Everglades National Park

 October 6, 2020

Everglades National Park day one.  This place is huge so we will visit it over two days.  Today we will drive from the Ernest F Coe Visitor Center to the Flamingo Visitor Center 38 miles south.  So if you are ready here is how we spent the day.  

First stop, a farmstand selling cuban sandwiches, produce and smoothies.  I chose strawberry banana while Jim enjoyed a coconut pineapple smoothie.  Yes the farmstand is called Robert Is Here, and it has been in Florida City for 60 years.  We packed up Cuban sandwiches for lunch and bought some Spring Mix for salad to go with our dinner back in the RV.  It was all good, but the smoothie was the best.

Today is hot - 90 degrees and humid, so before we get all sweaty here we are at the Royal Palm visitor center ready to hike the Anhinga Trail. 

Before coming here I thought of an everglade as a swamp and expected the water to be muddy, but it is not, the water is very clear.  I took this shot thru the very clear water from the boardwalk looking straight down.

The grasshoppers here are not green  but orange and brown.  Technically an insect but they were the first wildlife we saw on the trail.  You couldn't miss them several were just hanging out on the path soaking up the sun.

Yes there were lily pads here floating on the water.  On the left edge you get a glimpse of the boardwalk that makes up the trail so you can walk above the water.

And under the water is a turtle.  Can you see him?  I was quite excited to see him in person and to get this shot.  

                         Jim did better. Here is his shot when the turtle came out on the other side of the bridge.

The grasses grow taller then Jim while he is up on the boardwalk.  That's tall grass.

The view from the end of the Anhinga Trail.  And no we did not see any Anhinga there.  (it's a bird)

Our next trail is the Gumbo Limbo trail (love the name).  It is the tree to the left of Jim, in person the bark is reddish in color.  Brews from the inner bark may have been the original chicken gumbo soup.  (I'm not making this up, it was on the sign)

Off to the Pinelands trail, more of an open prairie.  Pinelands are islands of higher infrequently flooded ground dotted with dense stands of broad-leaved trees and shrubs and surrounded by thousands of acres of open wet prairies.

Then to the Cypress at the Pa-hay-okee Overlook.

Hurricane Erma did some damage to the West Lake Trail

it was not quite a loop trail currently with two breaks in it. 

Here is a video to give you a better view of it.

We had some more manatee sightings today, and this time I do have some photos and videos to share with you so you can see them too.

At the Flamingo Visitor Center boat launch, the manatee were munching on some fresh cut grass clippings. 

Here are two manatees.  The background noise is from the Visitor Center construction project.  At one point we saw seven manatee together.  It was amazing to have them so close.

And here is the beautiful Florida bay on the southern end of Florida.  

Yes, those are the florida keys you see on the horizon.  There are about 100 named islands known locally as "keys" scattered throughout Florida Bay.

And here are our sweaty selves after exploring the Florida Everglades from Ernest F Coe to Flamingo Visitor Center.  We will come back on Thursday to see the northern end of the park.

October 7, 2020 (not Everglades, just the day between the Everglades trips)

Today we drove to Key Largo. 

I was not too impressed, it seemed like a long strip mall.  The one bright spot was John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.  

They also have a cannon beach.  It's not as large as John& Bev's Cannon Beach in Oregon.  The cannons here were from a British shipwreck found just offshore.

We walked around and found a nice deck in the shade with a cool breeze where we looked out on Largo Sound.

Then Jim saw something in the mangrove.

Can you see what he saw?

Here he is close up, it's an iguana.

His tail is so long, and his toes/talons!  He was very chill and sat there for awhile.  I began to wonder if he wanted us to move.  So I backed away and Jim poured some water out for him and sure enough he came onto the deck, drank some water then crossed to the mangroves on the other side.

We also stopped off at Mrs Mac's Diner for some crab cakes and a piece of key lime pie.  I was surprised that it was served ice cold.  It was hard to break off a forkful, but we managed to eat it all up.

October 8, 2020

Today we headed back to the Everglades to explore the Shark Valley Entrance via a Tram Tour.  The airboat tours seemed a little hokey, and the tram tour seemed like it would be more educational.  (I miss ranger led tours, which were canceled due to Covid and this seemed like the next best thing.)

We checked in for the tour and had some time before the tour so we headed out on 

As you can see it was a beautiful day.

Jim had a sharp eye and saw

a baby alligator, do you see him?

same picture zoomed in

Seems like it's going to be a good day.

along the boardwalk

Time to get on the tram tour for a 2 hour ride

Social distancing meant we had our own row on the tram, nice.

Here is a snip it from the tram ride on the bay heads

The path here leads to an alligator nest. 

A female gator will lay 50 eggs maybe 6 survive.

No gator making an appearance here today.

At the half-way point you climb a tower to see the vastness of the Everglades.

Here it is for you to see

The tower is the spot where the oil company that originally owned this land drilled for oil.  They found it but could not refine it, so eventually they gave the land to the federal government who in turn gave it to the National Parks who have saved it for us and to preserve the ecosystem and Florida's water.

a view so nice it makes you smile

and that is the tower we climbed up to in the background.

the male Anhinga bird 

did not see him on the Anhinga trail but got to see him today

female Anhinga

she has a gold scarf and white head

Our two hour tour did not reveal any alligators.

It is the wet season, water everywhere so the gators and other wildlife spread out and are harder to spot.

On to the Loop Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve (inside this national park).

and here is another female Anhinga  up in the Cypress trees

a white egret wading in the waters

And yes, a gator siting!  

The yellow is the limestone in the water. 

 Let's see if Jim can work some magic and get you a better shot of him.

and a wide shot to see him in his environment.

And would you believe we drove down the road to Sweetwater Strand 

Isn't is beautiful?

No gators here, just reflective clear water and Cypress trees.

Wait a minute there is a gator here.

We saw another gator, looks kind of ominous 

I am really glad we took the Loop Road.

and a wide shot to see him in his natural setting

Okay you get the idea, we were excited to see a gator.

It's me on the road and gator in the water.  Plenty close enough.

And that completes our fun at Everglades National Park.

Hope you enjoyed it, we sure did.

gator just giving you the stare down