Sightings in the Everglades (FL Part 4)

 Did you know that Everglades National Park looks like this?

It also looks like this.

And in many places it looks like this.

At the southern end on the Bay of Florida, Everglades National Park looks like this.

The Flamingo Visitor Center may be the only pink national park building in the country. Sadly, flamingos haven't been seen in the Everglades in two years, and they haven't actively used this area as breeding grounds since 1902. Don't be fooled by shallow Florida Bay. Three words will warn you: shark breeding grounds. 

As you can imagine, palm trees of all heights and type fill the Everglades. After several days we had developed a preference for the most visually pleasing palm, it's true. We also saw unique hardwood trees, full of air plants like bromeliads, orchids, and Spanish moss. They are largely grouped together as islands, otherwise known as hammocks, in the middle of the sawgrass sloughs typical of the Everglades. 

I love asking my kids to estimate the height of "the coolest tree on the trail." It's an official designation we made on each hike. I love watching them crane their necks to make a guess.

We went to the Everglades for the wildlife, and by far everyone was most excited to see alligators. They were everywhere: right outside the visitor center, over every protective railing, and sometimes right next to the path. They mainly seemed to be sleeping, but as they swam away into dark waters it was hard not be completely mesmerized by the smooth movement of their tail.

We recommend the Anhinga Trail if you're interested in seeing about fifty napping alligators in the same lagoon.

Of course, there was a lot of other wildlife, too, more than I've seen in any single place. Cormorants, anhingas, and heron competed for fish. Turtles sunbathed mid-day. Lizards and snakes darted around.

Note the crocodile above. Did you know that the Everglades are the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles live together?

Perhaps our favorite unplanned sighting was our good friends the P Family who happened to be vacationing in the same spot. We went on a couple alligator walks with them. They carried the same laminated wildlife guide and taught us so many bird names as we walked. They had the magical ability to boost everyone's mood as we walked along--sibling bickering abated and kids paired off to impress each other with newfound information. It was a serendipitous surprise that we'll always remember.

 Perhaps our favorite Everglades adventure was paddling to Coot Bay. We never made it there, but we got to experience the quiet and stillness of the mangrove lined waters. We examined the banks for reptiles and noted the absence of bird chatter. Have I mentioned that observing wildlife with kids this age is equal parts thrilling and frustrating? The noise they make until they actually see the specimen chases most everything away, I'm convinced. That said, the amount of wildlife we saw was unbelievable in spite of the fact that three-fifths of our group were walking noise-makers and the fact that we weren't even trying. I bet if we had gone hiking early in the morning (as all the books suggest) we would have seen so much more.

The kids improvised native American drumming songs and dipped their fingers in the water to splash each other. They complained a little, mainly because they wanted to be paddling and we had only grabbed two paddles at the boat shack. I 

 Someone decided we needed a photo of one of our fellow river travelers. Green crocodiles floated in the overhangs of mangroves, but we had been warned not to intimidate them so we didn't stop to chat. We might have gotten a little too close to this one for my liking. We put the canoe in reverse when we were about ten feet away, right about when I saw those yellow eyes open.

Are you ready for my favorite family photo ever? I think I see a small fleet of canoes in our future. This might be the next frontier in exploring national parks as a family.