Home » United States » Florida - Tortugas National Park

October 1999

Florida - Tortugas National Park

David Aaronson
2005-09-23 23:03:36

Displayed times (last time: )

tree and there are a couple people on top the fort wall as well.

Now we're on the fort wall too. From up here you can see miles and miles of... well, nothing really except water and a couple of the other Tortugas. This lighthouse is still in use although the cannon is not. This fort, which would have been nearly impregnable, never actually saw battle. Besides its position in the middle of the ocean and the difficult approach by sea, the fort is surrounded by a moat and moat wall. The moat wall, as much as providing defense also prevents the waves from crashing directly into the fort.

This picture was taken inside the fort. The arched building on the left was a battery, to be used for storing ammunition originally. The fort is in various stages of decay, several sections of the wall have collapsed and one generally has to be pretty careful while exploring it. Despite the fact that it was late October, it was well into the 90s(F) the first day we were on the island. Sleeping would have been nearly impossible except that a breeze sprung up around midnight and made the weather bearable.

This is the view out from the top of the fort. The two keys in the distance are the only accessible ones from Garden Key (the key the fort is on). The more distant island is Bird Key which is restricted. We swam over to the nearer island on the second day. There is a considerable current between the two islands, and a few jellyfish to contend with, but with swim fins it's not a bad swim. Once you're there, there isn't much to see. More ghost crabs, more fish, and more deserted island. There's something to be said for knowing you're the only people on an island though.

Here Melanie poses inside the fort walls. The small mound beside her is actually the beginnings of a stalagmite, formed by water dripping off the top of the arch. There are only about 10 campsites on the island, so after mid-afternoon when the day-trippers left there were perhaps 10 people on the island. One of whom was the exceedingly knowledgeable ranger who lived in a section of the fort. The rangers use a sophisticated rain-water collection system for fresh water. There are no phones per se on the island, though there is a satellite-link phone which can be used for a mere $15 per minute in case of emergency.

Here are Lisa and Mike on the moat wall as seen from inside the fort. The moat itself is accessible by a few small openings in the wall making it a safe haven for small fish. Lisa and Mike spent two nights on the island, so this is as close to them as we could get by the third day. Actually - it wasn't that bad, they carried enough water with them to turn the place into the Wet Tortugas by the time we left. Our fellow campers were an interesting mix of world travellers, featuring one man who had spent several weeks on the island, a couple from France who forgot their can-opener (sorry - that's all we really know about them), and a brief visit from a collection of rowdy Brits who decided bathing suits were optional. (Not that there was really anyone around to care).