Everglades National Park is a must-see for anyone visiting South Florida. Located in the very south of the state, it is the third largest park in the continental US and the largest preserved subtropical wildlife area in the United States. The park has an area of ​​over 6,000 km2 and was created mainly to protect the largest mangrove forest in the northern hemisphere. It is a breeding ground for many wading birds and an important drinking water area in South Florida.
Interestingly, the Everglades subtropical wetlands are a system of slowly flowing rivers with a water flow speed of approx. 0.4 km / day (so it is better not to lose your paddle while kayaking, because it may take a few days / weeks before you get anywhere :)) The area is irrigated by the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. Although most of us associate the Everglades only with alligators, many other species are found there: 350 species of birds, 300 species of fish, 50 species of reptiles (apart from alligators there are also American crocodiles) and 40 species of mammals (e.g. the Florida panther and the Caribbean manatee).

Access to the park is possible in two places: at Ernest F.Coe Visitor Center (access from Florida City / Homestead) and from the north from road 41 (including Shark Valley Visitor Center). A 7-day car ticket costs $ 30 (you can’t buy tickets for fewer days). Even though the park is huge, there are not many hiking trails in it. There are few walking routes and they are usually very short. There is one trail with a length of 12 km, the others are 200 m to 4.2 km long. Most of them are adapted for the disabled (so you can easily walk them with a child in a pram). Here you will find a list of the trails. You can also explore the Everglades by kayak and overnight in a tent in the middle of the park.

Airboat tour
We started our adventure with the Everglades with the mandatory airboat tour (i.e. a flat-bottomed boat that moves thanks to the propeller located on the back of the boat). There are many companies that organize such tours. Most of them are located along the northern border of the park, but there are also a few located elsewhere. Everyone who decides on such an attraction expects the same – meeting the alligators 🙂 We chose Coopertown The Original Airboat Tour due to the recommendation of local bloggers and the attractive price (the place I found earlier was twice as expensive). Tickets bought online cost $ 20 for an adult and $ 10 for a child 6-11 years old (so Adam was still free). Tickets are $ 5 more expensive on site. We managed to get our tickets even cheaper through Grupon, so it’s worth checking 🙂
Before we got onboard, we could listen to a short introduction about alligators and pet a 2-month-old toddler. We learned, among others that alligator moms take care of their babies for 9 months, then they have to fend for themselves. This means that they have to hide from daddy, because he can eat them for breakfast (alligators are cannibals). In general, alligators are very lazy and usually wait for food to fall into their mouths, i.e. they lie on the bottom of the river with their mouths open and hope that the fish will swim right into it. The only natural enemies of alligators in the Everglades are pythons …. that were introduced by humans. You’re probably wondering how a python can attack an alligator. The answer is: from the back. By the time the alligator realizes what’s going on, it’s half swallowed already. So many interesting facts 😉
The airboat tour lasted about 40 minutes. During that time, we were cruising through vast wetlands in search of alligators. We managed to spot 2: a male and a female. We had a super fun driver / guide who spared no jokes about feeding alligators with naughty children etc. We all agreed it was a great attraction!

After the airboat trip, we went to the other side of the park and walked along 3 trails starting from the road leading through the center of the park.

Anhinga Trail
This is the first trail we chose. It is 1,200 m long and leads mostly along footbridges over wetlands. This is where you can spot alligators 🙂 We managed to see one. Besides, we admired a beautiful heron. And beware, we saw a snake and it was quite close to the parking lot. So be careful.

Mahogany Hammock trail
Another short trail, 700 m long. Also on footbridges, but completely different from the previous one. This time we went through a dense jungle with the gumbo limbo trees and the largest mahogany tree in the USA.

Pinelands Trail
The last short trail we walked was only 650 m. The third trail and the third ecosystem. This time we walked through a pine forest and felt more like in Europe 🙂

As you can see, if you do not decide to visit the Everglades from the kayak’s perspective, unfortunately there are not many options for spending time there. Each subsequent short trail will be similar to the previous one, so we were satisfied with the three we walked. But the airboat ride cannot be omitted!