5. Everglades National Park

Leaving Jonathan Dickinson Park, we headed to the wilderness of far south Florida; whole different world filled with the magnificent sights and sounds of nature in all its glory at the Everglades National Park.

The largest park in the National Park system, Everglades comprises some 1.5 million acres. It has several access points; we stayed at the Flamingo Campground. The Flamingo complex is 48 miles from the entrance to the park and is very near the southernmost point in the continental US as shown in this GPS view of our location:

Lacking most cell phone service, TV reception, grocery or other stores, you can feel pretty isolated in a place like this. The campground itself, while perfectly adequate, is somewhat barren except for the coarse tufts of grass all about (for some unknown reason Duffy really dislikes walking on the grass here). Our site was spacious, however. 

By the late 40's, it was clear that the few inhabitants of the southern tip of Florida were living in an area of great importance and natural beauty unique in all the world. It was soon designated a National Park, the largest such park in the US.

We decided to take a trail near the entrance of the park, the Anhinga trail. This ¾ mile boardwalk takes you into an area of swamp, hammocks, and open vistas with quite a variety of wildlife. At one point there were at least a dozen alligators laying in the warm sun, and we saw a few swimming in a stream.

Many Anhingas were drying their feathers, and herons and egrets were looking for a late meal.

 

Next morning we were down at the dock to take the Florida Bay tour. We were a little surprised to see an Osprey nest right there on the dock and only about 15 feet above the pier. A mom was feeding her baby.

For some reason, the Florida Bay tour seemed to be less popular than the Backwater tour - we were pleased to find that we were the only passengers on the boat. We had a private tour of the Florida Bay!

On the boat tour, we learned that Osprey mate for life, and the males will not even take another mate if his dies (females will - hmmm...). We have seen quite a few Osprey on this trip.

The bay is a large area polka dotted with small islands and abundant fish and birds. In addition to the great views of the bay, the Flamingo Visitor Center perched at water's edge was also visible. A hotel used to be located by the visitor center, but was destroyed in 2005's hurricane Wilma. 

The warm waters of the bay are only about 4 feet deep in most places and are a huge nursery for many species of birds and fish. In addition to Osprey, White and Brown Pelicans, Royal Terns, Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Cormorant, an Eagle and others, we saw a Manatee and a number of Dolphins on the bay. 

Our limited photographic skills and equipment didn't allow us to obtain too many good pics on the bay, but here is one our guide took of some unusual wildlife.

pic of anne and me
The dolphins were exhibiting the behavior of making “mud rings”. This unique behavior is when dolphins swim fast in a circular motion, stirring up mud from the shallow bottom. Fish trapped in the ring try to jump out of it and often become airborne. Then the dolphins scoop them up. In the below photo, you can see three mud rings and a dolphin jumping to catch the fish in the upper right side of the photo.

The guide told us that it was quite unusual to see this behavior, and he might not see it again for another three or four weeks. He also told us that this is the only place in the world where dolphins exhibit this fishing technique.

We took some time to drive from our Flamingo Campground to the town of Homestead, about 60 miles away. We wanted to visit a well known roadside farm stand, Robert is Here, and an Orchid nursery, RB Orchids. Both are best described in pictures.

Here is a picture from the second floor of the visitor center in Flamingo overlooking the bay, and a sign that tells a lot about some of the most ferocious inhabitants of the Everglades.

Although the boat was nearly full, the backwater trip wasn't as interesting for us. Maybe the partly cloudy cooler weather had something to do with it.

We did learn about the Manchineel tree. Merely touching the leaves or bark of the tree can cause your flesh to rot, and ingesting any of it is fatal. Can you see how all the leaves of this one point downward?

We did see another Osprey and a lonesome alligator.

Although it wasn's always sunny, and the temperatures could have been a little higher, we thoroughly enjoyed out time in the Everglades. Vistas such as this one of the seemingly endless sawgrass field will remain with us for a long time to come.

On the morning we were to leave, we took a final walk on a short path at the Eco Pond. We came upon a group of upwards of 200 White Pelicans. They were busy  scooping up small fish in the shallow pond - and looked like a lot of kids bobbing for apples.  

The 9 foot wingspan of these birds qualifies them as the largest bird in the Everglades. 

On the far shore were a number of Roseate Spoobills. With the reddish tinge to their feathers, the underside of their wings was a bright pink when they took to the air. 

As we walked the perimeter of the pond, we listened for a bit to a kayak guide who was telling just how unusual it was to see such a large group of white pelicans. What a great way the Eco Pond walk was to finish up our 4 days at the southern end of Everglades National Park!