everglades – Workplace Navigator

I have visited Southern Florida several times. My son attended the University of Miami and then lived in Miami for about eight years. I just returned from five weeks on the road in my RV, Abeona. I wanted to check off the three National Parks in Florida and the historic town of St. Augustine. I found SoFlo to be a totally different vibe from other areas of Florida and certainly from North Carolina where I normally live. There is a Latin, family welcoming vibe and most people assume that you can speak Spanish which I have never found before in the United States.

Flying over the vast expanse of Dry Tortugas National Park

Here is what I found surprising in SoFlo:

Farms. I always realized that a lot of citrus is grown in Florida but south of Miami in the towns of Homestead and Florida City, there are miles and miles of farms. And what seems like hundreds of fruit stands. Two famous one’s which are not to be missed is one called, Robert is Here and Knaus Berry Farm. One is very different from the other. Robert is Here is a few miles from the entrance to Everglades National Park and is part fruit stand, food stand, milk shake stand and aviary. There is a small farm and aviary with everything from Goats to Cockatiels. They have tons of fruits you will only find in the Caribbean and South America like Mamey Sapote, Sapodilla, Cocao Pods, and Guanabana. They make the most delicious milkshakes I’ve ever had (I highly recommend coconut key lime). Knaus Berry Farm is in Homestead and they sell a terrific selection of baked goods in addition to being a farm stand. The sticky buns are sold by the dozen and they are delectable. I’d like to thank my friend Sue (who lives in SoFlo) for recommending both places. Both are worth the journey to get to.

Animals. The array of animals that happily exists in the wild is pretty amazing. If you have ever been to Key West then you know that Roosters are ubiquitous. You can’t turn a corner downtown without seeing Roosters, Hens and chicks walking aimlessly. I was taken aback by the amount of Anhinga that were on the appropriately named Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park. I could have stood two feet from one and it wouldn’t budge from sunning itself. Manatees, Ospreys, Crocodiles, Green Herons, Great Blue Herons, Egrets, Night Herons and Alligators. They are all there coexisting in the vast region of wetlands that is south of Tamiami Trail. As I drove to Naples from Flamingo on Tamiami Trail, I stopped at several state and national preserves and saw upwards of 30 alligators hanging out sunning themselves. I was practically desensitized to being afraid of them because they were so plentiful but languid.

Spanish. I went to a restaurant with my friend Sue and practically everyone that greeted us from the restaurant staff greeted us in Spanish. If you answer in English, they respond in Spanish. It was wild. The real test for me was going to a grocery store before heading to Key West. Both associates and customers were speaking Spanish throughout the store. I asked someone in the produce department for “Mushrooms” and he said “Don’t speakee English”. So, I asked for “Hongos” and he immediately took me to where the mushrooms were stored and he asked me how to say it in English. This was so wild for me. I think there were places in Spain that spoke more English than this enormous grocery store in Homestead. I had an issue checking out and the customers behind me were asking “Que pasa?” which I responded to in Spanish. If you have ever tried to speak another language, most folks default to speaking English. I really enjoyed immersing myself back into Spanish. It was an unexpected delight.

Water. There are vast expanses of water everywhere. Even if it looks like solid ground, it’s most likely a swamp. It’s humbling to drive Route 1 all the way down to Key West. It’s almost a hundred miles from Key Largo to Key West down the only connecting road, Route 1 or Overseas Highway. It’s called Overseas for the reason most of the time all you can see on either side of the road is water. Crystal clear water dotted with tiny keys covered in mangroves or grass. It’s quite the adventure. Then there is the massive Biscayne Bay which is mostly National Park and water. Within the Everglades there is another gigantic body of water called Whitewater Bay. I realize there have been jokes about buying swamp land in Florida but there is a ton of it. It’s important to get out on it or over it by boat or seaplane or kayak. There is so much to explore.

I admit that my expectations for SoFlo have mostly been driving around Miami and enjoying the restaurants, the beaches and the murals of the Wynwood Art District. There is so much more there than giant mojitos in South Beach and trending murals. There is a ton of nature and culture to be explored. I hope you get a chance to do so.

I headed to southern Florida to visit the three National Parks that make up most of the southern tip. After experiencing the Biscayne and Dry Tortugas National Parks, I finally arrived in my RV at Everglades National Park. I don’t camp that frequently in National Parks because most are so remote that connectivity is rare and I am unable to work. I was able to schedule my visit on the weekend, when connectivity is not an issue. I have previously been to the Everglades because it’s 1.5 million acres but I have never been “into” the National Park. I had a terrific airboat ride 5 years ago with my family in the Everglades that was absolutely magical. Those airboat rides are along the Tamiami Trail which is the northern border of the park. For the first time, I actually entered Everglades National Park and enjoyed the unparalleled landscape that 1.5 million acres of water and wetlands provide.

Planning is critical for any visit to Florida in March. I had to book the campsite 6 months earlier so that I could be assured of making the rest of my plans. So, if it ends up raining or it’s super-hot, so be it. I also secured a Back Country Boat Tour that was operated close to my campsite in Flamingo. Flamingo itself is on the very tip of Florida and some 50 miles from the park entrance. I learned this while visiting Big Bend National Park in Texas. It could take an hour or more to get from the entrance of the park to wherever you want to end up. Flamingo has a visitor center, marina, a restaurant, some lodging and a campground. So, once you get down there, there are some amenities although you can’t take a hot shower in the campground (yikes).

An Anhinga drying it’s wings on the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades

Based on my previous visit on the airboat ride, I expected the whole park to be wet grasslands. That is completely untrue. The southern end of the park near Flamingo is mostly water and mangroves of all varieties. I was really glad I had booked a boat ride that had a naturalist to explain all the flora and fauna in the area. There were about fifteen of us on the pontoon boat as we glided through the waterways of the park.

We encountered a very large Osprey nest that had two active parents and two chicks that were starting to fledge. Apparently, it’s unusual to have two chicks survive so watching the two chicks and mother all in the nest with the father guarding from afar was pretty amazing. Osprey mate for life and these two had been coming back here for years.

As we headed down a canal, we were constantly stopping the boat to observe Tricolor, Green Herons and Yellow Crowned Night Herons as we passed by. The driver would stop and back up so that we could all observe the birds. Green Herons and Yellow Crowned Night Herons are much more elusive and almost immediately go hide in the brush. The Tricolor Heron, on the other hand, frequently stay in the spotlight by flying ahead of the boat, stopping and then chasing us again. It was remarkable.

By far the most elusive animals are American Crocodiles and Manatees. We had a woman on the boat spot a Crocodile. I have no idea how she spotted it but sure enough we backed up and there it was hanging below the surface with just it’s eyes and snout pointing out of the water. We were able to see a Manatee when we returned to the marina and it was in between the docks. They can take a breath and go under for an extended period of time.

It wasn’t until the end of the trip when I was connected to wifi again, that I saw how far we traveled on the boat tour. We had traveled from Florida Bay to Coot Bay and onto Whitewater Bay. Whitewater Bay is an enormous body of water and one of the few places in the world where both alligators and crocodiles live. Crocodiles need salty or at least brackish water to live. It’s hard to express how large a body of water it is. There are warnings not to kayak it without a guide since there is a monotony of mangroves ( and they all look the same).

My only hike in the park was on Anhinga Trail which is close to the main entrance. I must have seen 30 or more Anhinga while hiking the boardwalk high above the swamp below. Anhingas are impressive because they open their wings like a bat and hang just about everywhere. It’s intimidating to walk by but they don’t move. There were Great Blue Herons, Green Herons and Purple Gallinules as well. It’s a bit creepy as I walked across the boardwalk because I could hear splashes of water below. I had no idea if it was a fish swimming in shallow water or an alligator grabbing lunch.

I was really glad I ventured into the depths of Everglades National Park; it was dramatically different than an airboat ride gliding across wetlands but just as interesting and special. It’s reassuring to see so much wetland protected and the preservation of habitat for endangered species like the manatee, American crocodile and Florida panther. I hope this spurs you to venture out yourself.