BAD TRAVELS

Did some relatively “rustic” camping at the Flamingo campground in the Everglades for a week. Rustic meaning no on site electric. water or sewer hookup but there was a central water hookup where you could fill your tanks and a central dump within in the park. They had restrooms with showers but NO hot water....only a refreshingly cold way to get clean (no thanks!) But the price was right, only $16/night.

Had propane for heat (which we needed the first couple of nights) and to keep the fridge cold and the water hot when we needed it for a shower (so glad we have the bigger trailer with an actual bathroom). Used our solar panel to keep the batteries charged enough to give us some light at night and to run the water pump in the trailer.

There were quite a few other campers using solar panels which was good to see but the majority used generators....and some were really, obnoxiously loud. We began to tell the time by lack of generator noise. Rule was they could only be run from 8am to 8pm and the park volunteers enforced it...YAY! It was so peaceful early in the am and later at night....it was only then that you could actually hear nature in the park which is what we wanted to experience.

Like I said it was cold when we first got there...freezing cold. Driving thru the farms in Homestead to get to the Everglades we saw first hand how much damage the frost did to the bean and squash crops. Some fields so damaged they just had to be plowed under. Sad.

It hadn’t even crossed our minds about the damage the cold would do to the wildlife but we saw that evidence soon enough. First trail we went on, we noticed all kinds of dead fish on the bottom of the pond. Didn’t make the connection to the weather until someone we were talking to explained that it was all the non-native, exotic species that were dying. They’re much more sensitive to the cold and even a park plaque about the fish explained that periodic freezes were a good thing to control their numbers. But it’s a domino effect, less fish means the birds have less to eat so I sure hope there’s enough fish left to support them.

A few days later, the marina there was littered with big dead fish...and they’re native Snook and Tarpon. Apparently even the native fish who couldn’t find warmer water to tough it out in, died. Sad, gross and let’s face it stinky!!! Luckily the park is home to lots of black vultures and boy are they going to get fat cleaning up the mess.

The Everglades overall is pretty flat and wet but there are pockets of higher elevation called hammocks that support bigger trees like palms and even mahogany. You’ll see all the different landscapes in the pictures.

We managed to experience the environment there from just about all angles.

Went on a ranger led canoe trip that was supposed to take 5 hours but with the wind at our back on the return trip, it only took us 3 1/2 hours. Fastest time the ranger said she’d ever done the trip in. It was a lot of fun and it was FREE! Amazing! Space on these excursions is limited and normally you have to book them at least 3-4 weeks in advance. But we booked it the day before and I think we have the cold weather to thank for the low interest. We went out on a perfect day though, sunny and it got really warm!

Walked and biked around quite a bit but the most interesting biking we did was on the Prairie coastal trail which is 15 miles round trip to a beach. The day we picked to do it was warm and muggy with the chance of thunderstorms. Started out easily enough but then hit some muddy sections and then, when it started to rain, what was rideable, became slick and impossible to navigate on bike...so we pushed bikes through wet, sticky, mud. Then to top it off, just before you get to the beach, you have to slog through a mini lake in really squishy stuff, up to your knees. We got that far so we decided to step on through it....nasty! Beach was a disappointment, you’ll see how “beautiful” it was in the pics. The big dead fish everywhere added the perfect touch! The return 7.5 miles was the worst. Had to keep stopping to get the mud and crap out of the bikes and then with no where to wipe your hands but on yourself, got filthy. Got even muddier trying to keep the bastard mosquitos off! Happy to see the end of that trail and to get clean.

Very glad that we went to the Everglades but a week was more than enough. It actually got boring. It’s soooo flat and on land, there’s really not much to see once you’ve hit all the must see places.

There were two things that we did not get to see, the first is the elusive panther....there were “Panther Crossing” signs all over the place, but none to be seen (by us anyway). The second was the Burmese Python. There was a picture of one eating an egret in the visitor center that had been taken, recently, just outside on the lawn of the visitor center. We spoke to the ranger that had taken the photograph and he said that they estimate that since they have been introduced to southern Florida, just a few short years ago, the population has grown to over 18000. He figured a lot were around the 16 ft mark and that there were likely 18 footers out there.  They grow much larger than that in Burma, but because they have only been around for a few years, they have not had the time to get bigger yet. He also mentioned that there were a “lot” of them in the park....maybe just as well we didn’t see any ;-)

I think you need to be an avid paddler (canoe or Kayak) or have your own boat to get out in to keep things interesting. Plus there’s no place/beach to swim. 

But check out the ALBUM...you’ll be amazed at the gator pics...even now when I look back on them they don’t even look real!

Next stop, the Keys!