Marsh Trail and the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Reserve

Sunrise at Barefoot Beach

After our usual Raisin Bran and yogurt breakfast we met Mark & Cindy in the lobby of the Bonita Springs Day’s Inn and drove the short distance to Barefoot Beach.  We weren’t there for sunrise but we were there by 8:15 am and walked for a couple of miles along the beach.  This beach is very white course sand with bands of shells paralleling the waterline.  We picked up a few interesting shells and enjoyed our time with the Whittingtons on their last day with us here in Florida.  We were very happy to be wading in shorts and T-shirts on the first day of February. The temperature was 83 degrees at 10 am when we were leaving the beach.  

Yellow-crown night-heron

Mark and Cindy packed and checked out to make the drive to Orlando to catch their flight back to Oregon.  We prepared things for another day of sightseeing on the Western side of the Everglades.  We drove to the Marsh Trail in the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Reserve.  There was an observation tower about a quarter mile into the hike that gave a good view of the area.  We continued along the trail for the entire 1.5 miles passing by a number of egrets, herons and alligators.  Near the end of the trail we saw one of the largest alligators that we have seen and it was sunning right beside the walking trail. 

Brown pelicans

Needless to say, we walked carefully around it and kept moving along the path.  There were a number of people on the trail but only on the first quarter mile or so to the observation tower.  There were far fewer walkers further out on the path.  We were happy that we had stopped here because we have passed this area many times but the parking for the trail is poorly marked and we have just passed it by.  A volunteer at the Everglades National Park office told us that the tower is a great place to watch sunset.  We were there at midday so we didn’t see that but may return on another occasion to see the sun setting.

Large alligator on Turner River

We left the Marsh Trail and drove the short distance to the Big Cypress visitor center where we have seen manatees in the past.  We used the restrooms and took a look in the waterway behind the visitor center but saw no manatees there today.  We ate our lunch of peanut butter, crackers and fruit as we made our way to the Turner River Road Trail where we saw so much wildlife on Wednesday evening.  We drove about five miles out the road to an area where the river was easily seen from the gravel road.  We parked and walked about a mile downstream, returned to the car then walked a mile upstream.  We chatted briefly with a group of three young men who were bass fishing in the stream.  There were many alligators, some of which were quite large, as well as many species of birds.  However, the birds and alligators here are a lot more skittish than in areas where there is a lot more tourist traffic.  There are far far fewer visitors to this area than many other public areas of the Everglades.  

We left the Turner River area around 4:30 and drove back to the Bonita Springs Day’s Inn to change for dinner.

Mary found that Lapa’s Costa Rican Bistro was very highly rated on Trip Advisor and was reasonably priced so we decided to give it a try.  We were rewarded with excellent meals and some of the best restaurant service that we have ever had.  I had the Chirripó Chicken which is seasoned and stewed chicken.  One of my side dishes was Gallo Pinto which was black beans and wild rice mixed with tomatoes, mild peppers and onions with spices.  My other side was fried sweet plantains.  It was outstanding.  Everything was very seasoned but not at all spicy or hot.  Mary had a La Gallina which is a pressed chicken sandwich with tostones on the side.  The drinks are made on site so Mary had limeade and I had tamarind juice.  We were both very impressed with the quality and serving of the meal but the service was unbeatable.  This restaurant had what was quite possibly the best service we have ever had at a restaurant.