Whenever we are in FL (usually visiting my mom and uncles in Boca Raton) Alex and I try to spend one day at the Everglades National Park. Mostly we visit the Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trails at Royal Palms near the Homestead entrance (where the main visitor center is located). There are usually a lot of alligators there in the dry winter season. Once we drove all the way south to the Flamingo Marina area on the edge of the Gulf of MEXICO and saw manatees and a crocodile. Alex really appreciates that every year we drive the one to two hours each way to see the REAL Everglades NP and not just an airboat ride in western Fort Lauderdale or a touristy “Seminole” village with alligator “wrestling”! I am amazed at how few people we know have gone to the Everglades NP despite their many visits to Miami or Fort Lauderdale. It is as amazing a NP as Yellowstone or Yosemite. There are always lots of tourists there with European accents, they appreciate nature more than typical Americans.
A great book about the Everglades in 1900 in the 1000 islands is:
This year we returned to Shark Valley to do the 15 mile bike ride there (our 4th time I believe) as we hadn’t done it in a few years.
There is a paved path for the touristy open tram buses that most people choose. They get a nice narrated tour by a ranger and stop to get photos of animals (from the comfort of their seats).
We prefer the bike option as we get to spend as much time as we want watching wildlife and getting photos. It is totally flat so even on the heavy single-gear rental bikes it is not that challenging a ride unless very hot.
It got close to 80 by 11am but it was partially cloudy so rarely did we bake in the tropical sun for too long. The wind picked up from the north as the day went on so we had a lot in our faces on the second half of the loop.
We left my mom’s at around 6am and even with a stop at a post office and Starbucks we were lined up at the gate with a few other cars at 8:15, they open at 8:30. It is a much shorter drive from Miami if u r ever there.
You can now reserve a bike rental on -line but it is only necessary on weekends or holiday weeks.
The bikes were very comfy with their upright seated geometry. We had baskets to carry our lunch and water and I wore a backpack also. There is no water available on the pathway so we brought a lot.
I got this cool shirt on a previous visit. Alex was disappointed they don’t sell them anymore … I’ll probably just give them mine … 😉 They take good care of my vintage T-shirts (like my 1994 L.A. marathon one!)
People always ask “where are the sharks?” 🦈 to the rangers.
We headed out on our bikes at 9am sharp and once out of the parking area we saw almost no people on the whole 1st half of our ride. A few people passed us on their own bikes (going fast and NOT stopping to see every bird or reptile), for locals it is a nice car free 15 mile route.
We saw a few nice birds right away.
And then our first gators….
In past years many gators were in the grass right on the edge of the road and their tails often on the bike path (like in the tram photo). This year they were all in the water or a few feet off the path. The water was lower than usual so they had more space on edge of the canals, swamps. One year after heavy rains, water actually went across the path in places (but only an inch or two deep).
They are very docile and used to people, bikes and trams. You are supposed to stay 15 feet from wildlife in the NP but as the bike path was only 10 feet wide …? If u get too close to one for a photo they hiss to warn u away!
🐊 language tips …. 🙂
The chance of being attacked by an alligator on dry land is almost zero.
Alex told me this joke when I said that one nice wide area of the canal looked perfect for swimming laps.
“How do u know if there is an alligator in a body of water in Florida?”
“If the water is wet!” 🥁 🥁 😂
And I am ALWAYS careful … 😉
We saw a lot more turtles than on any previous visit and more varieties.
We saw several of the soft shelled variety swimming but they were all just below the surface and I couldn’t get any great photos. Here is a stock one.
We could see them well with our polarized sunglasses but I forgot to bring the special lens for my iPhone camera.
It had been very foggy on our drive down (burning off just as we arrived) which left dew on the huge spiderwebs.
With the sun shining we could see hundreds stretching into the distance.
Having been at the “bug” zoo the day before at Butterfly World we kept our distance ….
Alex said this was their favorite gator as she was sleeping 🙂 (photo by Alex).
We saw a lot more birds, the only one I didn’t get a good photo of was a big hawk who flew off with a critter two crows were dining on.
Great short video of a heron dining on sushi!
We saw a lot more gators on the first half of the ride (several dozen) and after a while we didn’t stop riding unless they were very close to the path or special (like the babies).
Babies!
The newborns have bright stripes and peep like chicks but the ones we saw this year were older. Some were already on their own and a few near mama still. The mom keeps an eye on them for almost a year and by then they are big enough to not have many predators. Of course the invasive pythons can eat even big gators, deer, etc.
As we got close to the turnaround tower we saw a couple on bikes talking to a ranger and saw a big “gator” on the edge of the road.
She was actually a big old crocodile (one of only 2 living at Shark Valley). Notice how her teeth are outside her mouth, the “crocodile smile”.
Crocs are more aggressive (especially the saltwater Australian ones).
We stopped for lunch after climbing the observation tower.
Great views and some nice information.
After a nice lunch in the shade we walked a short distance down a trail where we had once seen a gator lying right in the center and had to turn back.
For the ride back we only stopped a few times for the most interesting stuff.
Riding back with the vast grasslands in all directions always makes me feel like I am in Africa and it would not seem strange to see a giraffe or elephant in the distance. But luckily no lions dashing out after us! They have panthers in the Everglades (same really as cougars or mountain lions) but they are nocturnal.
15 miles in 4 hours did not set any speed records but we are avid photographers and took a long lunch break and short hike as well.
A totally perfect day!!!!
Garmin has auto pause … so 2 hours of actual pedaling.
As I doubt I’ll post anything else of our week in Florida here are some more nature photos from our week in Boca Raton.
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