David was suppose to work today, but all his afternoon telecons were canceled in the morning, so once he cleaned out his email, we decided to do an exploratory trip into Everglades NP. Our first stop was for some good Mexican food at Rosita’s for lunch. We then drove to the Everglades NP eastern visitor center. We explored the exhibits, collected our 70thpassport stamp, and strolled through the store (they did not have any Everglades hats or cups!), but we skipped the movie for now so we could drive to the Flamingo visitor center before it closed. We talked with the Ranger about possible hiking opportunities. There are not a lot of hiking trails in the park. Several short boardwalk interpretive trails in the different ecological zones in the park and one hiking trail. But we warned the mosquitoes could be fierce. She also pointed out a pond where there was a “feeding frenzy” going on due to fish being pushed into the pond by a storm and trapped by the outflow. As we drove the 38 miles to Flamingo Visitor center, we noted the signs announcing the highest points on the road above sea level, 3-4 feet! We arrived at the pond the ranger told us about and found quite a few egret around the edges but there did not seem to be a lot of action going on. By the time we got to the Flamingo visitor center it had closed for the day. So we wandered over to the marina and check out the store there for hats, and came up empty again. As we wandered through the marina we saw several manatee surface to breath, but the water was so dirty we could not see their bodies. We also found an Osprey nest with two chicks and a mother and father. With the sun heading down, we headed back toward the Wanderer. On a whim, David pulled into a side road to another pond and found a HUGE gator sunning itself on the beach. It was amazing how big that sucker was! The people standing around getting too close for our tastes. So in a short visit we clicked off most of the wildlife we were out to see.
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| Entrance Sign |
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| Great Egrets |
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| Wood Stork |
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| Osprey nest |
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| Massive Gator |
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| Look at those Jaws!! |
That gator is terrifying!!
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