December 2018 - The Everglades

Our Florida road trip continued in the Everglades. Our first day in the Everglades was spent in the Shark Valley area. We rented bikes and did a great 15 mile bike ride that went alongside many alligators for the first 7 miles: more than 100 alligators! The second half had some great wading birds. Overall we found the Everglades to be very beautiful, albeit very different from our swampy expectation.

The baby alligators that we saw at Shark Valley were one of the highlights of our entire trip. After the bike ride, we did an airboat tour which was also a really cool experience. It was very smooth and relaxing, which I did not expect - check out the video at the bottom! See here for the pictures of our 2nd day spent at the Everglades.

Our first gator sighting! It was very exciting, little did we know what was to come.	A green heron	Alligator number 2
Our first gator sighting! It was very exciting, little did we know what was to come.	A green heron	Alligator number 2
A black vulture	A turtle	Another alligator
A black vulture	A turtle	Another alligator
	Us and an alligator!	That's a scary lookin face!
	Us and an alligator!	That's a scary lookin face!
And another.	And another. Around this point we stopped taking a picture of every alligator we passed because there were so many.	A great blue heron
And another.	And another. Around this point we stopped taking a picture of every alligator we passed because there were so many.	A great blue heron
Another green heron	We almost didn't pay too close attention to this, our 20th or so alligator sighting of the day, until we noticed something different about its back...	What a lucky sight - baby alligators! Just a few months old.
Another green heron	We almost didn't pay too close attention to this, our 20th or so alligator sighting of the day, until we noticed something different about its back...	What a lucky sight - baby alligators! Just a few months old.
Piling up!	A purple gallinule	An anhinga doing its thing
Piling up!	A purple gallinule	An anhinga doing its thing
Another mother with babies	Climbing around to get the best spot	A literal pile of alligator babies
Another mother with babies	Climbing around to get the best spot	A literal pile of alligator babies
Little explorers
Little explorers
Smiling for the camera	The bike trail we rode up on, from the observation tower at the midpoint	Looking out onto the Everglades - A lot of grass, you'd never know it was full of water!
Smiling for the camera	The bike trail we rode up on, from the observation tower at the midpoint	Looking out onto the Everglades - A lot of grass, you'd never know it was full of water!
Riding our bikes through the everglades	A great blue heron, a.k.a. hippie heron	A tricolored heron
Riding our bikes through the everglades	A great blue heron, a.k.a. hippie heron	A tricolored heron
A great created flycatcher	A bunch of immature white ibises	A roseate spoonbill
A great created flycatcher	A bunch of immature white ibises	A roseate spoonbill
	A whole group of them
	A whole group of them
Going for an airboat ride!
Going for an airboat ride!
A year-old alligator hanging out in the grass	A boat-tailed grackle	An immature purple gallinule that ran over to the boat
A year-old alligator hanging out in the grass	A boat-tailed grackle	An immature purple gallinule that ran over to the boat
A purple gallinule	Coming right at us	Out on the water
A purple gallinule	Coming right at us	Out on the water