Trip to Estero Bay

March 20, 2012

Today our class took the trip to the Estero Bay Historic Cottage/ Matanzas Pass Preserve. Overall, I found this trip to be enjoyable because I learned some new things and got to explore the Preserve, not to mention it was a great day outside, so it felt nice to be doing something productive. At first, my initial impression of going on this trip was that it would be secluded from society, and that we would see a cottage just full of old memorabilia having to do with nature and how time has altered it. But after going on the trip, the only thing I was wrong on was the isolation of the cottage. I had no idea that it was literally right across from Fort Myers Beach. But if I think about it, it makes sense because a long time ago, all the buildings, hotels and everything that make up Fort Myers Beach weren't there. Making the cottage by itself. I enjoyed the history lecture we received because Mrs. Jo really knew what she was talking about and its refreshing to hear someone who can provide detailed and accurate information on how Florida used to be so different from how it is now. It is hard for me to picture Edison and Ford coming down to this area to vacation because they loved it so much, but I have not seen what Florida used to look like, before Industrialization took over. It was interesting to learn that they used to have to black out their windows at night because of the Germain submarines patrolling the shoreline, and how they dealt with mosquitos, and basically made a life for themselves by fishing and living off the land. It was new to me to learn that the name "Mantanzas" actually means "massacre" and the reason they named it so was for the Caloosa Indians who were destroyed by the Spanish. I thought the lecture was really interesting and it taught me alot that I didn't know. I prefer listening to someone who has actually lived through something, rather than just reading about it in a textbook.
I liked the boarwalk because of all the sights it had to offer. We learned about the mangroves, and how to identify which are black, white, and red mangroves, which I thought was interesting because I had previously not known how to tell the difference between the three. I liked how Sara showed us all the new species of tree that could be identified, all the little insects we saw; the little crabs, the crab spider, and lots of butterflies. This was really neat to me,and it astounded me that all of this is free to the public. I could go back and bring my friends and family and let them see what I have been able to see.
Conservation 20/20 has done a good job with the Matanzas Pass Preserve because one, they have eliminated most, if not all of the exotic species that were over running the other populations, and it for the most part has been restored to its original beauty. I think they have done a good job and that more people should visit a Preserve just to see what they are like, and maybe they will find a newfound desire to protect it.