I know I haven’t written much lately and frankly I have been toying with the idea of ending this blog, but since I can’t figure out how to save all of this information in a format I can access later for the time being at least I will continue to write when something of significance happens. In this case it was a long-anticipated visit to Everglades National Park.
Like almost anyone who has spent time in Florida I have driven through the park on numerous occasions, but I never really visited it if that makes sense, so I decided to incorporate a visit with my annual trip to Florida to see my Mom. Despite the size of the Everglades it’s not that easy to decide where you want to enter because there aren’t roads that cover the whole park.
After some research we decided to book a tour through a company called Captain Jack’s and I am really glad I did. We got the combination tour which not only included a boat ride through the islands of the Everglades but a really fun Airboat tour of some swamps. First we had to get there though and it was a pretty long drive to get to the town of Everglades City.
Everglades city has an interesting past, being the home to bootleggers during prohibition and drug runners in the 80’s. Eventually though the town became an Everglades tourism center and has a permanent population of 352 people. The K-12 school only has 80 students total and many of them come from the nearby Native American land. Learning about the history was very interesting, but the best part of the Airboat ride was when we went at high speeds and did some 360’s. That will get your blood pumping and despite my concerns I didnt get seasick at all. First time on an airboat was a blast and I highly recommend. WE even saw an alligator despite it being pretty chilly which was a nice bonus.
As much as I loved the airboat though, technically we weren’t in the National Forest for that part so I was excited about the boat tour. This guide was absolutely fantastic, and they spent a ton of time talking about the history and animals of the area. Plus the slower pace and warmer afternoon weather made for a very pleasant boat ride
What were my big takeaways? First of all, the only mammals on the sea islands are Saltwater racoons. They have adapted to live on minimal fresh water. We didn’t see any but we saw tons of birds including a nesting Osprey and pelicans that dove repeatedly right in front of us. They mentioned that the animals were very active because a cold snap was due the following day but whatever the reason we saw tons of birds along the way.
Most of the islands looked like this above and you would think it was boring but it really wasn’t. The tour guides were just great, and we learned about how Boa Constrictors have been taking over the interior Everglades and wiping out native species, but they haven’t gained a foothold in the islands. They also pointed to a far away high rise and talked about how you can boat to Miami from where we here or up to Naples. I didn’t really get how much of the Everglades was on the ocean I always thought of swamps and alligators, but it really is much more than that.
As we were heading back to dock we also had the most beautiful thing happen. Dolphins followed our boat and for a long time jumped and played in the boat wake. It was truly a beautiful moment and I was so glad I got to experience it.
The only downside to the trip was the VERY nice and new visitors center isn’t open yet. The park rangers do have a small portion of the Everglade City tourist center though, so I was able to get my magnet. As usual though National Parks never fail to impress, and I am so glad I did this one for real 🙂
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