Gators galore!

Monday, Feb. 27, 2012 MIAMI, FL – Despite the address of the Miami Everglades Campground, our home tonight and for the next two nights, we haven’t had a glimpse of anything citified anywhere near here. In any case, we have traversed the southern tip of Florida through some amazing swamps, and are fairly close to Miami now. On our route south from Fort Myers today, we chose to remain on Highway 41 instead of the faster, parallel Interstate 75, to see a bit of Naples on the way. What we saw confirmed its reputation as a city for wealthy people. We passed mall after mall of high-end stores, plus car dealerships selling Jaguars and Porsches. Fancy condos with tiled roofs, Spanish archways and columns and well-groomed grounds whizzed past. Even the boulevards along the 41 displayed stately Royal palms and colourful flowerbeds. Then the highway veered in an easterly direction and we left civilization behind. We passed the airboat facility we’d visited last week, and traveled in a fairly straight line through “rivers of grass” as early settlers called the wetlands of southern Florida. On our left was a waterway, about ten feet wide, with mangroves and reeds on the far side, and the road’s shoulder, complete with a metal barrier, on our side. At one point, I thought I might have seen an alligator, but we passed quickly, so maybe it was just a shred of tire thrown into the bush. A few yards on, I saw another grey shape with a similar tire-tread appearance. The third time I saw something, it was clearly and unmistakably an alligator! Then I was confident the other two sightings were also alligators, just lounging on the bank in the warm sun. I was galvanized. Mile after mile, I kept looking to the left, searching among the reeds and grasses for more of these amazing creatures. In addition, there were dozens of water birds as well, herons, egrets and ibis, cormorants and vultures. At one point we saw a black cluster of vultures, on the right shoulder, and when we passed we saw they were feasting on an alligator’s carcass. Guess the critter forgot about looking both ways before crossing. Just as lunchtime approached, we came upon the Big Cypress National Preserve visitor centre, with a boardwalk full of people looking over the side at something. After we got parked, I went over to see, and there were at least six alligators below the boardwalk, basking in the mud, oblivious to their admirers. The water practically boiled with small fish, so nabbing a snack would be a cinch if the gators felt like it. Inside the visitor centre, we learned about the preserve and the neighbouring Everglades, and watched a video about all the creatures that call this place their home. The ranger there questioned recent reports that 98 per cent of small animals like rabbits and racoons had been wiped out by invading Burmese pythons. She didn’t think it was that bad, but she acknowledged that the effect of encroaching cities is being felt. We continued on our way, with more gator sightings (we stopped counting at 20). The mysterious and rare Ghost Orchid eluded us, but we did see hundreds of bromeliads, green tufts sprouting on their host plants with bright red flowers peeking out like bottle brushes. It was wonderful to be in nature again, and amazing to see the teeming life among the rivers of grass.