Everglades and Okeechobee

We left Homestead under pleasant temperatures this morning and headed down to the Everglades.  We saw more signs telling us that panthers crossed the road in the vicinity we were riding, so we kept a look out for them.  We never did see a real one, but got some pictures of one at the Visitors Center.

We saw lots of big turtles with a shell that looked like half a basketball sitting on their back.  We haven't had time to look them up to see what they are called.   There were all kinds of birds (lots of egrets), but the largest population and the largest birds, it seemed to us, were the vultures!  When we drove up to Royal Palm, the vultures were so bad, that all vehicles had to be covered with tarps provided by the Park.  If not covered, the vultures would destroy any rubber on a vehicle, such as the wiper blades and window seals, etc.

When we stopped to explore the Royal Palm area just 4 miles from the entrance, we took the Anhinga Trail and hiked 0.8 mile out into the water on wooden sidewalks made for observing wildlife.  On one of the trails, we happened upon a pile of alligators!  I mean a pile! There were 25-30 gators all piled up on the ground just below us, just lazing around.  We got pictures!

This big guy was just laying right by the walking path!

When we finished that hike, we cooled down a bit with some water, and then took on the Gumbo Limbo Trail which was 0.4 mile through a tropical hardwood hammock that had been partially destroyed by hurricane Andrew.  The canopy was destroyed at that time and is slowly growing back.  The growth is very dense with undergrowth and trees that are filled with orchids and air plants. We left after taking off and folding up the tarps and headed out.

We headed on out to Flamingo, which is at the very end of Everglades National Park, for lunch at a little restaurant there. There were quite a few fishermen there either launching or taking out their boats at the marina.

After lunch we started back out of the park. We hadn't gone 100 yards when a hawk sitting on the side of the road decided to take off but he didn't get off the ground in time & we hit him! No damage to us or the bike, but I can't say that for the hawk. LOL At that time of day, there were mirages on the road and one of the mirages turned out to be a big old alligator!  His front legs and head were all the way into our lane of traffic, as he was headed for the opposite side of the road. (That brings up a question "Why did the alligator cross the road? LOL) By the time we realized exactly what the big boy was, he had turned and started back to where he came from.  We did get a picture, but only after he had turned and started back.

We are spending the night in Okeechobee.  We hope to post pics tomorrow.  Meanwhile, nighty night.