Everglades

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blog 03-06-17 Everglades

I had made reservations for a tram ride in Shark Valley which is a visitor center in the Everglades Nat'l Park. It is 1 hour from here and I had to be there by 9:30 am so it was an early morning. Watson was walked, breakfast with me and I was in the car by 8:15 am. The ride was a good one, south on 41 which is the Tamiani Trail, the old route from Naples to Miami, a 2 lane 60 mph road through the Everglades. There were a few Indian villages along the way and places where you could catch an air boat ride through the swamp but not much else, not even a gas station.

I arrived at 9:30 to a line at the entrance and as I patiently waited my turn I hoped they didn't sell my ticket to someone else. The ride left at 10 so I thought I was safe. It was an utter madhouse, the 10 am train was sold out and they were selling tickets for the 11 am run. They still had my ticket so I got in line to hop aboard.

There was a driver and a ranger aboard and the ranger was very knowledgeable and pleasant, the driver didn't talk but did a good job driving. We were told all about the Everglades, how it's very dry this year but in 40 to 60 yrs it will all be under brackish water which will be a disaster. Nothing that grows here now will survive because it is all fresh water, the brackish is part salt. Because of the melting ice the sea level will rise and eventually half of Florida will be under water. With all that said it was a little disturbing to know it won't be here for my great-grandchildren. So I had to snap as many pictures as possible.

We saw about 100 alligators throughout the trip and many babies. There is one picture with mom and dad on guard over their brood, don't mess with them. We were told the mother gator is very protective of her young and will loose her life if need be. Not much different than us. A gator lives to be 70 or so and the male is bigger than the female. The males fight to the death sometimes over territory or a mate, the females to save their young.

We saw egrets, herons, vultures, roseate spoonbills, wood storks, and even a crocodile. They know of one in the park and we got to see him. The driver stopped and the ranger went and dug in the ground that looked like sand but was actually wet decaying material. In it he found an apple snail that is eaten by the limpkin and the snail kite, a small hawk. He squeezed the "dirt/sand" and quite a bit of water came out. It's a big sponge.

Finally we arrived at the tower that is half-way and we got out and walked up the ramp that leads to the top. There were many alligators laying around and in a pond to one side were many water birds and the crocodile. The view from the top was forever. Actually 20 miles but it sure looks like you can see the ocean. Pictures. It's a sea of grass with an occasional clump of trees or tall bushes.

We boarded the tram again and headed back along a canal that had formed from building the road to the tower. The tower was a drill used in the 60s to harvest oil, but is no longer used because the oil has sea water. Too costly at this point to separate.

The canal however is a host to an abundance of life from birds to ducks to four legged critters. There are deer, raccoons, bob cats and panthers just to name a few. As we got to the visitors center the amount of people walking the trail was crazy, I wondered how we'd get through. We did and shortly I joined them in the frenzy to see all the wildlife up close and personal. I included a picture of the gators sunning along the road and the people close enough to touch them. I guess you do that once.

I had a great old time snapping pictures of every bird I could find and not just once. There were two night herons, a male and female, perched on branches hanging over the water watching intently for lunch. I saw the female strike and get a fish and was lucky enough to catch it with the camera. I could have spent all day there but Watson had been stuck in the camper for long enough so I went home. I didn't bring my big lens, won't make that mistake again.

Later in the afternoon I walked Watson on a path up by the boat launch through the hammock and on a boardwalk over the swamp. What was I thinking! Dispite bug spray the mosquitoes almost sucked us dry. We walked very fast hoping to out run them but not possible. They didn't really bite us but they sure did buzz us. We were out of there as fast as we could.

We sat on the bench by the water where there was a nice breeze keeping the beasts at bay. One of the workers at the park had a net and was scooping up crabs that were clinging to the pilling. They were small but he said they were legal as long as they didn't have eggs. He's going to have a lot of cracking to do to have dinner.

We headed back to the camper for dinner, it's going to be an early night.

Scroll all the way down to see all the 34 pictures.

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Comments

[Kay Smith]

great pictures
Really enjoyed your story about the everglades. We have driven through a couple of times but have not taken the time to do the tour and fully appreciate the area. Love all of the bird pictures that you got...I like the Myakka State Park boat trip also...Very informative and entertaining..