Everglades

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January 19, Wednesday



Arriving at the Everglades we stopped at the Visitor’s Center for an overview of the park. Bob got his passport stamped.

National Parks Passport

Bob has a passport from the National Park Service, which can be purchased at any of the parks. Every time we go near a National Parks, Monument etc., he likes to get it stamped to show we have been there. The Park service also issues a set of picture stamps from different parks every year. This would make a great gift for someone who likes to collect memorbilia.

From the park entrance it is 38 miles to the Flamingo Campground, our destination. Before moving ahead we went to Long Pine Nature Trail for a bike ride and returned on the road. Bob has his mountain bike and I have my touring bike. Soooo each bike is suited for different terrains.
Flamingo is a large resort area. It includes a marina, lodge, cottages, RV sites and a tent area. After checking in at the campground, we walked to Eco Pond to see the birds. It was incredible, anhinga, ibis, great white herons, osprey, pelicans, and lots of others we couldn’t identify. Kelly got eaten alive by mosquitoes
We went back to the marina to get tour tickets and met Ranger Megan. She is from Slippery Rock University. She and Bob had a nice chat. Then we spotted two big lumbering manatees in the bay. They are large, peaceful creatures just swimming along, but are endangered by the blades of motorboats. Looking across the marina we saw a crocodile, sunning themselves. There are lots of alligators everywhere but crocs are rare.

January 20, 2005, Thursday. It was an early get-up since we wanted to do a canoe paddle with Ranger Megan. We canoed through the mangroves; this is the area where the salt water meets the fresh water. Not a swamp, it is constantly moving. Suddenly a huge wood stork swooped down and speared a good-sized fish for lunch and glided away---just awesome. The water is filled with microscopic algae, called periphyton. It attached itself to the reeds and serves as a food source. The turning radius of the canoe in and around the mangroves is a bit tricky but we did just fine.
We returned to the campground and took a short bike ride to investigate the lodge, cottages, and the other camp areas.
Flamingo is the only campground with a shower, but it is cold water! After a chilly shower we headed to the pier for a sunset cruise. The Windfall, our sailboat is 56’ long and 23 yrs. old but quite seaworthy. The sunset on Florida Bay was lovely.

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