The Everglades present an endless watery vista

We were miles from the Shark Valley Visitors Center, deep into the Everglades National Park, when our guide Don pulled the van over to hand out head-to-toe mosquito gear complete with boots and mesh to cover our faces. 
 
“Do we really need this?” we protested. And, “Where the heck are you taking us?” 
 
But as we gingerly trudged through the opaque water, grabbing onto vines to steady ourselves on the soft mucky bottom, we understood. We were surrounded by buzzing, flying, swarming, swimming, blooming life everywhere. And an endless watery vista. 
 
It seemed incomprehensible that we were less than an hour drive from the Miami airport. The vastness of the wilderness is astounding. Its 1.5 million acres is the only subtropical national park in North America and home to 300 species of fish, about 360 bird species and 700 kinds of plants. It’s the only place where alligators and crocodiles coexist. Panthers roam wild; manatees lumber beneath the surface. But despite its verdant appearance, the Everglades are under siege. Thirty-six endangered or threatened species precariously make it their home. Efforts to control the flow of water to benefit crop production have had devastating effects on the fragile ecosystem. Invasive plants and animal species have overrun native populations. Burmese pythons, probably discarded as unwanted pets, have
proliferated and wiped out almost all of the rabbit and raccoon populations. The state sponsors a yearly competition (win a truck) where trappers have caught snakes up to 120 pounds and 17 feet long. Thankfully we didn’t see any pythons, just one alligator, a shark and many birds. 
 
Oddly, the biggest wildlife hazard we faced was from vultures that attack cars in the parking lots and peck off the rubber on the windshield wipers so the van had to be covered with a tarp when we went kayaking. Don knew the science of everything we saw and expertly described their habitats and the threats they faced.  
 
There are many ways to experience the park including a variety of boat tours, a tram tour, self-guided bike rides and the all-day tour we took through Garl’s Coastal Kayaking (garlscoastalkayaking.com). We enjoyed the variety of experiences our tour offered, especially a sunset paddle on Florida Bay. 
 
There is camping available in the park and hotels nearby but we stayed 10 miles away at Hoosville Hostel (hoosvillehostel.com). At the communal “make your own pancakes” breakfast, we met some interesting characters. John Maggard and his dog walked for six months from Oklahoma to the Florida Keys because “There is no reason why. I just did it.” A visitor from Holland, one of several European guests, described his life as a marijuana farmer. Everyone had a story to tell and a reason why they’d been compelled to come witness the magnificence of this profound struggle between nature’s divine creation and the folly of man. 
 
For more information about Everglades National Park, visit nps.gov/ever/index.htm.

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