"one morning, I came to this glorious place. And I first saw the trees! The Truffle Trees.... Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze." By Dr. Seuss

     A long, long time ago, the land of Florida became inhabited. When this happened people began finding and using the materials around them. This posed problems! The men began gathering the birds for there feathers and the trees were cut down for lumber. This is where Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary came in. In 1954 the area was bought to conserve some of the last of the old Cyprus trees.   And this area is still here today.  

     As one of the colloquium trips this is where I found myself. At fist I was not very excited about this trip I did not know what to expect.  At first we walked thought the wet prairie area then to the sawgrass area both were cool but I just felt like I was in my normal Florida. Until out of nowhere I saw the trees. It was like an ongoing wall of trees that marked the entrance to the swamp. All I could think about is the  part in A Land Remembered that the family goes into the swamp and the water to reds will all the cows blood.   

     Throughout the trip we learned a lot about how this area came to be about the different plants like the Resurrection Fern, the leather fern, and alligator flags. The Alligator Flags and the Resurrection Fern are two of my favorites. The Alligator Flags were used as an indicator if there were alligators near by. And the Resurrection Fern will curl up if you touch it and then unfurl later on. I    also learned about the state butterfly the Zebra Longwing. 

     Over all, the trip was awesome I saw many different insects and animals moreover I learned a lot. While I was there I felt like I was transported somewhere other than Florida when we went into the Cyprus Forest.  I think this will be my favorite trip that we will take. It was interesting and like a whole other world.     

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