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Where it's At
No trip to Florida could be complete without a trip to the
Everglades National Park, the last great wilderness
in the eastern half of the United States. It used to be home
to the Seminole Indians who now inhabit Big Cypress
Reservation in the northern wet prairies, who in many
ways buffer and manage the overall park. There are 38 miles
of track to hike and the endangered swamp is really a huge
river, measuring around 50 miles wide by 100 miles long, which
flows gently downhill from Lake Okeechobee into Florida
Bay in the south. |
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What to Bring
The Everglades National Park is a swamp so take dry footwear
with you to change into for the evenings, a tent to sleep
in if camping, and plenty of insect repellent as mosquitoes
are abundant. If you don't fancy walking take a bike - a lot
of the trails are suitable for biking.
When to Go
December to mid-January is the peak tourist season.
To avoid the crowds as much as possible aim to visit the park
in the dry season between mid-January and mid-April. Once
the rainy season sets in you'll be hard pressed to see members
of any species. |
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Best Sights
- 700-year-old great cypresses that have been lucky to evade
the logging industry, gumbo limbo trees with their red peeling
bark, royal palms, snakes, herons, turtles, deer, dolphins
and air plants are among the many species of flora and fauna
that you'll spot whilst walking down one of the many tracks.
Tracks to try are the Anhinga Trail, Gumbo-Limbo Trail,
Otter Cave Hammock Trail, and the trails around Flamingo
where you can book into Flamingo Lodge - the only lodging
available within the park.
- For a guided safari experience try Billie
Swamps Safari, who offer tours of the 2,200 lush acres
of Big Cypress Reservation that are open to the public.
Here you can stay in a traditional Seminole Indian tiki
hut on the edge of the water and watch alligators slide
past your window. In the day, take guided rides out on exhilarating
airboats and swamp buggies into reservation wetlands, hardwood
hammocks and sloughs, where wildlife abounds. You may get
a sighting of deer, water buffalo, bison, wild hogs, hawks,
eagles and alligators are common. If you are very lucky you
may even spot a rare Florida panther.
- Make sure you visit the nearby Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum
whose contents preserves and interpret the customs and language
of the Seminole Indians, the only tribe in the Americans
never to be vanquished in battle.
Trekkers' Tips
Florida is the only place in the world where crocodiles and
alligators co-exist. The easiest way to tell them apart is
from their snouts. Alligators have u-shaped snouts
whereas crocodiles have v-shaped snouts. Crocodiles
have made a big comeback since 1975 when they joined the endangered
list; now researchers believe there are 500 to 800 thriving
in Florida. Cooling canals at the Turkey Point Nuclear
Plant near Miami have provided ideal croc nesting conditions
but they may be having a negative impact on the alligator
population. The American crocodile is meant to be a real sweetheart
as there has never been a human death attributed to a croc
in the whole of America.
A less visible resident of the Everglades, but one to watch
out for is the Florida Panther; there are thought to
be less than fifty still in existence. Bears, bob cats, snakes
and mosquitoes are among the less amiable species in the Everglades
but exercising caution and a strong insect repellent should
keep predators at bay. |
