Key West

While driving to Key West, we thought of all kinds of things that we wanted to do, mostly involving getting up at the ungodly hour of 6am!  Once we arrived however, the general lethargy when not partying took effect immediately.  With the result that our first day and a half began to look like this .......

Well, not until after lunch - after all we needed that quinine being in the tropics!

Here is some of the other stuff we saw while in Key West:

    There was loads of entertainment everywhere.  This guy was particularly good, doing covers of popular reggae and hip hop inspired stuff.  Great scary lion shaped guitar with teeth!

    The harbour at Key West.

    The sunsets are beautiful and lead into warm, dusky nights.

The Dry Tortugas National Park

We did manage one early start - 6am to fly out to the Dry Tortugas National Park.

It is the most inaccessible national park in the US and takes about 40 minutes by seaplane from Key West.  The Tortugas (meaning turtles) are a small chain of islands, some little more than sand banks or mangrove islands.  They were dubbed 'Dry' on early charts as they have no fresh water at all, so it was a warning for ships not to put in hoping to replenish water stores.

Later, in 1846, the US began building Fort Jefferson on Garden Key as part of it's coastal defence system and as a means to protect the Mississippi River trade.  The site was an ideal spot strategically but a disaster logistically.  As mentioned above there was no fresh water on the island and all raw materials had to be transported to this remote spot, some from as far away as New York.  Construction continued for about 30 years but was never completed due to developing structural defects.  It was used as a prison during the civil war but was finally abandoned by the army in 1874.

Fort Jefferson has been a National Monument since 1935 and the Dry Tortugas a national park since 1992.

Now for the photos .....

    Here we are, ready to go!  The plane is pretty cool.  It's a regular Cessna with floats that get attached by a local company in the Keys.  When we went the people that flew us out only had one plane out of 3 running.  One had been damaged by a freak wind gust out at the Tortugas and the other also had problems.  Apparently it's very difficult to get the right kind of aircraft to put on floats these days as they are usually too heavy! 

    Key West from the air.

Some ship wrecks on the way out to the Tortugas.

We also saw lots of sea turtles from the plane.  We didn't get photos though as they would have looked like little dots!  These turtles have been hunted for their meat, leather and oils (mostly illegally) so numbers have declined worldwide.  However, three species can be found around the Tortugas, green, loggerhead and hawksbill.

    Fort Jefferson from the air.  It takes up pretty much the whole island.

    At last we reach the island.

We arrived quite early in the morning since we took off at 8am from Key West.  This was great as we were pretty much the only people around.  When we got back to the plane at 11am, there were tons of people just arriving.

    The entrance to the fort from one of the bastions.

    Inside the fort.  National Park staff live here now and rely, as was the original idea, on rain water collected in cisterns.

    The gun bays at the fort.

        Views from the battlements.

    Still life - lighthouse with cannon.

    The swimming beach.  We had this all to ourselves.  The water was wonderful and very clear, with lots of shoals of tiny fish swimming about.

    I think these fish are called smallmouth grunts?

        We have no idea what these are?  If anyone knows please contact us.

    The seaplane taking off.

And a link to the Florida National Parks website.