The Unlucky Tales of Tropical Travelers

     On vacation, the last thing you want is something to get in the way of your fun. You might anticipate a vacation months ahead of time, a nice break from the grind and a chance to go on exciting adventures. Not sit at a toilet enjoying Montezuma's revenge. Here's a first hand account of some unlucky travelers on their class trip to the Florida Keys, maybe this will serve as a lesson if you ever plan a vacation there yourself.

     After stepping out of air conditioned van into the hot cloud of Florida air, our class was told to grab some local plant samples for our class notebooks. Recognizing a magnolia that grows in my backyard, I went to grab a leaf when I hear a warning. We briefly saw a poster showing a picture of a plant called poison wood, but it showcased a pretty unclear photo.

    Aside from being a woody plant with oblong leaves, none of us had a clue which one was this awful mysterious tree with a threatening name. I quickly let go of the leaf I grabbed, and paranoia caused phantom stings in my hands as I worried what would happen. I made sure to grab the least likely looking plants as possible, when we eventually ran into a guide at Blue Hole. We asked if he could show us which one was poison wood, and everyone grew nervous as he pointed out the dozens of very poisonous trees surrounding us. The sap is capable of causing chemical burns, the leaves cause awful rashes, and even the sawdust itself can irritate the lungs or skin! This horrible tree was every where and everyone was clamoring to check if their plant samples were toxic. I was lucky to avoid it, but two of my classmates weren't so lucky that day. After dousing their skin with some sort of medicine, we went on our merry way all the wiser.

        While I narrowly dodged the poison wood, I wasn't so lucky to dodge exhaustion. We drove through dozens of pristine islands to finally reach Key West, the southernmost point in Florida. After walking through the lovely EcoDiscovery museum, we were given a couple hours of free time, and I didn't particularly have much I wanted to do besides sit in an air conditioned store eating ice cream. So I tagged along with another group who wanted to visit Southern Point. I thought I could handle the 30 minutes of walking. Nope. Walking around 87 degree heat with 100% humidity, combined with my wimpy stamina I killed my legs and energy. I also made one other crucial mistake. Not drinking water throughout the day. I thought I was safe once I chugged a bottle of warm (yucky) tap water, but at that point it was too late. Once I got to the beach, I was too dead to do anything but take pictures under a palm tree.

     Long story short, drink water and don't touch evil poison trees.


   Want to visit the EcoDiscovery museum find info here! http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/eco_discovery.html

   Want to visit the keys, but you're worried about what it's like? Visit
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g34340-Florida_Keys_Florida-Vacations.html
for online reviews from fellow travelers!