The Everglades

Thursday, December 13
Everglades National Park is 1.5 million acres of wilderness. The Everglades is full of wildlife. It's an amazing place and honestly not what we expected.

In fact there are a lot of misconceptions about Florida we have uncovered. We heard it was crowded.....well that is true; we heard there were lots of bugs.......we haven't seen one mosquito since we got here; we heard there were lots of snakes.....haven't seen one yet; we heard the Everglades were one big swamp.....not true....it has grasslands, forests, lakes, and yes I suppose it has some swampy areas but just a small portion. We also heard Florida has bad drivers and that is definitely true! But....back to the Everglades......

We headed over to the Everglades National Park. It was time to renew our National Parks Pass. For $80 annually the two of us can visit almost any National Monument in the US for no additional charge. We bought one last year and have used it dozens of times. It's a great value in our opinion.

With park map in hand we drove out Hwy 9336 into the Everglades. First stop was the Anhinga Trail. Lots of school kids here and also lots of Park volunteers to keep everyone safe and well informed.

It was pouring rain when we arrived but it didn't last long. Typical South Florida shower.

These beautiful Egrets are everywhere.

The Florida Panther is endangered. I guess there must be at least a few in this area.

Such a beautiful canopy.

Our first Gator!

An Anhinga. This is an immature specimen as it has a brown head and neck.

An Anhinga with its wings spread. They do this to dry off after swimming and diving for prey.

These cute little guys are everywhere.

Blue Heron coming in for a landing.

Look closely at these fish. The spot on their tail looks like a second eye to confuse birds or animals trying to eat them. Note how crystal clear the water is.

More Alligators

Turtle

This is a Purple Gallinule. A beautiful bird with huge feet to enable them to walk on the water lily pads.

A male Anhinga. Note the very sharp bill.

They use that sharp bill to stab a fish. Not sure how he intends to eat this fish though.

Blue Heron

Look closely and you can see three very small Gators. The Volunteer told us they are likely less than a month old.

A larger baby gator. He was maybe 18 inches long.

Somebody has a sense of humor. Rock Reef Pass, elevation 3 feet. The Everglades are very flat.

As we drove further south on Hwy 9336 toward the small community of Flamingo the trees grew larger and more Mangroves grew in the water channels.

The end of the road. The Gulf of Mexico in the distance.

A couple of Manatees at play in the marina.

A popular spot for kayaking.

Look close. That grey hump in the water is a Crocodile. Alligators and Crocodiles live here in the far southern reaches of the Everglades. Crocs are a lighter color than the black Gators.

Osprey coming in to land.

Green Heron

Another Green Heron.

The grasslands of the northern Everglades.

The graceful Great Egret in flight

A bit like a jungle here at the Mahogany Hammock

Mahogany Tree

The trees host other plants.

Strangler Fig

Yep, we were here!

Reminds me of the African grasslands, except much wetter.

Bald Cypress trees in the grasslands.

Bald Cypress

Wood Storks

We really enjoyed our day at Everglades National Park. We saw so much wildlife and seeing in its natural environment made it special.


......and that was Our View From Here!