March 14…. More lizards

This time we’re in south Florida. I’ve always wanted to take an airboat ride through the Everglades, so here we are!

But no.

South Florida is having a severe drought and that includes the Glades, so our boat ride was cancelled at the last minute. Oddly enough, airboats still need “some” water to do what they do. 🫤

We toured Everglades National Park today instead.

You could definitely see how dry it is here. The mud flats are all cracked in the sun and the mats of algae are dry and crunchy. We walked several trails, through a mangrove forest and then a hardwood hammock, saw a lot of tropical plants and birds, but all kinda meh. I was starting to think the place was a bust, but then we found the old US Army Nike missile base. Used in the Cold War, the Nike missile was there to shoot down any aircraft or ICBM approaching the US. The base was active up through the 70’s.

After driving around the base, we turned into the last visitor center at the Royal Palms area of the park. Out back we found what we came for! The stereotypical Everglades swamp. Acres of ponds and lily pads winding their way around and off into the distance.

I hadn’t walked a hundred feet and found my first gator.

Not so big… only a ten footer. 😳

As I walked the path, winding around the ponds, sometimes on the ground and sometimes on a boardwalk above the water, it quickly became clear this was the Home of The Lizards. Gators were all over the place!

Big ones, little ones, babies, ugly ones and cuties. Dozens of them. Swimming or floating or laying in the sun. Everywhere I turned, there was another one.

In between going up the path and coming back, one of them crawled up the bank and decided to lay right next to the walkway. 🤪

I assumed I was safe as long as that guard rail was there. They know not to cross the railing, right? Right??!?

So Everglades National Park. Not a bust. Saw the gators and the birds and the largest mahogany tree in North America. And even got a tshirt.

Stay tuned, tomorrow’s post is gonna be a doozie. 😁