Flamingo Visitor Center Everglades National Park



America's Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.

The Everglades span over 1.5 million acres.

There are a lot of walkways that let you get up close and personal with nature.

Even if it is a grasshopper.

Alligators everywhere.  I think we will stay on the walkway.

Doug gets his picture with the waiting vultures.

Home of the Nike missile site.  Tours are offered December to April.

It's slow traveling for this Everglades creature.

You never know just what you might see in the Everglades.

Remains of the Flamingo Visitor center after two hurricanes came through the area.

Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma hit The Flamingo Visitor Center in 2005.

The walkways go from wooded areas to

waterways filled with alligators.

Which way do we go?

Let's see?  Did they run into any bugs on the way down here that we can eat?

Big hill coming up!

Overview of the road cutting across the Everglades.

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To be continued...

Gator Park, Shark Valley, Everglades National Park

Our first stop today was at Gator Park for an airboat ride through Everglades National Park.

We were early-birds today, arriving before the first boat had departed.

Early departures usually see more wildlife.

As we left the dock, everyone was searching for gators.

And we found them in the water.

We found them in the grass.

Another airboat prepares to pass us going in the opposite direction.

After the airboat ride, guests were treated to a wildlife show featuring snakes, scorpions and a little alligator wrestling.

Marlon has the knack for captaining a boat...

as a resident chicken looks on.

Next we officially entered Everglades National Park for a tram tour through Shark Valley.

Sawgrass is a unique type of grass with very sharp edges (like a saw) which can be felt when running your hand up the stalk. In the Everglades, it is a favorite food of the white tailed deer.

The sawgrass marshes of Everglades National Park will be flooded during the wet season and will be covered with brownish green algae mats, called periphyton, which will float on the water surface.

We didn't find any sharks in Shark Valley, but we did find a bunch of baby alligators just off the tram path.

Another type of habitat in Everglades National Park are these high, dry tree islands known as hammocks.

Hammocks are often surrounded by moats formed when acids from decaying plants dissolved away the limestone. These moats provide the hammock a fire barrier.

We ventured into this hammock and found the temperature inside the hammock much more pleasant than the temperature outside the hammock. With the park currently in a drought, the dreaded mosquitoes were virtually non-existent.

Happy tram tourists continue through Shark Valley.

At the mid-point of our tour, we arrived at the 50 foot-high Shark Valley Observation Tower.

Expansive views of the Everglades, alligators, turtles and birds awaited us all at the top of the tower.

We were lucky enough to meet a couple of new friends visiting the States from Israel.

Here's a video of our tours today.

On our way home, we could see a large fire which had started nearby the previous day.

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To be continued...

State Parks Around Homestead Florida

Today we headed out to get some more Florida State Park stamps.

About 20 miles south of Homestead on US-1 we visited John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park near Key Largo.

The Park's Visitor Center has its own 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium with park rangers feeding the fish daily at 11:00 am.

Glass-bottom boat tours, snorkeling and scuba-diving are all options at the park.

The iguana population of Southern Florida is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands.

At nearby Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, we took a brief stroll and found the mosquito population to be in the hundreds of thousands today.

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To be continued...

Miami, Florida

Today we spent the afternoon in Miami's South Beach.

We had a great Happy Hour bargain. Here's Marlon with his $19 drink. But it WAS BOGO. What a buy! NOT!

Then Doug's wallet was stolen.

For a few more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Fruit & Spice Park, Homestead, Florida

Today we headed to Homestead's 37-acre Fruit & Spice Park. This Miami-Dade County Park is a one-of-a-kind park featuring over 500 varieties of fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs and nuts.

Visitors will learn the most about the park and its plants by taking the 90-minute tram tour included in the $8 admission price.

Before beginning the tour, the guide will familiarize guests with a wide variety of the herbs and spices grown throughout the park.

The green stuff is lemongrass, popular in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. The flower held here is edible, but not tasty.

The jackfruit is the 2nd largest tree-born fruit and can weigh as much as 80 pounds.

Visitors to the park are invited to pick up and eat any fruit which has fallen to the ground. This fallen fruit has reached the peak of ripeness. One word of warning: do not pick the fruit from the trees and do not eat anything until you are positive what it is.

The park's rare tropical climate allows it to grow over 70 varieties of bananas.

That is one good banana.

That is one pretty blossom.

Several varieties of freshly cut fruit grown in the park are available to sample for free in the gift shop daily.

Today's samples included mango, custard apple and chocolate sapote, which tastes just like chocolate pudding - NOT!

After the tram tour, visitors can walk through the rest of the property's gardens seeking out whatever fruit or spice they are interested in.

Two tips for visiting the Fruit & Spice Park: 1) take bowl, knife, fork and wet naps 2) BOGO with online Entertainment coupon.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...