OUR NEXT ADVENTURE
  • Home
  • Blog
  • RV Parks we have visited
  • Map of our travels
    • About >
      • Contact
  • Statistics
the Honeymoon continues...

Our Blog of our activities as we travel...

A pretty sunrise then visiting Shark Valley

3/3/2022

0 Comments

 
This morning we got up early for our scheduled tram ride.

​We were rewarded with a very pretty sunrise.
Picture
Our scheduled time was at 9am but we were told to be there at 8:30am. It was at least a 30-minute drive to the center. We arrived on time, but the gate was closed and did not open until 8:30am sharp. Seems 8am was not when the park opens despite how logical that would be.  We did have a nice conversation with some tourist from England.
Picture
Shark Valley is part of the Everglades National Park. The name came from Ponce de Leon who found many bull sharks at the end of a river. He named it Shark River. Well that river starts way up here, so someone thought hey this should be named Shark River but since it is hard to see the river how about Valley. Yep, the name was just for marketing.
Soon our tram tour started. The tram takes a meandering path to the observation tower and then a straight line back. The straight road was put in by an oil company exploring the area to no success. As a result, they tried to recover money spent on the land but finally gave up and donated it to the government for tax write offs. That is how we got a lot of the land that we now call the Everglades. I have no problem with tax write offs if they save nature.  I'm even ok with a company buying land just to get the write off if that land should be protected.
Picture
WOW!  It is hard to imagine just how HUGE the park is.
Of course, Gators. Lots and lots more alligators. Love is in the air gator style.

This is a mated pair. The smaller is the female. Once successful they will separate, and she will make a nest to lay her eggs and watch over the babies for the next 3 years. He will just wonder off to try to find another female. 
We got a few pictures of a mom and babies. She was about 5 feet off the road.
We did see several single gators. One that was may have just been runoff by mom.
And a crocodile! This is our first crocodile in the wild.

The rangers do not know how this crocodile got this far away from the normal area that Florida Crocodiles are found. All others are at the very farthest southern point of the Everglades. They have determined that it is female and has not mated for several years. She does not tolerate attention from alligators even though some will try.

​She was right next to the road.
At the furthest point on the road is the observation tower.  It is the sister to the tower at Clingmans dome in Great Smoky National Park. It was designed by the same man.  The tower gives a view from 70 feet above the Everglades.
Roads and other dry areas in the Everglades are taken from borrow pits or ditches. Soil is only a few inches deep and from there down for a great distance is limestone. Of course, any hole dug in here fills in with water quickly. In these pictures, you can see limestone.
 We did come across birds, turtles and fish. The big bird seems to be a stork.
More birds.
Turtles.
We did take a short hike. The Bobcat Boardwalk trail starts a short walk down the tram road, walk on a boardwalk.  This is where we got better pictures of the mother gator and her babies.
Many places there is a strange kind of material floating. These algae are called periphyton and is critical for the Everglades. It gives shade and hiding placed for tiny fish, frogs, and turtles from birds. Water is cleaned by it. In dry periods, it holds moisture for extended periods of time which protects plants and some eggs for fish and other animals. It is strange looking. At first glance, it looks like some sort of pollution.
This trail is supposed to have snails, but we only saw a few of them.
Picture
 Flowers and a couple of moth and butterflies.
We enjoyed the tram ride and the boardwalk.  After leaving the visitor center, we decided to drive the loop road.  That will be in the next post.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    We are a couple who have started on a new adventure...

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • RV Parks we have visited
  • Map of our travels
    • About >
      • Contact
  • Statistics