Credit: Florida State Archives

Few big cities in America have a community as culturally and architecturally distinct as Tampa’s Ybor City.  Beginning its life as a cigar-manufacturing town made up of Cuban, Spanish, Italian, Jewish and German immigrants, the neighborhood is now a thriving entertainment district with a rich palette of late 19^th century and early 20^th century buildings.

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This month brings the unique opportunity for locals and visitors alike to participate in some of our tours in the Everglades and Biscayne Bay that are usually reserved for groups only. They are being offered as part of the Sustainatopia event:

Saturday, April 21^st, 2012 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm:

The Everglades according to the Miccosukee

Skip across the shallow waters and sawgrass prairie to a distant Miccosukee   island as your guide prepares you for a journey of natural wonders and cultural discovery! Watch in wonder as Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Woodstorks and Ibis take to flight as we travel into the true heart of the Florida Everglades. It is here among the sawgrass prairie that remote cypress islands filled with Seminole and Miccosukee history still exist and it is here that our adventure begins . . .

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Not only has our corporate main tour season started, but our multi-day Road Scholar programs for this year are well under way!  In the past few weeks we have led adventurers through many of South Florida’s ecological and cultural gems.

A walk through the Montgomery Botanical Center led by its Executive Director,  Dr. Patrick Griffith, offered an exclusive exploration of one of the world’s foremost horticultural institutions.

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For the second straight year, Dragonfly Expeditions partnered with the University of Miami Family Weekend program to provide new students and their families the opportunity to explore Miami and its surroundings on our tours.

The five tours that were offered throughout the weekend featured Miami’s Cuban Heritage, the historic Miami City Cemetery, Kayaking on Biscayne Bay, and two Miccosukee Indian Heritage airboat tours.

The goal of the partnership between the University of Miami and Dragonfly Expeditions is to showcase Miami as a metropolis with historical, ecological and cultural treasures beyond its usual party reputation. Here are some quotes from participants:

“Very interesting information. Loved it!” – Xavier, Cuban Heritage Tour

“Very informative and a beautiful way to see the bay” – Ann, Great Discoveries on the Bay – A Kayak Tour

“Fabulous trip, tour guide was superb. Airboat was so relaxing. Great way to see nature at it’s best!” – Sheila, Miccosukee Indian Heritage Tour

Dragonfly Expeditions would like to send a special thank you to the University of Miami Family Weekend staff (Brian Orefice, Danielle Howard, and Carrie Whiteside) for their amazing work and dedication in ensuring that our partnership was again a success. We are looking forward to Family Weekend 2012.

We are often lucky to experience amazing ecological occurrences on our tours. This video was taken on a 3 hour kayaking excursion to Peanut Island in Palm Beach and illustrates just such an occurrence. Watch the video all the way to the end for a surprise!

Over the years there have been numerous theories concerning the leaping of mullet. The three most accepted theories are: predator avoidance, aerial respiration and… because they want to!

Click the image to see the video

Within the first years of moving to Miami, I made the effort of exploring many of  the city’s neighborhoods.  But despite its natural beauty the island of Key Biscayne  had never struck me as something particularly interesting.  Driving down the main corridor of Crandon Boulevard I always thought it was rather uninspiring. Boy was I wrong!  One day, my visiting father-in-law and I decided to ride out some of the island’s side streets and paths.  In preparation, I started reading up on its past which uncovered a treasure trove of stories this island holds – stories of its unique connections to as well as  its disconnect from Miami.   For anybody interested, I highly recommend the book “Key Biscayne – A History of Miami’s Tropical Island and the Cape Florida Lighthouse” by Joan Blank.

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God’s vast array of winged creatures has lost a great friend and advocate this month and in so losing her, we who love South Florida and its beautiful birds have equal cause to mourn.  Wendy Fox, longtime Executive Director of the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station died of cancer on Saturday, August 6, 2011.  She was 54.  Dragonfly Expeditions partnered up with Wendy and her inspiring organization years ago to create a new type of tour.  It was designed to bring awareness and money to the brave non-profit tucked away at the end of a marina on the 79^th Street Causeway.  We called it  “Healing Wildlife at the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station”  and dedicated 40 percent of the gross profits  to the seabird station.  This effort has always made me proud.

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The AroundTown Magazine is a monthly issued calendar-magazine dedicated to South Florida’s rich cultural tapestry.  Since early 2011 Charles J. Kropke has been writing a column named “Charles’ Corner” for AroundTown where he talks about cultural events and institutions in South Florida.

For the June/July issue he was given the opportunity to introduce Dragonfly Expeditions and one of our tours: the Everglades Backwater Tour:

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Developing tour routes and gathering the stories that bring an experience to life is one of my favorite tasks at Dragonfly Expeditions.  This is particularly true for the Hawks Cay Kayak Adventure, especially since it involved several days of kayaking in the Florida Keys!  I have to admit that I tend to favor our water-based tours anyway, but the waters and story around Duck Key quickly proved to be tour-worthy.

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With Dragonfly Expeditions being a company that earns its money through sustainable tourism, you would not necessarily connect it to the organization of teambuilding events. But being a sustainable tourism company lets us use our expertise and transfer it to programs like community service projects, even though they commonly are not defined as tourism.

On March 1^st 2011 Dragonfly Expeditions organized a teambuilding event for a group of 180 high profile guests from a multinational company that is operating in 21 different countries.  The goal was to remove invasive exotic plants and to restore the original flora in a critical section of Markham Park , a popular county park on the edge of the Everglades close to Fort Lauderdale.

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