By Jeff Ripple. 190 pages. From southwestern Florida's Marco Islands to Cape Sable, Floridian natural historian, writer, and photographer Jeff Ripple explores the extraordinary beauty of Florida;s 10,000 Islands, many of which are still unnamed. This guide features saltwater paddling tours on the northern and central 10,000 Islands, as well as a handful of freshwater tours in the Big Cypress Swamp. Trips emanate from multiple put-ins and take-outs, including Rookery Bay Estuarine Reserve (Marco Island), Goodland, Port of the Island, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Everglades City, and Big Cypress National Preserve. The author also surveys the human and natural history that you'll encounter - alligators, manatees, striped mullet (which may jump in your boat), mangrove trees - in the region, which comprises the largest tropical evergreen forest in the U.S. Humans have been living here for thousands of years - the first Native American inhabitants were probably ancestors to the Calusa, a nonagricultural people with a rich and diverse culture.
|
