From Miami is a moment and you find yourself immersed in the colours and Caribbean atmospheres of Florida Keys, eco-friendly archipelago to explore, stopping in the many parks and eco-oriented attractions where close encounters with tropical fauna, scattered on the road to Key West are possible.
Like Botanic Gardens at Kona Kai Resort opened in 2011, open to the public provide daily tours to discover the only "ethno-botanic" garden in the South East, also trying to make the visitor understand the importance of plants in everyday life.
The Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden hosts many species of endangered flora and fauna, and it is also a place where you can deepen your knowledge of biodiversity. In the forest there are two of the last freshwater ponds left in the Keys: here they stop during the migration of neo-tropical birds from South America, and here live many rare species of the Florida Keys. The Marathon Wild Bird Center is one of the main recovery and rescue centers for Keys birds, is located in an area of 25 hectares of lush forest within the Crane Point Hammock.
The Florida Keys Wild Bird Centrea Tavernier – a real paradise for bird lovers wacthing – was created thanks to the passion of its founder, Laura Quinn. The Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, founded in 1938, provides a safe place for nesting white heron and other migratory species and fauna. The white heron is the largest bird in North America, and according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is located only in the Keys and southern Florida area.
Extending between Key West and Marathon, this protected area has 970 km2 of open waters and islets in the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors can access it mainly with kayaks, canoes or small motor boats, although this center runs the territory between Upper Sugarloaf and Lower Sugarloaf Keys accessible by car.
