Day 5

Over the past 5 days we have had the most wonderful time in the Florida Keys! From kissing alligators to late night campfires, the trip has been a blast. On the final day of the trip, we started our day with community service. We helped clean up an area of Windley Key State Park that still had a lot of debris left over from Hurricane Irma (from September 2017). It was hard work but definitely worth it in the end! We were able to remove over 1900 pounds of debris in just over an hour! After cleaning up a lot of wood, mattresses, dressers, TVs, we loaded back on the bus and headed to John Pennekamp State Park to kayak. Kayaking was so much fun! We went through some very narrow mangrove tunnels - we couldn't even use our paddles in some parts, so we had to pull ourselves along the low hanging mangrove branches, like monkey bars. Our guide, Ms. Heather, taught us about the three different kinds of mangrove trees (white, black, and red), and how important they are to the Florida Keys ecosystems. For our final stop of the trip, we got fresh tropical fruit smoothies from Robert is Here. They were so good! I got pineapple, mango, and passionfruit. Others tried things like guanabana, black sapote, mamey fruit, and dragonfruit. After getting our amazing smoothies, it was unfortunately time to go back to the airport and head home to Houston. We've had such a good time on this trip and everyone had tons of fun!

Day 4

Today we got up and went snorkeling with Captain Hooks snorkel and dive company. They have a merry little operation, including a pond with tarpon and a bonnet shark. Our boat, the Jolly Roger, was a magnificent vessel. It was expertly captained by Captain Mike, from New England, and capably manned by dive master Mr. Lee. The seas were quite calm and the snorkeling was unbelievable. We snorkeled at two spots. The first an area of reef that is being painstakingly restored by the divers that love it. The reef off the Florida Keys is the third largest reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the reefs in Belize), but over 30% of Florida's reefs were wiped out after Hurricane Irma, and continue to die due to pollution and rising temperatures. The second was called "The Aquarium", where we saw spiny lobsters, barracuda, angel fish, and many other species.

Next, we went to Curry Hammock State Park, a wonderful beach with crystal clear water and a massive sea grass bed. We partnered up, grabbed our nets, and went dipnetting for baby sea creatures. Species such as cowfish, pufferfish, seahorses, boxfish, and crabs were caught. After dipnetting, we ventured to Crane Point where we hiked through palm hammocks and hardwood hammocks, watched the sunset, sat around a campfire and listened to an expert fiddle player.

Day 3!

Today we went to the Dry Tortuga. The boat ride was a rough 3 hours. With many people sea sick we finally arrived at the island. At the island we learned a lot about Fort Jefferson like how it was built and why it was there. It served as a sea stop for sailors - the only deep port between New Orleans and Virginia. It was discovered by Ponce de Leon and was named the Dry Tortugas because the island was littered with turtles, which supplied a plentiful amount of food. However the island had no drinkable water, therefore being awarded the name. At the fort we snorkeled for a short while along the wall then returned home to eat a nice seafood dinner and back to the hotel to swim in the pool and sleep for the night. Snorkeling along the wall of the fort was a favorite activity of the day, but walking all along the top of the fort and seeing the water and cool old buildings was also enjoyed by all. Not many people are able to travel to the Dry Tortugas, so we are lucky to have had that experience.

Tuesday Blog!

We started the day with a breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Florida City. Then, we hopped on the bus and began our journey to the Keys. We arrived at the John Pennekamp State Park and learned how to snorkel off the beach. After snorkeling practice, we changed into fresh clothes and went to Robbie's, where we fed the gigantic tarpon with smaller fish. We also got to see tons of jealous pelicans just waiting for fish and little shops with local gift items. We got back on the road and during our drive, we ate our lunch on the way to the Turtle Hospital. At the hospital, we received a very informative tour about the 67 patients being treated at the hospital! We learned that the 3 main reasons that turtles are brought to the hospital are

1. marine debris

2. pollution

3. boat strike

We also learned about the 5 types of sea turtles found in Florida, which are green, loggerheads, hawksbill, leatherback, and Kemp's Ridleys. We met a green sea turtle named Bubble-Butt who was hit by a boat, creating a large bubble on his shell. We saw baby turtles, old turtles, and even a turtle in surgery. After our great tour, we hopped back on the bus to go to Key West. When we arrived, we went shopping along Duval Street. We even stood at the

southernmost point of the United States! Then, we walked a couple blocks over to Mallory Square, where we watched some entertaining street performers as the sun set. For dinner we went to Red Fish, Blue Fish. We finished off the great day at the Fairfield Inn.

 (Meredith and Sophia)