 |
| The roots of the trees in the Hammocks breaks down the limestone creating a deeper "moat" around the island. |
The Everglades are an endless, varying landscape of water
and land, swamp and hardwood forest, shoreline and mangrove islands in Florida
Bay.
Lovely and lonely, the Everglades
are an environmental conundrum.
100
years ago people started “draining the swamp” to create agricultural land and to
develop places for people to live.
They
diverted life-giving water that had flowed to the Everglades from Lake
Okeechobee, not understanding the environmental importance of the area.
In 1947 the Everglades were
made into a National Park, and efforts continue today to protect this unique
and valuable resource from encroachment and poisoning by agriculture and development.
 |
| Our campsite |
We stayed at the campground at Flamingo, 38 miles from the
park entrance, along the beautiful Florida Bay coast.
Each campsite has electricity, and there is a central tap to visit when
you need to take more water into your holding tanks. While we were there, the campground went from
being somewhat full to practically empty.
Just a few weeks before, every site had been full. That is the transition from “winter” to “summer”
here.
 |
| Florida Bay with mangrove keys |
 |
| Mangrove |
Florida Bay is dotted with large and small mangrove
islands or keys.
We were able to go kayaking there
on Tuesday.
We scooted in and out of tiny
keys created by the roots of mangrove plants.
Eventually we arrived at a larger key, which we kayaked around.
At one point, all we could see was the Gulf
of Mexico.
So exciting!
The water was very calm, and the sky sunny
and dotted with shade providing fluffy clouds.
 |
| Watta View! |
 |
| Russ |
We had been told by a Park Ranger about a back country kayak
trail that we decided not to take, because April is the start of mating season
for the alligators.
We were told that we
might encounter “hissing” alligators on the paddle.
We had a good laugh later when we saw a new sign at
the Marina store warning paddlers to avoid the alligators on that particular kayak trail, as they had recently gotten quite territorial.
Along the landward side of the coastline are areas of Coastal Prairie. During hurricanes, limey mud called marl from the bottom of Florida Bay and salt water may be moved miles up onto the land, killing off Mangrove trees and creating a salty, dry habitat suitable only for specialized plants. Very interesting! We had an area of Coastal Prairie near to our campground.
 |
| Coastal Prairie |
 |
| Dana taking the picture of the Coastal Prairie |
As we left on Wednesday, we stopped at some of the hikes
along the road through the park.
We had
rain, so some of these photos are a bit dark and damp looking.
 |
| Hammock rising out of the swamp |
 |
| Dense vegetation in the hammock |
The Mahogany Hammock is a densely forested island of
hardwood trees set in the middle of the sea of grass.
Hammock comes from the Seminole Indian word
for “shaded place”, and this hammock is certainly shaded.
In fact, it was pouring rain in the parking
lot, and barely sprinkling inside the hammock.
Among the trees, venerable mahoganies.
 |
| Mahogany tree |
Pa-Hay-Okee means “grassy waters”, again from the language of
the Seminole. You can get an impressive
view, at an overlook by that name, of the vast grassy waters that we think of as
the Everglades. “Domes” of cypress
trees and hardwood hammocks dot the horizon of this saw grass prairie.
 |
| Miles and miles of saw grass and water |
Over the time of our visit, we ran into quite a few visitors from other countries (including
a French family who were charmed by Dana’s efforts to speak with them), because
the Everglades are unique and marvelous and people travel long distances to visit it.
The Everglades should be on every American’s bucket
list, they are (after all) located on our own continent. They are a study in contrast - fragile and immense.
To visit them is to appreciate what America once was, and the responsibility we have to protect these special places.
 |
| Delicate flowers in this harsh landscape |
 |
| The Buttonwood canal connects Flamingo with interior bodies of water for boaters |
No comments:
Post a Comment