The Real Mosquito Coast

by Peter Bolderson

In 1992 we flew to Miami and stayed at Miami beack in an art deco hotel. Next day, moving on up the coast to Fort Pierce and across to Orlando, we found another stop at Buena Vista, outside Orlando. There we did Epcot, Seaworld, Busch Gardens, Universal Studios and the Magic Kingdom. When we got tired of that, we drove over to the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral. A week of that type of thing was more than enough, so we continued touring, to Tampa, then Clearwater, followed by the Gulf coast to Sarasota, Naples and thourgh the Everglades, by-passing Miami, via Homestead to Key Largo. We stopped for lunch in the Everglades, for just one minute. It took us the next three days to clear the car of mozzies - nasty, vicious one. We moved off quickly to Everglade City, our lunch and a boat ride out into the mangrove swamps.

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas

Homestead had just been hit by Hurricane Andrew. Every palm tree was stripped of its fronds or toppled completely. Every filling station canopy and all power lines were down. Every dwelling was badly damaged. Some owners had spray painted "You loot - we shoot" to the outside of their bungalows. In the centre of Homestead at about 8pm, a small roundabout of wax flares replaced the inoperative traffic lights on Main Street. On each corner, there were National Guardsmen toting automatic rifles. It was a very threatening atmosphere, which we were pleased to leave behind quickly. Key Largo was a disappointment after HB's film. It's good for scuba diving, but otherwise there's not a lot there, so we moved on via the road that goes to sea and reached Key West the next day.

Here it was very hot and humid in August. During the day, we would shelter from the sun on the beach under the palm trees, or go Hobie sailing or reef diving, but each evening we could sit on the deck at Smoky Joe's, watch the lightning display on the horizon out towards Cuba and the big catamarans returning from their day trips.

 About 70 miles west of Key West is the Dry Tortugas, a palm fringed group of islands in the Gulf. Their only claim to fame is that the Confederates kept Unionists prisoners of war there during the Civil War. The prisoners built Fort Jefferson to house themselves and it is now a 'National Preserve'. A float plane air taxi at key West offers day trips and I'm always a sucker for anything involving planes. A bit of hard bargaining got us some seats at standby prices. The whole Gulf is pock-marked by the activities of treasure hunters who use great suction pipes on their boats to sift the bottom for relics. It's a visual treat to arrive by air at these tropical islands, but there isn't much, other than snorkelling and the fort.

On our return home via Miami, we stopped for lunch at a clearing by the road just before we left the Keys and were invaded by mozzies again - although the little blighters were more benign this time!

First published in VISA issue 42 (autumn 2001)