Fakahatchee strand!
The next
day was dedicated to Fakahatchee strand. (A strand is a long swamp
oriented along the direction of water flow.) Fakahatchee strand is only
a several kilometers
wide and about thirty kilometers long, but is embedded in a much larger
parcel of the Big Cypress National Preserve. The heart of
the strand is a beautiful mosaic of dense, old growth cypress trees.
Everything about Fakahatchee strand feels alive. Invertebrates abound.
The waters are
dense with fish, amphibians, and reptiles. The ancient, hoary cypress
trees emerging from the waters grow tall overhead. Their branches are
encrusted with algae, moss, ferns, bromeliads, and orchids. Snakes
slide from tree to tree. Barred owls hoot, ibis forage in the shallows.
Alligators and turtles rest on muddy banks. It is incredible.
The photography in Fakahatchee is great--it is difficult to take a bad
landscape photograph here. Everything is interesting. Even so, my
photographic muddlings do not do the place justice. Look
at the work by Clyde Butcher. You can characterize him as a Florida
version of Ansel
Adams or Edward Weston, taking photographs with large format equipment
in the spirit of the "Group F64". His web site is
clydebutcher.com.
