Way Down South

We arrived at Flamingo Campground, located at the southern tip of Florida’s mainland.  It is remote – no Wi-Fi, no cell service, TV limited to two Spanish speaking channels!  In addition to this, all of the vegetation is unrecognizable to me!  It appears, we won’t be watching TV or be on our phones, so I’ll have plenty of time to get familiar with this new landscape!  The campground itself is fantastic!  I had pictured heavy brush covering the campground, allowing plenty of hiding places for all things scary.  That picture was quickly erased and replaced with sites that are spacious, cleared of shrubs yet dotted with beautiful shade trees.  The campground is well maintained with electricity at many of the campsites.  I’m completely relieved and ready to go exploring!

 

Our first full day here we rode our bikes to the marina to see manatees and crocodiles!  We also discovered Wi-Fi is available at the visitor center allowing us to download email and text messages.  We took a “Back Country” boat tour from the marina and saw “Freddy”, a 13-foot crocodile along with several smaller crocks.  Several manatees crossed our path on the canal and the birds were fantastic (ospreys, anhingas, snowy herons, great blue herons, and several others).  I’m starting to get acquainted with some of the vegetation (mangrove trees, air plants, mahogany trees, manchineel trees (equipped with poisonous sap).  In fact, the sap is so toxic that if a drop falls on you after a rain, it will burn your skin.  Its nickname is “Death Apple”.  

Snake Bight trail is only seven miles from the campground, so that was one day's destination.  We had a head wind going out, which made the ride back easy sailing!  The hiking trail was 1.5-miles to Snake Bight which is in Florida Bay.  Along the way we saw so many birds and bird watchers!  We saw a yellow crowned night heron, a roseate spoonbill, white herons, white pelicans, and many more! (I only know the names of the birds due to the generosity of the bird watchers we met along the way!)  We stopped at several other points of interest along the way, including Coot Bay Pond and Mrazek Pond.  We had been told “there is nothing to do” in the Everglades; however, I strongly disagree!  

Another day, we ventured to Royal Palm Visitor Center where there were a couple of trails.  The Gumbo-Limbo trail took us through a jungle-like ecosystem.  We saw zebra striped butterflies, 

strangling figs and, of course, Gumbo-Limbo trees!  I still can’t recognize most of the vegetation, but maybe by the time we leave, I’ll have learned a few!  The other trail was the Anhinga Trail which is a boardwalk where we saw an amazing number of anhingas along with great blue herons, Ibises, and turtles.  Alligators are also present; however, they were all hiding from us! Olivia, a park ranger, gave a very informative talk where we learned more about the wild life, history of the park, and environmental challenges the park is currently facing.  Olivia was extremely positive and was encouraging that the park would endure the challenges and overcome them!

Nearby, we hiked a short section of the Long Pine Key Nature Trail; however, we quickly ran into mud and decided to turn around.  

 

Who knew there was a Nike Missile Site located inside the Everglades?  The park offers a guided tour each afternoon which we were able to get tickets for.  It was pretty crazy to see the site.  The most dramatic moment was when they rolled back the doors and exposed a (disarmed) missile.  The Cuban Missile Crisis was certainly a scary period of time.   Leon, our guide, certainly knew the history surrounding this crisis.  He made it very real and personal.

 

One last trail we took for the day was the Pinelands trail.  It was a 0.4 mile-long trail which allowed us to experience the tall pines mixed in with all of the Palmettos.  Scattered along the trail were solution holes which were created from the acidic nature of the decaying vegetation eating away the limestone.  

The day ended by enjoying a beverage with a couple we met from the St. Paul area.  Again, what a small world we live in!  It’s so nice to be able to sit outdoors visiting with new friends and feel safe from the Covid virus.  

 

Another day we went for an airboat ride!  We found one located only a few miles outside of the park entrance.  The boat ride was fairly short (20 minutes) but super fun!  The driver put the boat into several 360 degree spins which was a thrill (yes, I did get wet)!

Back in Everglades National Park, we took in a few of the sights.  We stopped at Mahogany Hammock Trail where we saw the oldest mahogany tree in the US.  The area was heavily logged back in the day and this particular hammock was hidden and managed to miss the logger’s eye. 

We also hiked the portion of West Lake Trail that remains.  Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Irma have done a number on the park over the years.  Evidence of their destructive nature can be found throughout the park.  At Flamingo Campground, the lodge and visitor center are currently under reconstruction from the blow of all three of these hurricanes.  Irma was the final straw that made the park rethink their reconstruction plan.  All construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of summer (time will tell!).

We also stopped at Paurotis Pond and Pa-hay-okee Overlook.  Dragon flies, coots, black headed vultures, tri-colored herons, 10-foot frond ferns, sawgrass, and periphyton algae added to these stops!

 

Sunday morning, we walked down to Florida Bay just in time to see the sun peeking up from the horizon.  It was a spectacular sunrise and inspired me to get my bottom out of bed early a bit more often.  I’ve been missing out on the most beautiful time of the day!  Frankie, who knows our routine even better than we do, was pleasantly surprised by an early morning walk.  I’m sure she would accept this as our regular routine!

The park offered an interdenominational service at the amphitheater, also located right on the shoreline of Florida Bay.  It was refreshing to gather in such a beautiful location, sing songs of praise, and hear an inspirational message on how the small things one does can affect others in a big way. 

Canoes and kayaks can be rented at the marina, so we took advantage of the opportunity and kayaked down Buttonwood Canal.  We were able to watch a couple of manatees feeding on the algae of mangrove roots (very cool!), a couple of baby crocodiles, a couple of large crocodiles (pretty sure one was Freddy, as he was HUGE), and lots of birds.  My body is more accustomed to biking and hiking than it is to kayaking.  I was able to tell the next morning that I had used a different set of muscles! 

Our last day in the park coincided with a morning thunderstorm.  This gave us some motivation to get some of our outdoor gear packed up before the rain started!  By late morning, the storm was past us.  We were able to get Frankie out for a long walk before taking in the last couple of hikes near Flamingo. Today’s trails were the Bear Lake Trail (where we saw a racer snake and several herons) and the Eco Trail.  Most trails in the park range from ½ mile to 1 mile.  Most of the longer trails remain closed due to hurricane damage. 

In the morning, we are headed to St.Petersburg.  We really had hesitated to visit Everglades National Park.  I was certain we would be eaten alive by mosquitoes (if not alligators, crocodiles or some scary snake!).  I had brought along sewing projects, several books to read, RV maintenance ideas, etc. to do as I was convinced I would be hunkered inside the RV trying to stay alive.  What ridiculousness!  I didn’t get a single one of those things done and had a TON of fun exploring this part of Everglades.  I’m only disappointed that we didn’t have a chance to explore more of the park.  I guess it is best to leave while still longing for more.   Everglades National Park, I’ll be back!  Please don’t take that as a Terminator type of threat, but rather a hope for a chance to explore some of the northern regions of the Everglades!