EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
HIKING, CANOEING AND BIRD WATCHING

Located on Florida's southern tip, an hour from Miami, the 615,000-hectare park is the third largest national park in the contiguous U.S. (after Yellowstone and Death Valley). And it's the only park in our hemisphere that's an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site and a Wetland of International Importance.

Everglades National Park sign. Florida.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

The Himalayas have the Abominable Snowman, British Columbia has Bigfoot and, according to naturalist Rob Parenti, the Everglades has the Skunk Ape. "Witnesses say that dark hair covers its large body except its chest which is white," he reported. "The creature walks upright, like a man, and has a skunk odour."

On our recent visit to Everglades National Park, the Skunk Ape was as elusive as the endangered Florida panther. "There are less than 10 panthers left in the park and 30 in all of Florida," explained Parenti.

Three main entrances

From the west, visitors use the Ten Thousand Islands Gateway at Everglades City. From the north, the Shark Valley entrance on U.S. 41, the Tamiami Trail, provides access to a narrated tram tour and an observation tower. We entered from the east at Park Headquarters, 16 kilometres southwest of Homestead, on Route 9336.

The visitor center here is a must-see, not only for maps, brochures and schedules of ranger-conducted hikes and slide shows, but also for fascinating information about the Everglades. Do you know, for example, what an alligator's bulging belly might contain? A wading bird, a turtle, an otter, bass, shrimp, rats and even another 'gator — according to one display.

Another diorama depicted an alligator's nest at night, complete with sound effects. A third display was a dental impression of an alligator's bite.

Skewered fish

Eager to see wildlife, we followed the Ingraham Highway, the only paved road in the park, which ends 61 kilometres further, at Flamingo Lodge. The Anhinga Trail was our first stop.

Minutes after starting the 0.8 kilometre-boardwalk, we spotted an anhinga, perched on a branch, holding its wings out to dry like a cape. (Anhingas' feathers lack oil, so they must dry them, after each fishing expedition, before they can fly.)

Boardwalk. Everglades National Park. Florida.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Looking down, we saw another anhinga swimming underwater, weaving his snake-like neck as he searched for fish. With dropped jaws, we watched the bird skewer a fish with his pointed beak. He emerged from the water, and tossed the fish into the air, swallowing it head first so the scales didn't scratch.

Sunburned tourist trees

Further on, an iridescent purple gallinule walked across green lily pads like stepping stones. Using its red and yellow beak, it plucked an insect from under a leaf.

We could've spent the whole morning here, but other trails beckoned. The trees on the nearby Gumbo Limbo Trail are also called "tourist" trees, because their red bark peels like a visitor's sunburn. Here too, are lush ferns and descriptively-named clamshell, mules-ear and spread-eagle orchids.

Sawgrass is the most common vegetation in the park. On the Pahayokee Trail, an observation tower offers panoramic views of the "river of grass." The 81-kilometre-wide swath of golden sedge ripples like prairie wheat. Shallow water, below it, slowly seeps southward 160 kilometres, from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico.

Largest mahogany tree in U.S.A.

For a different environment, we hiked along the Mahogany Hammock Trail. (A hammock is an elevated island of hardwood trees.) In the shady, jungle-like thicket, we viewed the largest mahogany tree in the U.S. — measuring four metres in circumference.

Rhythmic tapping drew our attention to a red-bellied woodpecker drilling a hole in a royal palm. A squawk led our eyes to a gumbo limbo tree, where a red-shouldered hawk devoured a rodent.

World's best coconut shrimp

The sun was setting as we reached Flamingo Lodge, the only resort inside the park. (For visitors who wish to camp, there are serviced tent and trailer sites and back-country chickees — raised, roofed platforms above the water.) Flamingo's restaurant serves the best coconut shrimp we've ever tasted, and an incredibly delicious mango and guava cheesecake.

Flamingo Marina rents skiffs, canoes, kayaks, fishing poles and bicycles. Just after sunrise, we cycled to Eco Pond. From the viewing platform, we watched a little green heron cleverly bait minnows with feathers and seeds.

A snowy egret stalked fish. Above, wing beats of great blue herons penetrated the sultry air, as their 'S'-curved necks and bodies made black silhouettes against the tangerine sky.

A bay as large as Rhode Island

Back at the marina, we joined Rob Parenti aboard the Bald Eagle for his guided 75-minute tour of Florida Bay. "Most people think that the Everglades is only freshwater marsh," he said. "But that's only one-third of the park."

Another third is mangrove forest and brackish water, which you'll see around Everglades City. The final third is the salt water and 130 islands of Florida Bay."

As we departed, Parenti pointed out some brown pelicans making clumsy dives into the water to stun the fish below them." Although the bay is as large as Rhode Island, it averages 1.5-metres deep," he explained." You can land on only four islands, since the others are rookeries."

As he spoke, pink spoonbills perched in the mangroves, decorating the branches like Christmas ornaments. Parenti later identified sea turtles and dolphins, and recounted the history of the islands and their early settlers.

Canoeing the Buttonwood Canal. Everglades National Park.

Alligator attack

On our final afternoon, we paddled red canoes along the tranquil Buttonwood Canal. As we gazed at Spanish moss dripping from the limbs of the mangroves, lining the banks, twin periscopic eyes silently surfaced from a floating log.

Suddenly, in a froth of bubbles, two enormous jaws clamped shut on a passing fish. Before we could grab our cameras, the alligator swished its leathery tail, and disappeared with its catch.

Buttonwood is the final stretch of the 160-kilometre Wilderness Waterway that runs between Everglades City and Flamingo. The well-marked route winds past islets and mangroves, and takes eight hours to navigate by motorboat, eight days by canoe. Having sampled its delights, we resolved to return for the full journey by canoe or houseboat.

Maybe then, we'd glimpse a Florida panther, or even the Everglades Skunk Ape.