Moonlight Canoeing in the 'Glades

These photos are dark because, well, because the entire trip was taken in the dark, with no lights. Two hours, mostly on a small river running through the Everglades.

I took a throwaway camera because I really, really did not want to dunk my good Canon.

I took very few shots even then because once everyone's eyes adjusted to the almost total darkness any light at all was distrubing and the flash was excrutciatingly painful.

At first we had only starlight. Venus was so bright that when she peeked through the mangroves it was almost startling.

Later, as the moon rose and shone over our shoulders and onto the treetops in front of us it felt like a car was coming from behind us ... or maybe a train, since it came from so high!

As we turned to come back up the river, the moon seemed to burn into our retinas. Amazing!

We had a ranger to lead us, and each canoe had a glow-stick attached to the back so we could follow. A nice, gentle little light which reflected beautifully on the surface of the water. There were only four canoes in our group, and we spent most of the two hours in silence.

It was really a zen-like experience, and we loved every minute of it. When we described the trip to our friends and family later, we were met with quizzical expressions and questions along the line of: "What exactly did you enjoy about being out on the water in the dark?" If they didn't "get it" right away, I suppose they never will.