Everglades National Park

Today was our first day in Florida and we spent it in Everglades National Park.  We got to the Shark Valley area around 11:00 am and the soonest tram tour we could get on was the noon tour.  While waiting for the tour to start, we did the quick .2 mile boardwalk loop near the Visitor Center.  When we first started out, we spotted several juvenile alligators.  Juveniles are about 3 or more years old and that's when the mother separates from them so that they don't eat her new hatchlings each year.  Fun fact that I learned today - the sex of alligators are determined by the temperature of the eggs while in the nest.  If the eggs are 90 degrees or warmer, they will be males.  If the eggs are less than 90 degrees, then they will be females.

Juvenile alligators

The Tram Tour is a two-hour tour that goes through a 15-mile loop through the Shark Valley area of the Everglades.  This tour was awesome!  It was a great introduction to the park, the ecosystem, and the abundant wildlife.  The Everglades isn't exactly what I would call a scenic park, unless you enjoy looking at sawgrass for miles, but what makes this park awesome are all the birds and gators!  I'm not even a bird person, but the birds here are much more interesting than what you can find in Maryland and we even had a few rare sightings today.

Sleepy gator

Great Blue Heron

I think this is a Tri-Colored Heron

Wood Stork - these were close to extinction in the early 2000's, but they've made a significant comeback.  They've been downgraded to a threatened species.

Rare sighting, because these guys are usually only seen at night (Black-Crowned Night Heron)

 

Anhinga

Super tiny baby gators - not pictured was the mother next to them

Another rare sighting - a Purple Gallinule - these are nicknamed the "Jewel of the Everglades."

Fresh kill!

After the tour, we drove to two other Visitor Centers in the park so we could get our stamps.  At the Flamingo Visitor Center, we stopped to walk around the marina where there usually are manatee sightings, however we were not so lucky.  I keep telling Steve I'm not leaving Florida until I see a manatee.  Hopefully we have some luck tomorrow while we are in Biscayne National Park.

We ended the night with dinner at Titanic Brewing.  Both the food and the beer were mediocre, with their Nut Brown being their best beer.

Titanic Brewing Company Sampler