We ended up spending a fun and relaxing several days in both Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. We stayed in a couple different campsites while we were there, Midway and Monument Lake Campgrounds. Big Cypress is adjacent to the Everglades, and both are located in the southern portion of Florida.
One of the most famous animals in these parts is the panther, which at one point in our recent past and memory, had been reduced to a handful due to adverse environmental conditions and the take by humans of their habitat. The Preserve and National Park ensure some areas to be left wild for these creatures. There was an attempt to bring the panther population back from the brink of extinction and inbreeding by introducing cougars brought in from Texas, and the population has increased with hopes for survival. Some locals complain that the Texas cougars bred the local panther population to be bigger and hungrier cats, consuming more of the local deer population and reducing their hunting opportunities, but that requires more research than we had time for.
Lots of activities included the visitors centers, biking, boating (swamp boats, kayaks), driving, viewing alligators, TONS of birds. We met some nice folks at the campgrounds that we’d love to remain in contact with, and swapped lots of stories.
Don’t worry, Ryan and Christelle, we didn’t get it 😆
One of the days, we went out on a private swamp boat ride into the grasslands, and it reminded me of Africa but with water in every direction. There was no one out there and it was really fun to be out on a boat, plus we got to see more alligators (haha, but this felt like we were really OUT there). We even saw some newly hatched baby gators- really cute.
Our boat captain told us that he grew up out here, and when he was younger, his parents would tell him that if he got lost out in the swamp, to identify the strands (strands of trees/shrubs/vegetation) and use them as landmarks to find his way back. Of course one of the first things he told us was that now that Google is ubiquitously in our lives, the boat guides have to be careful of their stories, because everyone can fact-check them. So some, all, or most of what he told us was probably mostly true.
One of the days we went to go to an area that a ranger had recommended, Shark Valley. There was a paved 15 mile loop that we could do a bike ride on, and lots of gators and birds to see. Unfortunately, when we drove the RV in to the park entrance, we were told that there was no parking available for big vehicles, because there were several school buses and other RVs that had arrived earlier than us. So we got turned away.
Others told us later that you have to arrive early to get one of the very few parking spots at this area. The next morning, despite setting the alarm for 7:30 am so that we could get there around 8:15 to be in line when the gate opened at 8:30, we both woke up early, pulled the slide in, and headed out to be the very first vehicle in line at Shark Valley, and got there at around 7:20 (VERY early.).
The lovely thing is that we were alone, it was blissfully quiet and we had plenty of time to actually get dressed, have a little breakfast and coffee (cause we brought the house with us!), perform our morning ablutions, and prepare ourselves for an enjoyable morning in Everglades National Park.
When the gate opened, we presented our (John’s) Senior Lifetime Park Pass, got in for free, and rolled up to the first available RV parking spot. We got our bikes down, sun-screened and watered up, and set off.
Because we were one of the first into the park, we literally had the place to ourselves. It was gorgeous, we saw another 1000 gators and birds (possibly a slight exaggeration, but we’ve lost count on how many gators we have seen by now), and rode our wonderful ebikes directly into the headwind. We got to the lookout without anyone around, enjoyed looking down into a cool pond with huge gators and turtles (I saw a HUGE turtle just under the surface, but alas, no photos of that big boy), and watched a hawk struggle with a snake from tree to tree.
And then, a tram load of tourists arrived, with unsupervised children, and it was time for us to zip away…..
When we got back down to our bikes, a woman was taking photos of them, and of course we struck up a conversation. John smoothly transitioned into the ebike salesman he’s becoming, and offered her and her companions rides on our bikes. They had battled the headwind on their regular bikes coming out to this lookout, and a little breeze around on the ebikes had them enthralled. I swear, John should get a commission for future sales of these bikes!
We parted ways with those nice folks, and headed out, with the wind at our backs. Where we were riding at around 9-10 mph on the way out into the wind, we were being pushed at around 13 mph on the way back, with the exact same gears and settings.
Such a lovely morning out there in Shark Valley, and it was totally worth it to get up early and beat the crowds. Since we were early-ish in the day, we drove down to Everglades City, on the western side of the park, and had a nice lunch on the river.
On our last day, we had signed up for a kayak tour, so we motored down to the National Park HQ in Everglades City, at the southwest end of the park. There were about 10 of us and 2 ranger guides. It was fun getting out on the water, and it was a nice day except for the wind. We slogged for about an hour and a half along the shoreline, and after a little rest stop, made our way back.
We enjoyed visiting with a couple of women who are from Cape Cod but have been spending the winter near Ft Lauderdale helping with one of their parents. They signed up for the kayak trip to get a little break. We exchanged numbers when the trip was over and think it would be fun to visit them up in Cape Cod some time in the future.
When we were driving thru Everglades City, looking for a place to grab lunch, they texted us to see if we wanted to meet for lunch and a beer, and the place was right in front of us so we pulled in, parked our rig, and continued our visiting with them on a nice deck by the water.
When we got back to our campsite, our lovely neighbors came over to share the day’s experiences, and when he said they were out on a tour boat at the park HQ, I told him we were out on kayaks there. He pulled out his phone and brought up a couple of photos he took of our group! John’s in the red kayak in the center of the photo and I’m just to his left. What a kick that was!
We really enjoyed our stay at Big Cypress and Everglades, and even got used to the idea that a huge gator was lurking around every corner near water…..
This was the longest stretch of days we’d spent in any one place on the whole trip, and it was both fun and restful. We met several really nice folks, and saw some cool stuff. Highly recommend visiting both Big Cypress and Everglades!
John & Armen On The Road 