In one
of the channels - the mosquitoes were absolutely savage, despite spray
and head-to-toe clothing we were both bitten in various places - mine
congregated where the zips in my zip off trousers met, but also they
had bitten along the zipline and where and clothing was pulled tight
against the skin.
You didn't hear the familiar high pitched whine, they just went straight for you.
Back in open water where the mozzies were far less prevalent...
We took our crabs to Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe, where the chef prepared them.
The once blue crab, now distinctly red and adorned with basil
Giving it all that...
The cafe backs onto Big Cypress National Reserve. Not
ones to miss out on a reliable food source, an alligator had taken up
residence at the back of the cafe on the look out for leftovers or
over-curious tourists...
We saw lots of these large Lubber Grasshoppers, apparently they taste very bitter, so nothing eats them...
Alligators outside Clyde Butcher's gallery...
Our
guide suggested we cancelled our afternoon hike as the heat was so
intense and the mozzies so rampant, but recommended a friend of his for
a cooler alternative...
We took a backcountry late afternoon / sunset boat trip with Captain Rodney from
his house on Chokoloskee Island; Rodney is a fifth generation native
Indian who knows this part of the 10,000 islands like the back of his
hand.
Osprey nest...
Many of the islands are made up of nothing but seashells that the native Indians piled up to form man-made land...
Captain
Rodney loves fishing, so although it wasn't really a fishing trip he'd
encourage us to toss out a shrimp at good spots that he knows - we
never had to wait too long.
Me with a Redfish (Red Drum), I also had a Mangrove Snapper and two Catfish (we put them all back)...
Miche and her Snook...
Typical multi-island panorama...
I'd never seen so many Roseate Spoonbills together on one place before...
Spoonbills and Ibis on a sandbar...
Osprey nest with four or five larger woodpecker nest holes beneath it...
The
light was going, so this picture didn't come out too well, but it's a
huge nesting colony of egrets. I did see the fins of a shark patrolling
underneath this one...
As storms raged all around us, but thankfully never directly over us, the sun set into various shades of orange...
Heading back to shore after a great trip...
