Shark Valley Tram

Today we headed north to the Shark Valley part of the Everglades. and it was so much better than going into Miami!  We got to the park bout 10:00 and the tram ride began at 11:00 so we took a short hike.  There are no long hikes in the  Everglades.  That suits us just fine.  Most of the trails are less than a mile long.  All of the trails we took in the park were on  boardwalk for easy hiking.  At the end of this trail we saw our first alligator in the wild.  Of course, I only had the phone with me so I can't post a picture at this time.  Maybe later.

The driver and naturalist who helped explain the things we saw.

  They were very good spotters and were able to show us lots of alligators and birds.  She told us that Everglades National Park is the third largest park in the continental United States after Death Valley and Yellowstone.  She said it was the first park to be established not because of its geology but because of its bio-diversity.  She said that if you were in an airplane flying over the Everglades, you would see mostly water but from the ground, the terrain looks like grasses and trees.  The park is actually mostly water and the water is so important to the plants and animals that live here but the people who live near the park.  She also said that the few trails in the park are short and the best way to see the park was with a canoe or kayak.  There are over 300 different kids of birds in the park.  She told us that the Burmese Boa has destroyed nearly 95% of the small animal population like rabbits, possums, raccoons, white-tailed deer, etc., and now they were eating the small alligators.  It is a problem that so far has not be solved.

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This is a Blue Herrin with a large fish in his mouth and near him is an alligator.

One of several alligators we saw.

Here is a good picture of the heron with the fish in its mouth.  The naturalist said that they fish was too big for the heron's mouth and the bird was probably trying to figure out how to eat the fish.

 

Blue Heron

Alligator

Alligator

Above and below are a couple of hatchling alligators.  You have to look closely.  They have stripes across their backs.

Tri-colored Heron

Observation tower like the one at Clingman's Dome in Smokey Mountain National Park.

 

An Anhinga sunning and drying off his wings.  These birds do not have a natural oil on their feathers so when they dive into the water for a fish, they have to dry off their feather before diving again

Monday evening we had a beautiful sunset but Tuesday and Wednesday evening. It was rainy and overcast so I didn't get any  sunset pictures.  Tonight I was determined to get something and below is what I got.  The clouds tried to hid the sun as it set and so the sunset was not as beautiful as I would have liked.

After we got back from Shark Valley we loaded up the car and packed up what we could so we could get on the road.  We have 360 miles to drive to St. Augustine.

I guess this would be a good time to wrap up my thoughts on Everglades National Park.  I was a bit apprehensive of the park before we got here.  I still remembered the last time that we were here that the mosquitoes were so intense and left bad memories.  I also knew that we would not have water to the camper and would only have cold showers in our campground.  I am so glad that we came to explore more fully this park.  The campground was beautiful and the mosquitoes were controllable with repellent.  After the first night of cold showers, we drove to the other loop where there are hot showers provided by solar panels.  The hot showers were glorious!  There was no cell service and I did miss doing the blog but the quiet was a peaceful, relaxing thing that was good for the soul.  It actually reminded us the "good old days" when we tented with the kids...no internet or cell phones, go to bed when it gets dark, quiet, dark nights, playing UNO with the kids, etc.  It has been a good four days.