Everglades, Florida 12/23/2012 -- 1/1/2013 [Florida Gallery] [Back to Photo Page] [Slide Show]

The Everglades is a flat and swampy place in a low land of Florida.  Several times in the past million years, the Florida peninsula has been submerged in and then resurrected from the sea.  No park elevation tops eight feet above sea level.  The heart of this unusual land, the Everglades, is the great "river of grass," the largest saw-grass marsh in the world, a hundred miles of gently flowing water that varies up to about fifty miles in width and harbors a vast community of living things.  The only source of water in this subtropical region is the rain that falls on it, mostly between May and October, which is followed by a six-month dry season.  Everglades is a story of life in balance.  Life is adapted to alternating wet and dry seasons, thrives between floods and droughts.

[Miami, 12/24--12/25] [Everglades, 12/26--12/28] [Disney World, 12/29--1/1]

Day 3 (12/26) ...

• Everglades National Park ...

  • Anhinga Trail, Royal Palm
    At Royal Pam, the Anhinga Trail, a 1/2-mile loop trail, offers one of the best opportunities to view wildlife, including alligators and birds, up close. Iris was so busy taking pictures that she almost stepped on the tail of an alligator lying beside the trail.
    

• Eco Pond
  After a quick lunch at Flamingo, we took a short loop trail around the Eco Pond.
  

• Pa-hay-okee Overlook
  At Pa-hay-okee, a 1/4-mile boardwalk leads to an observation tower offering a panoramic view of the River of Grass.

• Monkey Jungle ...

On the route from Flamingo (south) to Everglades (north, where we will stay for the next 2 days), we stopped by Monkey Jungle, which is a zoological park still owned by the 3rd generation family.  Its advertisement, "Where Humans Are Caged and Monkeys Run Wild," may not be true for all types of monkeys and cages, but its special "Rainforest Adventure" definitely offers plenty of opportunities to feed and interact with a lot of monkeys (Squirrel Monkey and Black-Capped Capuchins).  With virtually unlimited supply of monkey food/snack, we were surrounded by monkeys all the time during the 40-min tour.

 

 

 

 

• Big Cypress / Everglades City
  

  We continued to drive to Everglades City in the late afternoon with a short stop at the Oasis visitor center in Big Cypress National Preserve.  We took a short walk on the boardwalk where it leads to the river with many active alligators.  I booked a package "Everglades Adventure" from the Ivey House, which included an airboat and swamp buggy ride, a visit to a small local zoo (all the above were at Wooten's in Ochopee), a full-afternoon guided kayak tour into the heart of Everglades, and 2 nights' lodging plus lunch boxes on both days for each person.

Day 4 (12/27) ...

• Airboat & Swamp buggy  
  The airboat ride was a fast-pace and exciting way to see Everglades (or it's actually within Big Cypress National Preserve boundary).  The thrill of the ride was probably more than the enjoyment of nature though.  Nonetheless, it was still a fun 30-min ride with plenty of new things to experience.
  

• Kayak
  The highlight of our Everglades trip was definitely this kayaking experience.  There were total 12 people in the group (including the guide).  Iris and I were in the same kayak, and Woanyu volunteered to share the kayak with the guide (so she did not need to paddle to hard), and therefore only Linus paddled by himself.  We were taken to the Turner River Canoe Trail, where you can experience both the freshwater cypress ecosystem in addition to the area where the Everglades transitions from fresh to saltwater … the mangrove tunnels.  We went through calm lakes covered by bladderwort and sawgrass, dark water with cypress forests, and narrow waterways hidden by mangroves. 
  

• Sunset
  

After getting back from kayaking, we went directly to Chokoloskee for sunset.  Of course only I got off the car to catch the last light of the day.  The rest of them were staying in the car taking a break.

Day 5 (12/28) ...

• Sunrise
   

            On our way to the Shark valley along the Tamiami Trail, we passed by the smallest post office in the US.

• Shark Valley
  Shark Valley lies in the heart of the "True Everglades," or river of grass, that stretches 100 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico. Wildlife abounds here where animals share a freshwater ecosystem of sawgrass marsh and tree islands.  The 15 mile paved road (only shared with Tram, pedestrians, and alligators) gives easy access to any type of bicycle, with no hills to climb or rough terrain to traverse. It was a perfect chance for Linus and Iris to practice and master their bicycle skills, which they have not done for quite a few years.
  

        After a full-morning bike exercise with great views and delicious sandwich lunch boxes, we started to drive back to Orlando to Disney World for a totally different vacation style.

[Miami, 12/24--12/25] [Everglades, 12/26--12/28] [Disney World, 12/29--1/1]

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