Estero Island Historic Cottage

Fort Myers has more substantial, significant history than I would have ever known without this field trip. I'm very passionate about history as well as Florida and am surprised at how much I learned when visiting the historic cottage on Estero Island. The Calusa native americans as well as the Seminoles were involved in trading bartering and had established domain in the area. Years later by the time of the second world war, an air base was stationed nearby. Pilots would have routine drills over Fort Myers beach on a regular basis. I could only imagine what a sight that was to watch. Residents even speculated that there were German submarines just off the Fort Myers coastline; no declassified documents have confirmed these speculations yet. Speaking of the coastline, some record breaking fishing took place in those same waters. Tuna and sawfish measuring at twelve even fourteen feet in length were caught in the early 1900's. Sadly roughly only 10% of the world's large game fish are still alive. On a lighter note, the land environment on Estero Island is thriving. Many plant species flourish other than a cancer that spreads throughout red mangroves. There are many species such as resurrection ferns and strangler figs that thrive in such ecosystems, both symbiotically and parasitically. Where Resurrection ferns hold moisture on the trees they live on, Strangler Figs attach their roots and over time wrap around and constrict the host tree until it suffocates or in some cases breaks from physical pressure. I saw a fully grown Sabal Palm snapped in two like a twig by a Strangler Fig.  Strangler Figs can cause this devastation in a matter of years. Estero Island has a wonderful history connected by living generations that date back to it's earliest settlers. This field trip was very enlightening and I would recommend it to anyone, Florida native or not.

(The ruthless Strangler Fig)