We decided to go back up into the Everglades via the southern entrance, partly to make sure that Neil had his fan boat experience. We had breakfast at the hotel. The day before there was a guest having breakfast who actually asked the maid to turn the sound up on the TV. The maids here all seem to be Caribbean. Anyway, the breakfast was nice, with fresh fruit and yogurt and little helpings of key lime tartlets hard boiled eggs and pastry, coffee, juices, and cereal.
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| Air Boat |
We headed up Highway 1, but they were working on the road and had northbound traffic diverted up through the highway that runs to northern Key Largo. It was fun to go that way. We went across a scary bridge. There were a lot of people fishing along the way. We drove out the highway about two miles past the entrance road to the Everglades to the Everglades Alligator farm. We walked around, viewed the alligator growing pens, and saw some crocodiles, snakes, and other animals and then saw the alligator feeding demonstration and then went on the fan boat ride, which was super super fun. We rode in the front seat with some little girls. It was funny because there were wild alligators right outside the pens with the alligators on the farm. We saw some iguanas in the trees. The ride was so great. It was like flying right over the water. We got wet, especially when the captain did doughnuts. It was really pretty and warm. It lasted about 20 minutes. When we got back, I saw a wild iguana on the bathroom roof.
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| Sampling a new fruit |
We stopped at a big fruit stand/ farmers market very similar to Avila Barn, with animals in the back, called Roberts. We got some snacks and tries a sample of Pitaya "dragon fruit". It was OK, but not that flavorful...maybe it wasn't ripe. Then we drove out to the park. There was a men's prison right in this area, with housing right next door. After we went into the park, we took a walk down the Anhinga Trail, which was a boardwalk over and through some ponds and grasslands. It was beautiful. We saw Anhinga swimming for the first time, that was interesting. We saw more alligators, swimming and sunning, and a turtle and trees with lots of epiphytes. There were a number of people walking around but it wasn't crowded at all. Again, many foreigners.
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| Alligator at Anhinga Trail |
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| Flatland |
We drove further out the road to where it ended, 35 miles in all, at Flamingo. We stopped at one more little walk that put you on a high observation point. Looking North, it was just endless sawgrass and very beautiful. We saw a lot of crows by the side of the road eating, and on the road, they would just barely get out of the way. We did not see any cars for most of the entire drive out to Flamingo, but there were quite a few cars there at the marina and visitor center. People were just returning from fishing trips and the last boat tour was leaving. It was around 4:30. We were attacked by mosquitoes and put on some insect repellent. We walked around and looked for crocodiles and manatees, but didn't see any. There was an Osprey nest on the visitor center tower. We drove back through the park, again not seeing many people at all, just birds including some hawks.
We then drove back to the hotel, this time in a little bit of daylight that was left. We ate at the restaurant/ bar next to the hotel, Snappers. There were a ton of people there. It was good. We had a Wahoo appetizer, with a spicy sauce made of carrots. I had grilled mahi and Neil had shrimp. We walked around the grounds of the hotel and sat in the hammocks and then in chairs at the end of the property looking at the water through some mangrove trees.
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