Everglades National Park: A beautiful, mysterious waterworld

March 23, 2010


Anhingas and flowering bromeliads in the Everglades, Florida
On telling friends that we were planning to visit Everglades National Park, my husband and I found that raised eyebrows and wrinkled noses were the most common responses. Why visit a bug-infested swamp, they asked.

We have a thing for national parks, though, and we were sure we’d find much beauty, strangeness, and perhaps even a thrill of danger in the Everglades. As it turned out, we were right.

We arrived in the Everglades in late afternoon, and after a quick look at the very nice Ernest Coe Visitor Center (which was about to close), we headed for Anhinga Trail, the “Disney World of the Everglades,” according to one park ranger, because of the abundance of wildlife often spotted there.

The Everglades is not really a swamp but a broad, slow-moving river, which meanders through sawgrass plains and around hardwood hammocks before finding its way to the mangrove-lined estuaries and, from there, the Atlantic Ocean.

It was beautiful in the evening light, with a few raindrops splattering and thunderheads rumbling in the distance. Although it did rain a little and water was everywhere, March is still part of the dry season in the Everglades, when pesky insects are fewer, temperatures are cooler, and fewer water sources drive predators and prey into close proximity in the remaining ponds and tributaries.

The biggest and most well-known predator is the American alligator, and the Everglades are rife with these large reptiles.

Alligators don’t seem to worry anyone in Florida too much, however, and with minimal signage about them the Everglades’ hiking trails are a mixture of ground-level paths and wooden boardwalks that elevate you above the water and marshy ground. The boardwalks offer excellent viewing places for alligator and bird activity.

Another view

Bromeliads, called air plants, live non-parasitically on all kinds of trees in the Everglades.

The Anhinga Trail is named for this diving water bird, which impales small fish on its long, sharp beak and returns to the surface to flip the fish into the air and into its mouth. After hunting, an anhinga spreads its wings in order to dry them.

At dusk, the anhingas and other birds like egrets and herons began congregating in treetops to roost for the night. This anhinga had already tucked its head into its back feathers.

It seemed odd to see webbed feet made for swimming gripping onto a tree branch. It roosts in the trees for good reason.

In the water below, the alligator waits for whatever might come its way: birds, fish, frogs, and small mammals, or even larger prey like deer.

As I said, there were a lot of gators.

We saw this big boy, at least 8 feet long, under the boardwalk, thrashing a decomposing bird, presumably to soften it up a little more.

The next day we drove to the Flamingo Visitor Center, which is as far as you can drive into the Everglades on the south side. We’d planned to rent a couple of canoes and paddle a canoe trail, but winds were high and we were advised that canoeing would be difficult. Instead we walked the park’s other short trails…

…spotting this strangler fig along the way…

…and took a mid-morning boat tour with a rather cranky naturalist, who nonetheless was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the ecosystem of the ‘Glades. We set out through the brackish mangrove canals, which act as nurseries for marine wildlife like shrimp and fish.
Our guide explained that when people came to develop Florida, they viewed the mangroves as worthless trash trees and methodically destroyed them. Eventually they discovered that without the mangroves to protect marine hatcheries, fish and shrimp populations plummeted, affecting the fishing industry. So now mangroves are appreciated for their unique role in the ecosystem.

Among the abundant wildlife living in the mangrove estuaries, we were thrilled to spot three manatees munching on algae. We also saw several bottlenose dolphins racing our boat, but they were too fast to capture on camera.

We had our eye out for crocodiles, which co-exist with alligators in the brackish water of the lower Everglades, but we only saw gators. This one lounged on a sandy bank just below a bike path that ran along the canal. Don’t stop to change a flat here!

Later, on one of the boardwalk trails, we spotted a barred owl, an owlet actually—one of two we’d heard were nesting there. (The bird-watching opportunities in the Everglades and southern Florida must be incredible. Later that week, as we left the Keys, we even saw a pair of bald eagles atop a light pole.)

But most people, including us, wanted to see alligators—lots of them.

The Everglades did not disappoint.

Along roads, along trails, in ponds at the visitors centers—wherever you looked you saw wild gators lounging in the water or sunning themselves on banks.

They are such prehistoric looking creatures, and pretty creepy. But how amazing to see them in the wild in such numbers.

I leave you with an image of “the river of grass,” as the Everglades is known. It is surely one of the most unusual of our many national parks, and well worth a visit to see a delicate and unique ecosystem at work.
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

0 responses to “Everglades National Park: A beautiful, mysterious waterworld”

  1. Town Mouse says:

    Amazing! That sounds like a wonderful visit, thanks so much for sharing.

  2. Katina says:

    Wow, Awesome pictures.

  3. “raised eyebrows and wrinkled noses”? Really? Well hopefully they will get a chance to look at this post and will realize they were wrong. Beautiful pictures! What a fun outting…your kids must have just loved all the creatures.
    BTW I had to take another look at your Naples BG post, just so amazing. I am dreaming of white mulch and tropical colors!
    Well, visiting a wetland is not everyone’s cup of tea, I suppose. But one can get a good taste of the Everglades in one day (since much of the park is inaccessible except by canoe), and I’m really glad we made time for a visit during our romp through Florida. —Pam

  4. As many times as I’ve been to Florida, I have yet to visit the Everglades. Doesn’t look like a ‘swamp’, at all. Great photos. Especially, the Anhinga. I’ve never seen one up close.
    BTW…after many ‘Eagle sighting’ tours, the first one I ever saw in the wild, was soaring overhead, when I was floating in a pool in Florida. You just don’t expect to see them there.
    Thanks….
    Your bald eagle sighting sounds magical. How neat. —Pam

  5. Beautiful… and I agree that the alligators are very beautiful, and prehistoric-looking. But my favorite is the little owlet. So cute!
    Were you not worried at all, with all of those big gators around?
    A little, Kim. But we were mainly on boardwalks. I was getting a little nervous about the canoe trail we were planning to do until the wind took that option out of contention. I admit to being a little relieved. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be that close to a gator on its own turf, especially having the kids with us. —Pam

  6. Gail says:

    It is a beautiful area Pam and one I’ve wanted to visit for quite awhile…I got to take an airboat ride a dozen years back and we were able to get up close and personal with the gators…Not sure that is allowed anymore! You are creating wonderful memories for your entire family….and fantastic photos to remind you! gail
    Airboats are not allowed in the park itself now, Gail. But you can still ride them just outside the park boundaries. If we’d had more time we might have done so. —Pam

  7. Meredith says:

    Great shots, Pam. My favorite is the overhead head shot of the alligator that’s waiting with eyes closed and snout exposed. You sure got to see so many amazing animals!
    We did indeed. The Everglades proved to be quite a good national park for animal sightings, with Yellowstone still number one in my book. —Pam

  8. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    Did you hear any gators doing their mating call? It might be a little too late to hear them. They make an amazingly loud roar and shiver in the water. It is a spectacular display. I love the Everglades. It is buggy but my, didn’t you feel like you were in another world? You were. I have been there a couple of times. I never tire of it. I love the way you captured the bromeliads with the anhinga. Actually all of your photos are marvelous.
    Thank you, Lisa. No, we didn’t hear any gators roar. We thought we did but then learned it was only frogs. We took a nighttime hike on Anhinga Trail with a ranger who told us that the roar of an alligator is unmistakable; once you hear it, you’ll know it’s a gator. —Pam

  9. Les says:

    I really like the first shot and the one of the pickerel weed (I think) in the water. I have seen my share of alligators, but I am so envious that you got to see manatees, after walrus, my favorite sea mammal.
    Thanks, Les. I was beside myself to see the manatees and felt very fortunate. I don’t know if I’ve ever thought what my favorite sea mammal is. Your comment makes me wonder whether you’ve ever seen a walrus in the wild? That would entail quite a long journey, I suppose. —Pam

  10. You got some great shots. I loved the anhingas in mating plumage at the beginning, and the alligator head from straight down, particularly. And the owlet!!!
    I used to go to Anhinga Trail before dawn a couple of times a month in winter to watch the birds wake up. Every visit was unique, and wonderful. Rarities were the norm.

  11. Jayne says:

    I’ve been to Florida a number of times but have never explored the Everglades. Thanks for allowing me to see it through the lens of your camera. Great post!

  12. Lola says:

    There is a world of difference living in Fl. Things are so much different than any other place. Yeah, lots of gators here. They were near extinction at one time but they have made a come back.
    A logging firm pulled a 10 footer from the St Johns River the other day. His presence was a threat to them & their job.

  13. chuck b. says:

    Loving the beautiful color palette…
    You saw all those gators and you still wanted to go canoeing with your family?? I guess that’s your Texas showing! I’m not sure I’d even go on those boardwalks with them crawling underneath. I remember in New Orleans being a little disturbed by all the decapitated and dried alligator heads for sale in every tchotke shop. Made me want to root for the alligator.

  14. Chandra says:

    Wonderful photos and captions! I almost feel like I’m there! Thanks so muchfor sharing!!

  15. Bob Pool says:

    You did a great job of capturing the majesty of the Everglades. The photos were top notch but I kept thinking about the bass fishing possibilities. I’m giving a seminar on fly fishing for bass in a couple of weeks and it’s all I’m thinking about right now.

  16. Lisa says:

    splendid photos!

  17. Wow, these photographs are amazing. I love the picture of the owl, bird and alligators. Although I have never been to this national park, you certainly have peaked my interest.