|
|
|
|
Yesterday (Sunday) after checking out of my room, I went back out to the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor for the morning. Then had lunch and drove out, back up the Keys. I feel like I'm turning around, heading north - and west - and heading home to LA. Spent the night again in Florida City to base my exploration of the Everglades.
|
|
|
As the Park Service's orientation films say, there's no environment like this anywhere else on earth. The Everglades is not a swamp - it's a river that is 70 miles wide and a few inches deep. I was really amazed by how clear the water was - like a swimming pool. The bottom is not mud, it's limestone rock- covered by a thin layer of algae...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, I think that if you're a good mosquito you go here when you die - mosquito heaven! Insect repellant has no effect on you here! Lots of juicy tourists! I stopped at this lake and there was a nice breeze here which kept the little buggers off me long enough to enjoy the view!
|
|
|
The Everglades are like a perfectly flat limestone table. Where there are high spots, different types of plants take root, which collect more material and slowly build up soil. These are called hammocks. (A Native American word meaning "place of rest" - hence the rope hammocks we take naps in...?)
|
|
|
|
|
|
They're like islands in a sea of grass. The Park Service has boardwalks that go out to this hammock, for example. You can see how tropical this looks!
|
|
|
Check out the bromeliads on this baby!! Not only is Spanish Moss all over the place, but many other "air plants" as well. When I had no more blood left to contribute to the local fauna (how did we wind up on the BOTTOM of the food chain?!), I headed back to the hotel, a nice Italian restaurant (chicken cacciatore), shower and bed!!
|
|
