Escapades in the Everglades
Place: Everglades National Park
State: Florida
Closest Cities: Miami, FL, Homestead, FL
Time of Year: February 2024
How we got there: Plane, Automobile
I was born in Daytona Beach, Florida and have visited family there my whole life, but I had never been south of Tampa! Seems crazy, right? But it was true! Most of our trips to FL were in the summer and summer is definitely not the time to visit The Everglades! Way too hot and humid and way too many bugs! With my parents residing in Ormond Beach 5 months of the year, we decided that this was the opportunity to see south Florida and the 3 national parks that populate the southern tip of the state. We invited my parents to tag along!
After flying into Miami International Airport (I was not impressed), we headed to The Everglades for two days. Our first day was spent in the Shark Valley Area.
Day 1 Shark Valley
There are two ways to enjoy the Shark Valley area. By bike or by tram. Normally it would be bikes all the way for us, however I realized that we would not get any park ranger info if we rode bikes. So, I booked online for the first tram of the day. Sharkvalleytramtours.com. The park opens at 8:30am and the cars are lined up outside the gate to get in. There is very limited parking, so get there early! We were the 4th car in line and were able to hop out and get our picture with the national park sign while we waited. When we left later that morning, the line to get in was so long.
I truly believe that the early morning was the best time to visit Shark Valley because all the gators and birds were out soaking in the sun! Our ranger was super knowledgeable and taught us that the Everglades are not a swamp as we originally thought, but a slough. The water is so clear and clean and looks nothing like the swampy mess I had imagined! I must mention again that there were no bugs this time of year!! We spotted ibises, blue herons & egrets as well as tons of gators right on the edge of the paved tram path.
Check out the ibis getting his morning meal! Poor little snake!
We were lucky enough to come upon a pretty rare site. To the left of the tram was a huge gator with his head and trail sticking straight up out of the water. The ranger quickly told the driver to stop and turn off the engine as the gator was about to bellow! What we heard was a loud, deep groan! I had no idea that gators did this at all and I certainly didn’t expect that we would witness it! The purpose of the bellow is to call mating females and to let other males know that he is claiming this area. The ranger told us that he himself had only witnessed this once before in all his years at the park. We couldn’t believe how close we were! I just love observing wildlife in their natural habitat! Check out the bellowing gator in the video below!
Our tram destination was the Shark Valley Observation Tower where you can see panoramic views of the River of Grass. The views stretch for 20 miles on a clear day. We hiked a short distance to the swirling concrete walkway leading up to the observation deck where we spotted a huge gator sunbathing below. I took a few minutes to appreciate the unique beauty laid out in front of me. There were very few people around, another benefit to taking the early morning tram. We could hear the birds and observe them glide and land on the tropical tree canopy. There are a few short trails in the area but they were flooded during our visit and therefor closed.
If the observation tower looks familiar to you, you may have seen one like it in my post here https://dawntillduskaz.com/glamping-in-the-great-smoky-mountains/. That’s right! The same architect (Edward Ghezzi) who built this one in 1964, also designed the one at Clingman’s Dome in The Great Smokey Mountains!
Back on the tram we finished the loop to the visitor’s center and spotted at least 20 more gators of all sizes! You can get up close and personal if you like! No barriers here!
Everglades City
The rest of our day was spent over in Everglades City where it’s all about the airboats! We did the touristy thing and booked a few airboat rides through Captain Jacks https://www.captainjacksairboattours.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVBh8-lzkfwEB0pW3XzUkAqOrYf211t-4Umr7euJfXSyGxfY0vESR_xoCfdYQAvD_BwE . 3 in total! The first being a super fast airboat through the mangrove tunnels where we learned that mangroves are not native to Florida but have now taken over a good portion of the Everglades! Check out the video below:
The second ride was flying through saw grass searching for gators!
Our last ride was this crazy swamp buggy! Our guide took us on a water trail at a slow crawl through saw grass and forest where we marveled at the beautiful plant life and spotted bear tracks in the mud! Who knew that bears live in the Everglades??
Day 2 Royal Palm and Flamingo Visitor Center
We started day 2 at the Royal Palm Visitor’s Center which is not too far from Homestead, FL. We entered the park on Main Park Road to get to Royal Palm. We expected to see the vultures in the parking lot like we had seen on countless YouTube videos. These vultures would attack cars and eat the rubber and plastic parts on parked vehicles. After speaking to the park ranger, we learned that the vultures no longer are a problem. It was a learned behavior that they apparently outgrew! So, without a worry that our windshield wipers would be missing on our return, we headed out to explore. The Anhinga Trail is a wooden boardwalk that takes you out over the water. Again, we were there early and the creatures were pretty active! Right away we came across a sunbathing alligator that we weren’t sure was real! The water was filled with lily pads and was so crystal clear. I especially loved the Purple Gullinole aka Jesus Bird because they walk on water! They had a purple and green body that glistened in the sunlight kind of like a peacock’s feathers. Their long yellow legs and feet helped them gracefully walk from lily pad to lily pad as if walking on water. I could watch them all day! In fact, we went back at dusk to observe them again. There were also tons of Anhinga birds perched on the boardwalk which is probably where the trail got its name!
Look closely for the “Jesus” Bird walking on water below:
The Gumbo Limbo Trail was also located here and is a short wooded trail through the Gumbo Limbo trees. Lots of really cool trees that you don’t see everywhere!
It was hard to drag me away from the Purple Gullinole birds but we had other parts of the Everglades to explore. Next stop was the Flamingo Visitor’s Center in the southern most part of the park off Main Park Road. Here we took an educational boat tour https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/flamingo-boat-tours.htm which I booked online in advance. I was concerned that it would be a bit of a snooze cruise and it was, however I was surprised at the beauty here! The water is so clear you can see to the bottom and the vegetation is so unique! We saw both Pond Cyprus and Bold Cyprus trees with intricate root systems which were pretty amazing! We even spotted a few crocodiles! Yes, I did say crocodiles! The Everglades has both alligators and crocodiles and is the only place in the world where both coexist. This is possible due to the mixture of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee and saltwater from the ocean.
On Main Park Road between the Flamingo Visitor’s Center and Royal Palm Visitor’s Center is something most unexpected! A Nike Missile Site! If you have the time, this is a great stop! It is open to visitors December through March. You can either visit on your own during the open house hours or do a ranger lead tour like we did. This is a free tour at 2pm daily and it is well worth it! You will get to visit the missile barns, the guard dog kennels, and an assembly building while listening to stories of the men who served there from 1964-1979.
Cesar and my Dad enjoyed lending a hand in opening one of the missile barns!
It was quite a beautiful day in the Everglades! On our way back to Homestead, FL we stopped at a uniquely famous fruit stand called Robert Is Here. They are known not only for their variety of unique fruit but also the eclectic atmosphere. There are fun signs, colorful displays and even a petting zoo out back. Don’t forget to try one of their fruit smoothies! We got sapodilla(pear & brown sugar) with coconut and banana along with some boiled peanuts to share.
Well, that was the end of our escapades in the Everglades! If you haven’t experienced the Everglades yet, I highly recommend it! Go in the winter!!! Please remember to visit responsibly and leave no trace!
