Travel With The Thayers

# 85 Shark Valley Visitor Center

Sunday November 17, 2019

We headed north from the RV park toward Highway 41. Along the way we passed nursery after nursery for miles. Some specialized in orchids, some in palms and others a variety of plants.

The Shark Valley experience includes a 2-hour tram ride out to the observation tower. The round-trip loop covers 15 miles. A tour guide points out things of interest. Derrille and I got the last two tickets for the tram ride. The weather was overcast and windy, so most people traveled the open-air tram and got cold when the tram sped up. Eventually the sun did come out. Yea! The Everglades in reality are a slow-moving river of grass that flows to the Gulf of Mexico. There are two seasons: wet and dry. Here in November the wet season is ending and the dry one beginning. Shark Valley is a depression in the surround area, thus the name” valley”; with no mountains across this plain of moving grass the word valley makes you wonder.

The Herons and Ibis with their white necks stand out in the miles of grasses.

Several American alligators were spotted on the trip out to the observation tower. Alligators only eat about once a week or even less at this time of year. They spend their time trying to stay warm. If it is warm, they like to sunbathe. If it is cold they will settle into the mud.

Several Wood Storks searched for tasty morsels as we passed by. In case you are wondering, it's the Wood Stork that delivers babies.

Ample water areas showed the abundance of water this November. No wonder there were no alligators at Anhinga Trail.

The tram stops at the Observation Tower and we all pile out to explore. We had about -30 minutes at this stop.

We drank in the 360 degree views and then returned to the tram.

We spotted a few more alligators on the way back. The tram makes a loop, so we hadn't been on this road before.

When the tram returned to the station, we just had to walk back a bit to get good photos of a couple of alligators. This old guy or girl was loving the sun!

Derrille and I enjoyed watching this alligator until we could no longer stand the stupid people who took chances and got to close, or were noisy. They obviously don’t follow the rule that this is the alligators home and we are the guest. I was amazed to learn this time that alligators are really timid creatures…unless hungry. They like to be left alone.

The Great Blue Herons offer a peaceful countenance and a regal feeling when viewed. Love the Great Blue Herons.

From Shark Valley we headed toward Miami, but stopped at the Everglade Safari Park for an air boat ride through the sawgrass.

Most boat companies offered rides in the bigger flat boats that hold about 16 riders. We wanted the smaller boat. So we paid the price and had the time of our lives! Our pilot Jason, took just the four of us out for an hour.

Derrille and I found that being West Coaster boaters, it was a bit disconcerting to move right over the top of the grass. You want to say “wait”, but the flat bottomed air boats just glide right over.

We spotted a couple of alligators catching rays on the bank.

When you fly over the grass and then look around and see nothing but grass around you....you
are most thankful that the pilot knows the way home.

Another alligator. The lily pads held several beautiful bright yellow blooms. But my phone camera didn’t like to pick the color up.

We said goodbye to Jason and visited a little museum area with live alligators. It had an example of an alligator nest.

This little guy got up close and personal with this alligator.

They had a live alligator talk, but it wasn’t much. The alligators are not forced to do anything, good thing, but what they choose to do depends on how much they want chicken. It was more of an informative session. These four alligators are probably about 40 years old. They all know their names. The park is in the process of closing down this exhibit, just like Sea World, Marineland, zoos and other animal parks that no longer have animals perform, just be observed.

We returned to Homestead and found a great Cuban? Mexican? Restaurant for dinner.