checked out the local marina from the bridge and spotted three small squid. At first we weren’t sure what they were but while we were looking a predator fish came darting in from below to try and grab them. The reaction of one was to squirt the inky blue dye in defense before all three began rapid pulsing of luminescence near the waters surface. You don’t get to see that every day and it was a treat to witness up close and in the wild. As we’ve read and listened to weather reports throughout the country telling of extreme icy, snowy and freezing conditions we feel lucky to be camped out here in the Florida Keys in our shorts and tee-shirts. After our upcoming 4 nights at John Pennekamp State Park we have 2 nights at Flamingo in the Everglades National Park before heading further north up the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida. We’re thinking that our plan to spend all of January in Florida sounds just about right!