The Everglades

Today I saw the first national park during my trip: The Everglades in Florida. After a drive of about 1.5 hours from Miami, we arrived at the park to admire the American wildlife. However, we were made aware of the drastic effects of Irma for the first time here: a large part of the park was unfortunately only accessible by car, and hikes were only possible on 2 short routes. Besides interesting birds and exotic plants, we also discovered snakes and a wild alligator.

Describing the landscape of the Everglades is not so easy. At times, we felt like we were in German fields. At other times, it felt more like an African savannah and in other places, it felt more like the jungle. By the way, we also had company from mosquitoes, which were just as numerous as in the jungle ;)

Driving 60 km by car back and forth through the Everglades National Park was more than long enough. Especially with the heat and sometimes quite monotonous surroundings, we were looking forward to our highlight afterwards: an airboat tour and a show at an alligator farm.

The airboat tour was fantastic. We toured the waters and reeds of the Everglades with a lot of speed. No one stayed dry, and the brave among us even stepped into the water and faced the wild animals. 

During the boat tour, we mainly saw birds and iguanas and learned a lot about wildlife, the consequences of Irma, and environmental pollution on the Everglades.