Florida Everglades in Southern Florida
Everglades
National Park, a World Heritage Site, encompasses the largest designated
wilderness east of the Rocky Mountains. This subtropical preserve,
comprised of both temperate and tropical plants, includes sawgrass
prairies, mangrove and cypress swamps, pinelands and hardwood stands. It
is also known for its marine and estuary environments, with its rich bird
life, numerous manatees and noteworthy existence of alligators and
crocodiles living side by side, the only place in the world where this
takes place.
As you approach the park via 'Alligator Alley', you immediately begin to
get the sense of history here. It is easy to visualize the indigenous
Indians plying the waterways in their hand-hewn canoes, the early morning
sun beating on their bare backs. Here there are no peaks, no mountains
and no hills to shelter you - it is just swampland and grasses as far as
the eye can see.
Driving through the lush, flat countryside you will notice the alligators
- penned off by high fences - sunning themselves along the banks of the
river and lurking in the waters, their eyes peering out at you from their
otherwise submerged world, the only hint of their existence being the
slight ripple caused by the blink of their eyes or the swish of their
tails. What strikes you most about these massive prehistoric beasts,
covered in brackish mud, is not only their age and size, but also their
numbers - they seem to be everywhere!
Dotted along this emerald-green wonderland of backwater swamps and
mangrove forests is the evidence of the rich bird life, particularly the
large wading birds such as the roseate spoonbill, wood stork, great blue
heron and many types of egrets - their white, delicate frames a startling
burst of color among the otherwise brown and green backdrop surrounded
by seemingly endless vibrant blue skies.
