Headin’ to the ‘Glades
My family and I are planning a trip to Florida this summer and Everglades National Park is one place on the agenda. I’ve heard so much in the news about the suffering that this park has endured. I’ve also heard things that describe the park as nearly destroyed. A combination of chronic drought and overbuilding nearby have taken their toll. I am very interested to see first hand what the Everglades still are and what might have been lost.
Any suggestions from our readers? What should I expect? Any particular points of interest?
I most certainly will follow up in a few months with my review. Swamp lovers beware.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
EVER is not the greatest place to visit in the summer. It is hot, muggy, anad most of the wildlife (i.e. alligators) and birds will be widely distributed over the entire 1.5 million acres. This is the wet season and it will (hopefully) rain 60″ betwee mid May and Mmid Sept. As the dry-down starts in Sept, the fish, and thus the birds and alligators follow the water and the fish, to the point that the best wildlife viewing in the park is from about christmas to mid March. If it was a ddry summer, early march is a better bet. Right now, today (4/11) I will see 30 to 80 alligators at Royal Palm but only a few Anhingas and cormorants. All of the eggrets and most of the herons have moved north. there are, however rosette spoonbills nesting as are the wood storks.
June 10th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Thanks for the good facts. And, despite it being less than optimal, the timing is due to the dictates of school-year scheduling. It sounds like we may still glimpse a few of the sights Evergaldes offers but we have lowered our expectations accordingly. Although it may offend some, we are planning an airboat ride just outside the Loxahatchee area. I know there are controversies about the degree to which these trips are harmful to the ecosystem but I am assured we will be traveling on well-blazed trails which should minimize damages to some degree.
To make things interesting perhaps we’ll do one of those bug spray experiments where we leave a patch untreated and count the bites.
Standby for my post-visit review, hopefully with a decent picture or two.
Dale