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I forgot to mention yesterday that I took the road through the Everglades that goes from the east side of the Park to the Flamingo Visitor Center at the southwest corner. Today I checked out of my hotel in Florida City and drove to Naples on the 41, which goes across the north side of the Park. Along the way, I stopped at the Shark Valley Visitor Center and the Gulf Coast Visitor Center. Look! A gator!!
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At Shark Valley (named after the sharks that spawn in the bay into which this part of the Everglades drains) I took a tram tour that goes 10 miles to an observation tower and back, seeing lots of wildlife along the way. Can you see the doe and the fawn in this picture?
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All around us were thunderclouds on the horizon and you could see the rain falling in the distance.
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This area was open and there was a good breeze, so hardly any mosquitoes - much more pleasant!! After cruising for over an hour, stopping for the park ranger to point out wildlife, we got to the concrete observation tower, and walked up the circular ramp to the top.
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The park ranger said she didn't care if it started to rain and we got wet, but if we saw lightning we were to immediatedly head back to the tram. After we had been at the top for just the right amount of time we saw lightning in the distance. OK. Time to go. We wound our way back to the Visitor Center and the rain didn't start to fall until we were done. It seems I've had such luck with the weather so far. The rain must fall, but it seems to wait until it's convenient for me.
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The view from the top of the observation tower. Afterwards, I drove on to the Everglades Gulf Coast Visitor Center near Everglades City, and took a late afternoon boat cruise out to the Ten Thousand Islands area. Sorry, no pictures, but it was just a pleasant boat ride. Saw some dolphins but no manatees. Drove on to Naples, had a great dinner and stayed at one of the nicest and (believe it or not) cheapest motel rooms of the whole trip. It must be off-season!
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