EVERGLADES (Day 6)

We drove to Biscayne National Park, but our scheduled glass-bottom boat reef trip had been cancelled due to the cloudy, windy weather. The water was so black and choppy that we also decided against renting a canoe to see the mangroves.

We decided to go back to the Everglades, but this time to the far end of it. The rain came down in buckets! We waited out the weather a bit in a local restaurant in Flamingo, then went for a short stroll. along the Eco Pond Trail. There were several alligators loitering about the fresh water lake but fortunately we were protected by a fence.

In the afternoon we took a boat ride through the mangroves to Coot Bay. We actually got to see some crocodiles, who prefer this saltier area due to the nearness of the sea in this part of the park. The Everglades are the second largest mangrove preserve in the world. There are red, white and black mangroves in the park. While Coot Bay looked very large, we were informed it's no deeper than 4 - 5 feet.

We then took a stroll on the nearby Guy Bradley Trail. This took us along Florida Bay, mangrove beaches and many large vultures (both Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures)!

We thought we’d do a bit of an adventure with the Christian Point Trail. It seemed harmless at first, but very quickly it was a very thick jungle with no real path and we were promptly attacked by zillions of tiny black mosquitoes. The jungle parted and we found ourselves in an open patch of grassland. Eventually the woods closed back in again, and spiderwebs (and their owners) crossed the path every which way. Eventually the humidity and the multitude of biting insects caused us to turn back.

We wandered around Eco Pond and then the nearby campgrounds for a bit as the sun got lower. The trees were heavily laden with White Ibises and Great Egrets while bright pink Roseate Spoonbills filled the skies overhead.

We began the drive back to our motel at dusk.

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