21 May 2025, Everglades National Park, Florida
Everglades National Park, here we come. The park is only about an hour’s drive from Southern Comfort RV Park. We arrived at the Shark Valley Visitor Center in time to get our Passport Books stamped before our tram tour. At 9:00 AM, we boarded the Shark Valley Tram after a ranger orientation. The tram offers a guided, two-hour tour along a 15-mile loop trail through the "River of Grass." The tram was shaded, which made me happy.
It was the dry season, so there was not much water until we got to the observation tower. We would stop along the way to view alligators in what water was available. Our Ranger Guide informed us that the alligators will stay in the pipes that run under the road from side to side. The water is cool in the pipes. We also got to see baby alligators a few times. Halfway, we stopped at the observation tower that looks over the river that flows through this part of the park. This location is the heart of the Everglades. You take a walkway that wraps around to the top of the tower. The river was moving well. We saw a large turtle swimming below us, in addition to what looked like large bass and other fish, but I couldn’t tell what they were.
We wound our way down and headed back to the tram. On the way back to the visitor center, we saw more birds than on the other side, mainly Anhinga. I have photos below. There is more on this side of the park, along with flowers. Once back at the visitor center, we bought t-shirts in addition to a soft sweatshirt for me.
From here, we headed to another part of the park, Coopertown, to take an airboat tour. We paid for a private tour, so it was just the four of us. It took about thirty minutes, but we finally located some alligators. I don’t think the alligators we saw are as big as the ones we saw in Louisiana. The guide was not as informative as our guide in Louisiana, but we had a great time. We saw a Great Egret, and it took off flying when we came zooming by. Riding in the airboat was a lot of fun.
We had packed a lunch before we left and ate it before we headed back to our campground. What a fun day.
Shark Valley Tram Tour
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| On the tram |
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| The first alligator we saw |
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If you look closely, you can
see 3 baby alligators |
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See the egret and the alligator
ignoring each other |
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| On the way up to the observation tower |
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| The observation tower |
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| The walk up to the tower |
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| The tower is in the heart of the Everglades |
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View of the river below the tower.
See the turtle? |
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| A Anhinga blends in well |
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| Crimsoneyed Rosemallow |
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| This was a big guy |
Coopertown Airboat Tour
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| Loaded on the airboat and ready to rock and roll |
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| On our way out |
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You can see the tip of his tail sticking out.
This guy was about 6-7 feet long |
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| He's running from us |
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| An Egret flying away from us |
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| Very informative brochure pg. 1 |
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| pg. 2 |
Copyright © 2025 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.
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