Day 7: Everglades National Park

Last night we camped on a chickee in the middle of Everglades National Park! Wooo! This chickee was basically a dock in the middle of the water. It was so perfect! We canoed right up after a day of filming, pulled out our tent, and tried to set it up - then everything went terribly. 

The vegetation surrounding our chickee created this very unfortunate wind tunnel thing that made all activities terribly difficult. We tried setting up our tent for a couple hours, then bailed and huddled in out hammocks until it died down. Eventually the wind stopped, but then the flies arrived. The flies bit, and they seemed to enjoy bitting us quite a lot. We had to eat our dinner while pacing around the chickee to avoid them. 

We were able to set up the tent, finish dinner, and slip into our sleeping bags but, unfortunately, constant jokes about crocodiles (alligators?) and snakes had morphed into some very real fear about being devoured in the middle of the night by crocodiles (alligators?) and snakes. Something brushed our tent, Kirby and I freaked out, I grabbed a tripod and started smashing it, then we waited in silence preparing ourselves to be swallowed by an enormous Everglades monster. It never happened. And I’m sure nothing was there. But it was wonderfully exciting nevertheless. 

We didn’t get any sleep and after a lengthy debate we figured it would be best for everyone if - instead of staying an additional night - we canoed back, drove to Orlando, crashed at a KOA, and went to Disney World. We had enough footage and we just survived a mythical Everglades monster attack. We deserved it. 

Day 6: Big Cypress National Preserve

Today we set off on our canoe / film trip through the everglades. This place is nuts. There are crocs (alligators?) everywhere. We saw a guy on the side of the highway holding a dead snake and a shot gun. The water is a soupy brown. Good stuff. Love it. Kirby’s munchin’ on some oatmeal like a champ, fired up, ready to get rollin’. Look at that face. Looks like a face that’s ready to command a canoe expedition. 

Day 4: Leaving Tampa, FL for Big Cypress National Preserve 

Our time in Tampa was fantastic. We are officially certified scuba divers and can say we’ve given manatees belly scratches underwater - which is pretty wildly legit. Time to hit the road super early and head south towards the Everglades to film some mangroves. We’ll spend one night at a neighboring park, Big Cypress, before our canoe / film trip. Should be exciting.