Featured Stop: Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, State Road A1A, Boca Raton

Featured Stop

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Boca Raton

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was impressed with the attention that the city of Boca Raton has given to the ecosystem, preserving the beach dunes. The city is also the host to and a major partner in the operation of the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, a great facility for nature lovers and students alike.

The nature center is located on A1A in Red Reef Park. I visited on a cool, overcast day in January.

After checking in at the nature center building and paying the suggested donation of $3, I went to the tanks in the back. This is the zoological aspect of the facility, with marine life on display.

In the tanks, you will find various marine life, such as fish, coral, crayfish, and the featured critters: sea turtles. They even have names for the turtles, such as Ludwig, a cranky old Kemp's Ridley who was featured in the New York Times, as well as a couple of cute leatherbacks named Jalapeno (a male, as indicated by the blue dye on his back) and Habanero (a female, indicated by pink).

Protecting sea turtles is one of the main purposes of Gumbo Limbo, as I saw when I visited. At that time, Florida had just been through two weeks of very cold - sometimes freezing - weather, an oddity for the state that put many of the tropical reptiles in shock. The on-site veterinary hospital coordinated the rescue and rehabilitation of dozens of these turtles, saving many from a certain death.

After bidding Ludwig and company farewell, I went to the butterfly garden. Basically, this is a little area with flowering plants that attract butterflies. With the cold weather, they were few, but I did see some zebra wings fluttering about.
 

Then I moved on to the short boardwalk trail. This gives you a nice look at what it looked like there before development took over, explaining the layout of a mangrove ecosystem as you go. There is an observation tower midway through that gives you a view of the ocean on one side and Lake Wyman (the Intracoastal Waterway) on the other.

I also got to meet the park's namesake, the odd-looking gumbo limbo tree. It reaches up and out with a twisted trunk and branches of a ruddy orange.

There is a Lake Wyman overlook at the other end of the trail, as well as more parking spaces for those who wish to enter the nature center through the boardwalk.
 

As I finished my tour of the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, I was reminded of the constant struggle between nature and development in the southern half of the Sunshine State. Exiting the boardwalk at the southern end, I saw the Red Reef Park Executive Golf Course. It's an ironic sight, especially since these examples of both ends of the spectrum are on the same property. However, I'll give the City of Boca Raton credit for at least making an effort to preserve. If you are a nature-lover driving on A1A in the area, Gumbo Limbo is a must-see.