The Everglades
When Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, most of the land was undeveloped. Water from Lake Okeechobee in the middle of Florida flowed freely across southern Florida as a very wide but shallow river, creating a ‘river of grass’ flowing south to Florida Bay. Now there is a huge levee round Lake Okeechobee, canals have been dug to drain the land and water is being piped to homes. As a result most of Florida is now dry land and only an area in the extreme south has escaped human intervention. Part of this undeveloped land was preserved in 1947 when the Everglades National Park was set up. More land to the north was added inn 1989 creating a park of nearly 6,200 square kilometres (2,400 square miles) in size.
Alligator in Lake, Anhinga Trail, Royal Palm
Visitors to the web site from the UK will be familiar with the ‘spot the ball’ competitions in British newspapers where you are invited to guess where the ball should be in a picture of a football (soccer) match. A major industry in Jen’s native North Wales is sheep farming and the local paper there used to run a ‘spot the dog’ competition using a picture of sheep being herded by an invisible dog. In the Everglades a ‘spot the alligator’ competition would be a good idea as when in water they blend in very well with the background. They often lie absolutely still on the bottom which makes them extremely difficult to see. The one in this picture should be rather easier to pick out as it is on the surface and has bright sunshine on its head and back.
Airboat & heron, Mikkosukee Reservation
Here we have strayed slightly out of area. Airboats are not allowed in wilderness areas of the National Park as they can damage the vegetation and wildlife, so we have crept just outside the park for a picture of the machine most associated with the area. Adjoining the park are several Indian reservations where taking tourists on airboat rides has become a way of making a living. The noise created by the airboats means that this is not a great way of seeing wildlife, but the sensation of floating across grass at speed is exhilarating. The destination of the trip is inevitably an ‘Indian Village’ on a hammock where you can buy souvenirs, but at least you have the trip back to look forward to.
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Baby Alligator
Even though the alligators can be difficult to spot under water you are bound to see them in the Everglades either on the surface or, like this young one, on land. While baby mammals are always look cute, baby alligators look just like miniature versions of the adults. As alligators don’t provide long term care for their offspring, they don’t need to trigger that ‘Ain’t he/she cute’ response in their parents.
Boardwalk to Mahogany Hammock
And this is what the Everglades is really about - flat land covered by a thin layer of water with grass and other vegetation growing through the water. When you look closely you find that the water teeming with small fish and other wildlife. The abundant life in the water supports a large population of birds. This huge area of flat land is punctuated with slightly elevated areas called Hammocks, and these dry areas have dense, jungle-like forests with tall trees, ferns and air plants. Click on Tab 2 for another view from the Mahogany Hammock boardwalk.
Flamingo Marina
Americans find Florida uncomfortably hot in summer so the season runs from November to April. Noel Coward sang ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun’ and since we were at the time living in England we observed the spirit of his song by going to the Everglades in May. Services for visitors to the Everglades National Park have been concentrated at a few locations leaving the rest of the Park wild. Flamingo, at the end of the Park road is one such location. As it was out of season the Visitor Center here was firmly closed and little was happening at the marina.
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© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
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