Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Camp Hosts - Is there such a thing as a bad one?






Are you kidding? Camp Hosts are the hardest working, friendliest, most giving people we have ever worked with. And we've had a TON of jobs. (Just look at our business card collection some time.) Here at Bahia Honda they work until they are soaked in sweat or rain (or both) despite ravenous, agressive mosquitoes, plastic-eating rats, scorpions and never-ending beach garbage that washes in from ??? (We don't know where from, or we could send it back.) Above Thel is happily greeting visitors from all over the world in the Nature Center, and Theresa has just ended a tough shift of cleaning bathrooms, shower houses, emptying garbage, picking up trash, etc., and she's still here with her generous smile...ready to give you a hug, if you're needing one.



The EZ-Go electric vehicles cost thousands of dollars per year to maintain. The high UV index, coral dust and gusting salty sea winds keep the repairs coming. The keys are made of the remains of an ancient coral reef, so the tires don't have a chance running over cutting coral chunks. We know! Our first day on the job we had a huge "firecracker" thrown under our EZ-Go, and we came to a sudden halt....only to discover a front tire had blown out (with a BOOM) after its coral encounter.

So...did I answer the question? Are there bad hosts? NO, emphatically, "no"....we have never found a bad camp host...after a life time of camping. My hypothesis: They don't exist, so the question was not necessary.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Bahia Honda it is! Life in The Keys begins...

I know if you are a human-fish or paddler, island life must be paradise.  But I am a "Shore Bird".  This key is seriously the stage for the most enticing and exotic post cards ever made...but to a non-swimmer with a sinus infection and feet that must stay warm... "what the?!!@!!"  Nevertheless, we pulled into our assigned spot the evening of October 4, 2011, with the wonder of Florida enveloping us.  There's a nurturing feel to the warm, moist air...and who can resist a flamingo pink sunset with silouettes of darkened palms along a shore... complete with the sound of gently lapping waves.  What does one do?....why hurry and cruise the whole park on bikes to see where everything on the map might be and what we will shortly be tending.

There's 80 glorious campsites and 8 big cabins on stilts.  Four overly "delicious" beaches have pavilions, outdoor showers (known to have nude bathers we need to ask to cover up) and lovely tiled change houses.  There's even a Nature Center and butterfly garden!  Click-4-pictures!


Buttonwood Camping Area
 Link to Campground Map                                                         Link to Park Reservations
So what's stopping you?  Come on down for the adventure of your life!!