2.12.16 - 2.16.16 - Everglades - Part 1

Having traveled down the Atlantic coast of Florida, sampling beaches, towns, cities, tourist sites, we were ready for a more natural and earthy experience.  Perfect timing … the Everglades is right around the corner.  Everglades national park has long been on the short list of places to visit.

We’ll do two separate posts for the Everglades … there is too much for one post.
Everyone seems afraid of the alligators.  All worries set aside:

We landed in the park on a magnificently beautiful day, and were told at the visitor center that there were no camping spots available.  UGH.  We had tried to make prior reservations several months earlier… none were available, but many of the sites are not in the reservation system and are available on a first come first serve basis.  We knew were taking our chances.  While standing at the information desk, trying to formulate Plan B, another couple approached the Information desk.  We looked up to discover that they are neighbors from home !  They winter in Key Largo, and invited us to stay in their driveway.  What an amazing co-incidence.  Plan B involved spending the day in the park, and driving back out to camp in their driveway.  We drove the 35 miles all the way into the end of the everglades peninsula ...

... where there is a visitor center and the target campground.  They did have a camp spot available for us.  WhooHoo!  There apparently is an ongoing mis-communication between the campground manager, and the main visitor center.Now that we know where we are going to live, it was time to take the bikes off the back of the RV, and start touring.

 Everglades national park is a tropical wetland of 1.5 million acres.  The national park was established specifically to protect a fragile ecosystem.   It is the most significant breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America. As a world heritage site, UNESCO recognizes the everglades wetland of global importance.  It is the home of 36 threatened or endangered species.  Protection, restoration, and the management of the Everglades is a ‘hot’ topic in southern Florida.

When the everglades was originally established, several villages encompassed by the newly developed park, were removed.  The Visitor center detailed information about the lives of the early inhabitants of the everglades.  We liked the ‘mud’shoes. 

It was also sadly interesting that several park rangers, in the early 1900’s. whose salaries were supported by the Audubon Society, lost their lives in service of preventing poaching of bird rookeries.

The everglades has an immense capacity for water storage from the sponge-like permeable limestone beneath the land. The water in the everglades arrives in the form of rainfall and flow from the large Florida lakes to the north, and a significant amount is stored in the limestone. Water evaporating from the Everglades becomes rain over metropolitan areas, providing the fresh water supply for those regions.

Sections of the everglades have a savanna climate, and other sections are monsoonal.  

Typically, in the winter, dry season, water levels are low and animals congregate in central water locations.  However, when we were there, there had been massive amounts of rainfall (attributed to the large el nino), which reduced the expected animal sightings.  In spite of that, we were not disappointed.  Animal photos on next post.

There are fewer mosquitoes in the winter than in the summer … by a lot.  But still, on an evening walk, with long sleeves and bug hats, we were still covered in the beasts, that CAN bite through 2 layers of clothes. 

Mangroves:

Mangrove trees have adapted to survive extreme conditions. Many marine and bird species live amongst the mangroves. They are also Florida's first defense against the forces of hurricanes, and they prevent coastal erosion.  The mangrove system in Everglades National Park is the largest continuous system of mangroves in the world. We took several boat tours in the park, and got a real flavor for mangrove forests.

The color of water around the mangroves can be very reddish, from the tannins in the water.

Wild bromeliads grow freely among the mangroves and they were blooming when we were there.

The part of Everglades park between Flamingo visitor center and Everglade City contains remote canoe trails and thousands of small islands.  

We hiked a boardwalk trail in a cypres swamp, and another trail in a hill (about 11 feet above see level) where mahogany trees grow, shedding their very large seed pods.

Next Post:  Everglades Part 2 - Wildlife