Tuesday, September 29 – We had a super adventure this morning in the Everglades National Park. We reached the Everglades after a short 30-minute drive from our campground on the Western edge of Miami, Florida. Up FL-997 North (The route we missed yesterday when driving to Miami.) and then west across the Tamiami Trail to the Shark Valley entrance. Admission was free with our America the Beautiful pass – what an amazing program!
We arrived for the first scheduled tram tour through the saw-grass prairie. This 2-hour tour ranks among our “Top Ten” experiences for the year. It cost $17.75 for seniors. We were one of two couples on the tram. The other couple was from Poland. We were lead by two charming tour guides who did a fabulous job pointing out wildlife the entire trip.
We spotted dozens of alligators, birds, turtles, and an unusual sighting in this part of the Everglades, a crocodile, the only one in this part of the park.
Our tour guide taught us how to till how long an alligator is…measure from the
eyes to the end of the nose. That number of inches equals the number of
feet long the alligator is. She guessed this one to be 12 FEET!
Most alligators have there babies the end of August-September. We saw
lots of babies. They are so dang cute.
Our guide counted 11 babies in this area.
Alligator nest.
Soft Shell turtle.
Anhinga drying his wings.
Great Blue Heron showing off for us.
We learned how to identify some the birds in the Everglades.
Little Blue Heron…yellow/green legs
Snowy Egret…yellow feet, black legs
Midway through the tram tour, we stopped at the 65-foot tower for spectacular views of the area. This is really the only area where we were swarmed with mosquitoes. The other times were fairly free of those pesky bitters due to the breeze of the moving tram.
Oh yeah, and hundreds of mosquito – don't forget your spray if you decide to take this tour!
All the park employees we talked to complimented us for arriving early to take the first tour. They said that this is the best time to see the wildlife before the heat of the day.
Even though we felt we saw a great deal of alligators and birds, they did say that the migratory bird population is significantly higher during the winter.
The only crocodile this park of the Everglades.
We truly enjoyed today's adventure and highly recommend to others contemplating a stop in Southern Florida.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!
Loved the glads... We crossed that area on the bike on the way to Key West.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, we love the Everglades and have been thru Shark Valley several times.
ReplyDeleteKudos! You captured the beauty of the Everglades with your pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tour. Loved the pictures.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this just the coolest tour! We did it in December but there were still several little alligators. My favorite part was the last stretch of the tram ride where the gators lay on the path. It was probably too hot for them to sun themselves. The Anhinga drying there winds were so cool. The birds and alligators along the path were so tame. A crocodile!! How totally cool!! How nice that you got an almost private tour:) Glad you had a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteNow that was an exciting tour and thanks for all the pictures. I can hardly wait to do it too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking us along will you to the everglades awesome pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tour you had!
ReplyDeleteOur parents took us on a tent camping trip to Florida many years ago, in July of all times. When we got to the Everglades campground my dad couldn't even get the tent set up due to the swarming mosquitoes, so we ended up getting a room at the lodge, the most memorable part of our trip.
Early morning always seems to be the best time for wildlife. Good for you for doing that. The Everglades is an astounding place.
ReplyDeleteLots of Memories there. The Tower there is like the one in Shark Vally we rode our bikes there in the 1990s! At night you get no-see-ums too! I use to live in the Everglades the edge off Hwy 27 in Pembroke Pines. April is the best time to be there! Hope you make the Keys some Elks lodges there check it out! Safe Travels and Thanks for your thoughts on Mom!
ReplyDeleteWe missed shark alley because we came in the other way. Watch out for the storms! stay safe!
ReplyDeleteWe loved Shark Valley. We took our bikes and biked around it, which was a bit intimidating at times when the gators were so close to the path.
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