all images © James Tung, 2001-2008
panorama of Eco Pond, near Flamingo
Wolf and I made a short canoe trip into the Everglades in December, 2003. The boat is a Metzeler Indio, a inflatable canoe, which worked well over the calm and shallow waters of the Florida Bay.
Click on this link to go to the homepage of the national park. A map is available here, and shows the interesting changes in habitats due to merely inches of changes in elevation.
When we arrived at the Flamingo station late afternoon, the rangers informed us that all the drive-in camp sites were full. So we left for the backcountry. There were about 30 minutes of light left when we started rowing. About two hours later we arrived at East Clubhouse Beach, with the aid of the moonlight. There was no telling of what the surrounding looks like until the morning of the next day.
camping on sea purslane |
high tide |
mangrove island at high tide |
East Cape is the southermost point of mainland United States. At this point the thick mangrove forest gave away to miles of prestine, shelly beaches.
East Cape beaches |
pelicans |
wild papayas |
view |
view around sunset |
view around sunset |
This is the first day we had to go against the wind and tide, with relatively choppy water. It was a long day of rowing; the fiery sunet was behind us as we paddled into the main camp.
cautious pelican |
low tide at Clubhouse Beach |
low tide at Clubhouse Beach |
view from canoe |
mangrove island near Flamingo |
sunset view from canoe |
The main road into the park includes many interesting turnoffs that lead to pine forests, mahogany hammocks, bird sanctuaries, and alligator hideouts.
I needed some help with the names of the birds and found a nice list at this site maintained by the US Geological Survey.
Wolf with gator |
mahogany tree |
what's this plant? |
freshwater marl prairie |
double-crested cormorant |
anhinga |
great blue heron |
mangrove islands |
gator pair |
great egret |
wood stork with fish |
staring gator |
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all images © James Tung, 2001-2008