The traveling manatees by Nancy French: Lake Okeechobee, Ding Darling, Peace River, and Hardee Lakes

Located northwest of Lake Okeechobee, the 36,000 acre Brighton Seminole Reservation was our first destination on a recent getaway. The current Seminole Tribe of Florida consists of about 2000 members and is broken up into six reservations; Brighton, Big Cypress, Hollywood, Fort Pierce, Immokalee, and Tampa. Creek Indians in the 1700s fled to Florida from Georgia and Alabama and absorbing some smaller Florida tribes became known as the Seminoles. Conflicts with white settlers and later with US Government troops in the 1800s forced most of the Indians to relocate to Oklahoma but some traveled further south and hid in swamp lands. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Seminoles began re-emerging and were selling items to whites living along the edge of the Everglades. It was 1957 before a Seminole Constitution established the Seminole Tribes of Florida.

An RV park located near the south end of the reservation
provided a location for our stay a few miles away from Lake Okeechobee and Harney Pond Canal Recreation Area. Having planned to kayak in the waters near the lake, our minds were quickly changed as we saw bass boats flying through the canal creating substantial wakes. Setting up chairs along the bank of the canal, we spent long, pleasant hours communing with nature and attempting to catch black crappie. While the crappie never cooperated, we did catch a catfish and two largemouth bass. Hawks, turkey vultures, great white herons were the primary birds spotted. No gators disturbed our serenity but a 4-foot water moccasin slithered along some nearby rocks, a little too close for comfort.

Due to Covid-19, the Seminole Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum in Clewiston on the Big Cypress Reservation has been closed since March 2020 but they offer a virtual tour from their website. It’s not like visiting in person but I appreciated the availability of the online option.

On the recommendation of friends, we traveled next to the WP Franklin campground along the
Caloosahatchee River. Getting skunked again at the waters surrounding the site, we took our kayaks for a day trip to the Ding Darling Natl. Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. Arriving at dead low tide created an initial challenge as we attempted to paddle and fish in water 6-12 inches deep. At times, we decided our route based on how high the water was on the numerous ibis. If the water was up to their belly, we could make it through. As Alan stood near an area of heavy growth detangling his fishing line, the distinctive grunt of a gator hidden in the bush had him in his kayak and paddling away in seconds. Once again, the fish were uncooperative. Near the exit of the Refuge, we stopped for the short walk along the Calusa Indian Shell Mound Trail. The Calusa tribe is traced back to 12,000 BC but disappeared in the 1700s due to diseases carried by the Spanish and French explorers and battles with other tribes. Many were capture and sold as slaves. The tribe was known as the “Shell Indians”. The shells were used as tools, utensils, jewelry, and as spears for hunting and fishing, and were discarded in huge heaps that are still visible.

Moving to Wauchula, we had planned to kayak and fish along the Peace River. The swift-
moving current provides an effortless trip downriver, with the paddle being used primarily as a rudder. Historically, businesses have offered a service to take paddlers back to their launching site. Failing to consider the Covid impact, I was unable to locate

a service that would work for us. So after our brief stay near the river, we located another campground near Bowling Green, the 1200-acre Hardee Lakes County Park. Offering 4 lakes along with hiking and biking trails, we were excited by the possibilities. Lake Firefly offered the best experience for us. With numerous birds hiding in the tall grasses, the cacophony of bird calls with their squeaks, twitters, and screeches on our first early morning outing sounded like a jungle. Florida Gallinule, American Coots, herons, and red-winged blackbirds provided our entertainment as we paddled along the edges of the lake. Once again we were fishing for black crappie, once again we caught nothing. We blamed the full moon and were somewhat reassured when the small flats boat on the lake reported the same lack of success. On our 3 outings, we saw a few more alligators than we were comfortable with, but they seemed to be just as nervous about us as we were of them. Determining a gators' size can be tricky, but the general rule of thumb is to measure from the tip of the nose to the eye ridge in inches and then convert that to feet. Not that we were pulling out a tape measure, but we estimated a few of the gators to be in the 8-10 foot range, so big enough! When one popped up a few feet away from my kayak, I back paddled quickly, but just as fast he ducked beneath the water and disappeared.

One cloudy, windy afternoon, we stayed off the water and traveled to Zolfo Springs’ Cracker Trail Museum. The museum is part of Pioneer Park that also includes an old post office, a wood-burning steam engine, and a cabin built in 1879. Though the majority of the 4000 plus items in the museum are related to the pioneer-era in Hardee County, we were surprised to find displays of prehistoric fossils that had been dug up in the area. Megalodon sharks, estimated to be between 50-60 feet long, swam in this once water-covered area over 2.5 million years ago. Their teeth are hidden along the banks of the Peace River. Fossils for mammoths and camels that once roamed the area can also be found by fossil hunters. A local Boy Scout troop’s paleontological efforts are part of the museum’s collection. It was time to head home again but we plan to do some more exploring around the state soon.