Today we drove down to Key Largo, the northernmost of the Florida Keys. Key West is about 100 miles further South from the park. It took an hour to reach John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. This is the first undersea park in the US; it is large, covering 70 square nautical miles.

We are traveling with J and Lance Barlas, two intrepid Petalumans who are making their way to South America with us. These are photos of us heading out to the reef which is 5 miles off shore. George, our captain, said that the reef has been dying due to rising temperatures and is now only 1% viable. However, this seemed to be a pessimistic view given the sea life that we noticed on the trip.

The weather was overcast and actually raining for some of the time during our snorkeling adventure. For this reason the images are not as clear as we would have liked. Additionally, my old underwater camera quit working after a few minutes after recording only a few images.

There were a number of fish enjoying what’s left of the reef. Other snorkelers spotted a shark, a manta ray and a lobster.

Little Havana

Later we decided to head to Little Havana to explore the area and to have dinner. Siri was eager to direct us on the short drive. We were surprised that Little Havana was so near the Miami airport. We were even more surprised to find ourselves in thickening traffic at arrivals when Siri proudly announced that we had arrived at our destination. At this point, we typed our destination manually and soon arrived at our true destination.

Little Havanan’s have long memories. The Bay of Pigs Museum was closed when we arrived but it recalls the failed 1961 invasion by Cuban exiles who wanted to overthrow Castro’s government which came to power in 1959 after overthrowing president Batista’s government. The assault was funded covertly by the US government.

The center of the area is Calle Ocho and is full of shops, restaurants and color.

… and live chickens; this one behind a colorful McDonald’s

The best part of the area are the colorful characters.

Dominos is a popular entertainment. Players gather around tables that are often just off the Main Street.

We found a lively restaurant for dinner. As a side dish, I tried Yucca for the first time. It was delicious, the plant was boiled and season so that it tasted something like a lighter potato. J pointed out that Lance was honoring the Cuban influence because he had a Cubano sandwich for both lunch and dinner.

Next stop Lima, Peru.