Inside America's Most Isolated Swamp Town

There's an American town hidden deep inside the Everglades where gators outnumber people. And the scariest part? There's only one road in and one road out. So we wanted to know, what is it really like to live in a town surrounded by a dangerous swamp? Watch out for snakes now. So we're spending the next 24 hours here, immersing ourselves among the people, animals, and routines that shape everyday life. We're having tree for dinner tonight. This is Chokoloskee, 152-acre island in the Florida Everglades. If we're going to fully experience this place, we need a local who will show us around. What's up, man? How's it going? Good morning. How are you? This is Captain Steve. He's a seventh generation gladesman who grew up on this island and is known for his swamp buggies. Cole saw this video online. I love my job. And we knew he would be the perfect person to tell us about this town and show us the swamp he grew up in. We just met Captain Steve. And I got to tell you, he is quite the character. So we are heading to Steve's buggy into the swamp. And he just stopped here and said, hey, we've got to get something for dinner tonight. The reason we stopped here is because these trees have never been burnt. When you get out in the swamps, they've had prescribed fires. And these trees have been burnt. And they don't have as much fat in them. Got it. So we stopped here along the edge of this county road and can cut them. And then they're fat and juicy. And that's a perfect tree right here. So if you haven't picked up on this, we're having tree for dinner tonight. It's called a, this is a sable palm. And we call it swamp cabbage. Got to trim the limbs off of it. Be careful. Don't let these stab you. If I don't do it right, my dad and my grandfather are going to be really upset with me. A lot of people use chainsaws. But my granddad taught me, you don't use chainsaws. Well, of course, he never cut them, too. He always had me cutting them. You know what I mean? So yeah, watch out for snakes now. So what we're having is heart of palm. You can buy something similar to that in the store. But it's not the adventure. No, and it's not the same. It's not the same. It's not exactly the same. Oh, there it is. You're going to have to stick around to the end of the video to see what that turns into. Yeah, my heart rate's going, man. From watching me? Watching you. I have officially broken a sweat. And I got to tell you, cutting down one of those is fun. But I don't think I really want any more than one. It is work. A few years ago, we left behind careers that promised stability and traded them for uncertainty. What you see on camera is only a small part of this life. Most days look like work. Long hours and trying to build something that doesn't come with guarantees. But the more time we've spent traveling, the more we've realized the most meaningful adventures aren't about where you go. They're about who let you in. And that's why we're here, to spend time with people who live differently than we do and understand the places they call home. Well, how cool is this? We have made it to our first stop to get the swamp buggy. Have you ever ridden a swamp buggy before? Yep, me neither. First time for everything. Captain Steve, where are we going today? We're going to go into the Big Cypress. Big Cypress National Preserve spans over 700,000 acres. And to put that into perspective, that's about the size of Rhode Island. The land here is unforgiving. And that's why the locals use these special vehicles to get around. Do we get in? All right, look at this. Well, you're going to use this ladder. Oh, that's why the ladder's there. Oh my goodness. Here we go. I've never been on a swamp buggy before. Let's go. Captain Steve, do I get to drive it at some point today? No. No? Ah. Only place in the world that has crocodiles and alligators. Wait, did you just hear what I heard? Only place in the world that has crocodiles and alligators. Wait, oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. It's hard to imagine right now because it's dry season. But it's not uncommon for the water to go up above the tires. The swamp stretches for miles in every direction. Very few roads, no signs, no reference points at all. So as a kid, obviously, you spent a lot of time in the woods, in the swamp. In the woods, in the water. On the water. Yep. What else was there to do as growing up? What else did you need to do? That was the best time of the world. We didn't need stuff. When I was a kid, Chokoloskee Island had very few interlopers. And all of our family, we're all family down there. And you could go at lunchtime. You didn't worry about your kids. Because when we were kids, we could stop at any house, get a sandwich, get something to drink. It was just the greatest thing in the world. About 30 minutes into our adventure, Captain Steve stopped and told us to go for a little walk. In the swamp, squish, squish, squish. Look, the water would come all the way up to these trees. That's wild. Look at this snail shale right here. Shale. Wow, that came out really country. My Tennessee's hanging out. Can you imagine living out here? I cannot. The Indians did that, didn't they? They did. To live out here? Yeah. I love walking through the woods like this. This whole cypress run here is obviously dry right now, because it's wintertime, which is the dry season. But it just reminds me of my childhood, growing up and going hunting with my dad and my grandfather, and being out, walking through the woods just like this. Something about it. The only thing you can hear are the birds in the background, the wind going through the trees. What are you getting there? I'm getting these, uh, well, I don't know what they are. Getting something. What do you think? It's pretty peaceful. Very calming. I feel one with nature right now. Is that just because your feet are wet? Yeah, probably that too, actually. Yeah, good point, good point. Would you like to drive? I would love to drive. Well, let me stop you here. All right. You ready? I'm ready. Wait, you didn't tell me what to do yet. Don't give it no gas, but. Well, where's the, how do I stop it? There ain't no brake. There's no brake? What? How do I stop it? Seriously, how do I stop? You don't. But I'm not pressing the gas. Don't give it gas. Don't give it gas? No, just let it drive. All right, all aboard. You want to give it a little bit of gas, you can. Just a little bit. All aboard. That's the reason I don't let people drive, because they're not familiar with it. All aboard Miss Emily's Wild Ride. Why do you need brakes on a swamp buggy? You know what I mean? Why do you, I mean, you don't go fast enough. And usually we're in waist deep water, so. Whenever you want to stop, let me know. A few hours of adventuring, and we had worked up an appetite. So we headed back into town for lunch. We'll catch up with Captain Steve later to cook the tree. And trust me, we've only scratched the surface of this town's past. To explore a town hidden deep in the swamp, we needed the right vehicle, something capable, reliable, and honestly, something fun. So we rented this yellow Jeep on Toro, and it was exactly what we were looking for. Toro is the world's largest online marketplace for car rental. They have over 1,600 amazing makes and models that allow you to rent whatever vehicle you want, all shared by local hosts. Booking on Toro is super simple. All you have to do is open the app, search by location, or even by the nearest airport, and find the exact car that you want to book, not just the type of car. For those of you looking to travel soon, Toro is actually available in over 140 airports across the United States and Canada, and that will allow you to skip that rental desk. When you get off the plane, the Toro app gives you specific instructions on where your car is parked. It could be a parking lot, a designated lot, or even curbside. Yeah, and for this Jeep, we actually picked it up locally, and our host, Eugene, was super easy and accommodating, and even met us to make a smooth transition. Having the right vehicle made exploring the town hidden in the swamp even better. If you're traveling soon and want to hit the road faster, make sure to check out Toro. We'll post a link in the description below. We're going to do the Cubans that we're going to split with fries. We'll do the sweet plantains, and then I'm also a huge fan of empanadas, and I see that there's some over there. OK, is that good? That's good. Thank you so much. OK. Interesting. Oh. Yum. Please. Look at that. All right. I'm excited. Mm. What do you like about this area? The sunshine, the people, the birds, everything. I just love the privateness. It all, yeah, it's just private down here. It's not chaotic, and it's just a good vibe. After a great lunch at the best restaurant in town, it was time to start preparing the tree for dinner. Steve, I got your bacon. Steve said, if you're going to have me cook this for you, I'm going to show you how to cook it, you've got to have some bacon, and I've got to have some evaporated milk. Evaporated milk. I'm puzzled by this one, but I'm excited to see what this turns out to be. Chokoloskee, of course, was a giant Indian mound. It's the largest of all of them. 152 acres, built by the Colusa Indians, hauling oysters. My family's been there since the mid-1800s. How'd that taste? Didn't. OK. The town's always made a living smuggling. It was bird feathers. It was rum, moonshine, whatever you want to call it. Then it went to gator hides, marijuana. Mm, I'm about to try that. Bite this piece right here. It's sweet. Wow. I just took a bite out of a palm tree. Like a beaver. When you put it into perspective. I used to mullet fish and all that when I was growing up. And I got a job with the Sheriff's Department. So when the smuggling was going on, I wanted out of here, because I knew I was going to be involved with some of them going to jail. And one of my cousins come down to the house and said, you want to make a little extra money? I said, yep. He said, let me go make sure it's OK with your wife. Well, let's go inside where we can get that started cooking. Perfect. Gotta get them sharp, boy. Gotta get them sharp. I was the real deal. I was part of the real deal. Millions, millions, and millions was brought in. Was the whole town in on this? I don't necessarily say the whole town, but most of them. In the 1980s, all of that caught up with Chokoloskee. The arrests began shortly before sunrise. A massive federal crackdown known as Operation Everglades shut down decades of smuggling routes. And the way of life that had existed for generations came to an end. So obviously, half of the men in the town were all busted on this ordeal. At least half. And so when you were doing your five years on it, was this like a community? Were you guys your own community in the prison? Yeah. While we were waiting for the swamp cabbage to cook, we met Aaron, the neighbor across the street who owns both the restaurant where we just ate and the motel where we're staying. We were driving around Chokoloskee up my, hi, y'all, and saying hi, y'all, to everybody. If you don't wave, you're rude. And you grew up on the island. I grew up on the island, yeah. And we haven't been down to the marina. We got the best gas on the island, the only gas. And you get there from boat or land, whatever you want, fill up. We got shrimp, we got ice. We got a little tackle shop. We're looking for my snook. We're going to get some shrimp. Come on, snookie, snookie, snookie. Uh-oh. Nope, he's not there. So everyone is very connected. Oh, yeah. Everybody knows everybody's business. That's Indian pottery from thousands of years ago. This is so cool. I never expected to be digging up Indian pottery when we came to the town surrounded by a swamp. That's crazy. All kinds of surprises. Here's another little piece. A lot of times, you'll find writing on them, like designs and stuff. Don't ask me how they made it, but obviously, there's another piece. I believe this might have been like a dumping spot for all their garbage and stuff. The more time we spend here, the more we realize this place isn't simple. Every layer we peel back reveals something deeper and more interesting than we ever expected. So I remember these when we were traveling in the Bahamas. And if any of you watching have been following along for a while, you probably know what this is. If you do know what it is, leave it down in the comments. I did not know these grew in Florida. That's really cool. So y'all know this place as Havana, the best restaurant on the island. It's the only restaurant, but I'm going with it. This is one of two cemeteries we have on the island. You see how it's on the hill? This whole island was made of these hills before white man came and made it better. But all these hills like this were everywhere. There's the Indian mounds. I think they built up high. And the whole island is made out of oyster shells like this. So literally, the Indians and the entire tribes of Indians were just eating oysters, throwing them like that. Done. And then this became the island. Our tour ended at the Smallwoods store. And it might be the best way to understand Chokoloskee in one stop. This was a trading post back in the early 1900s. And somehow, it's still in the same family. Walking in here literally feels like taking a step back in time. It's really cool. This was your? Great grandfather's. This is the family right here in the photograph. My grandmother's 16 years younger than the baby in the picture. When we were kids, so me and Corey McMillan, the owners of the museum, would come in here and sneak through this window right here. And we'd go through and just, we always thought it was haunted. So we'd sneak through. And back then, this thing was slapped full of, I mean, you were walking over stuff. So this is actually one of the original books for this store where they were keeping account of all the sales. And what's really interesting is that this section here, it was accounted for, it was a charge account for Seminole hunter Jim Tiger. It has his name on it. And his payment was paid in otter skins. He traded otter skins for his payment. How cool is that? Chokoloskee has a way of pulling you into its past. But we still had another local tradition to try. Back at Captain Steve's, the sable palm was on the stove and tree for dinner was about to get real. All right, Captain Steve, that smells good. I'm excited. Oh, good. Yeah. Is it? I like it. You try it. You try it. It ain't as good as what it should be, though. I didn't feel good. That's good stuff. That's local. Yeah, that's real stuff. The way for you to understand the taste of this, the best way to describe it is kind of like heart of artichoke. You can also buy heart of palm, but that's pickled in cans. This has got that rich, earthy tones to it. But the bacon adds a lot of flavor and just like, yeah. That's a good way to describe it. Earthy tones, I mean, it's good. I like the bites with the bacon the most. Oh, of course, of course. Everything with bacon. The onion in there, like, it really, it, I'm going to tell you all, this girl is a picky eater, so. Oh, really? Yeah, she is. So if she likes it, it's worth going. So because we got in after dark last night, I didn't get a chance to show you where we're staying. Now, to paint the picture for you of how small of a town this is, there's no chains. So we are staying at the Parkway Motel and Marina. And it is so stinking cute. I love the buoys that are lined outside. I just think it gives us this nice, colorful touch when you show up. There's only four rooms here. And to also explain how small of a town it is, our name was literally on a sticky on the door with the door unlocked and the keys inside. That doesn't happen in the big city, let me tell you. So I want to take a moment and show you inside. So it is a two-bed, queen bedroom. We're using this one for our gear and this one for sleeping. And it's just so cute. It's been perfect for what we need. We have a coffee maker. We have a fridge. We have a microwave, TV. But really, we're exploring while we're here. So it's been an awesome day. We've had so much fun here and just appreciate the hospitality of the people in this community so much. I really hope you're enjoying this video. And I want to let you know, a couple times a year, we host group events where like-minded adventurers get to come together and we get to make memories together. If you're interested, you can scan this QR code and I'll send you all the details. As the sun started to dip, we made our way back toward the water, watching the island slow down one last time. But Chuck Aleski wasn't done with us yet. Because once the night fell, Captain Corey from the Smallwoods store had something to show us. I'm going to put my shoes right there. We left the dock and it was pitch black. No moon, no stars, just a headlamp cutting through the mangrove tunnels barely wider than the boat itself. This wasn't a ride. It felt like being threaded through the swamp. There's usually one or two right here. Corey, I got to tell you, man, we've spent a lot of time on the water. I feel like I'm really comfortable in the water. But the fact that you do not have a GPS, you are not going off of anything, you haven't looked at your phone once to see where you are. No. And we keep getting this cloud cover. There's not a moon out. We've got a few flashlights with us, but I got to tell you, man, I am like blown away by this. Stop. My Velcro on my hat's going straight down. I have a really stupid question. How do you tell the difference, especially in the dark, between an alligator and a crocodile? You got to get close. All right. It's OK, Corey? So we're thinking that something just came out right there. Right? Is that what we're thinking? Yeah, it's like a slide. And then it's really muddy down here. Look at all that mud stirred up. That's an alligator. Oh, man. This is cool. He just, yeah. Oh, he just, no, he's already eating something. That's him. That is a crocodile. No way. That's a small crocodile. Can we get closer? Oh, no way. If he ate something, he's got to put his head up. That's his tail. That's a gator. I'm watching a seventh generation gladesman move this Carolina skiff through these islands in pitch dark. It's pretty impressive. Crocodiles have a whole lot more going on upstairs in that brain than alligators do. They're sneakier. They're more predatorial. They're 10 times the predator of an alligator, I think, just because of how they stalk their prey. I mean, they eat wildebeest in Africa. We ain't got wildebeest, but we got a lot of birds. We used to have a lot of birds. There's a lot less birds now than there used to be. And I think that's because these crocodiles are hungry. By the end of the night, we'd seen six or seven alligators and even more crocodiles. Flying through the mangrove tunnels in the dark with nothing but a narrow beam of light, the stories were true. This really is the only place where crocs and gators live side by side. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Oh, my goodness. Oh! You dummy. Whoa! Oh, my goodness. Whew. It is now the next day. I got to tell you, we did not get in until about midnight last night, and we had the best time. From cutting down a palm tree for dinner, meeting locals and experiencing their kindness, to riding a swamp buggy through the Everglades, this was Chokoloskee. Experience the way it's meant to be. And now we understand what it means to actually live here and why people stay. We hope you'll hang out with us a little bit longer and click on this video next. And as always, we will see you on the next adventure.