A trip to the Everglades

Today we left Key West with heavy hearts on one hand, but on the other hand we were a little in a hurry and looking forward to our new adventure. And it really was.

The way back over the Keys was just as beautiful as the way there a few days ago. Along the way, we once again enjoyed the incredibly beautiful landscape, the turquoise blue sea, and the unique nature. We even saw a few flamingos!

But actually, the goal is different: we want to see crocodiles today. Since we both are not friends of imprisoned or trained animals and do not want to support this type of entertainment, we decided to explore the Everglades far away from speedboats, airboats, animal shows, and crocodile farms. The Everglades is a huge swamp area in Florida that is protected in the national parks. It is the only region in the world where both alligators and crocodiles are native. Moreover, there are plenty of other animals to see.

We set off on foot along a trail, hoping to encounter wild crocodiles or alligators in the protected areas. At first, the heat was almost unbearable, later we could see and feel the large thunderstorms approaching and unloading. But our effort was to be rewarded: thanks to Flo's keen eye, we were able to admire not only one but several of these impressive animals.

Often you only see a few tiny black eyes peering out of the water, well hidden between trees, water lilies, leaves. Sometimes you only see a suspicious bubble rise in the water. They drift silently and motionlessly in the water, observing their surroundings. We saw two baby alligators about 40 cm long as well as two seemingly huge specimens, but we could not see them in their full size due to their good camouflage. We also discovered two medium-sized ones, about 1.50 m long. Even though our goal today was to experience an adventure, the direct encounter was quite frightening. But in a beautiful way. You directly feel how beautiful and versatile the creatures of the world are. At the same time, you are also reminded that they can be dangerous to us when we invade their habitat. With the appropriate distance and complete calmness, so as not to disturb the animals, we enjoyed these moments and are very glad to have endured the rain shower and the previous heat.

Crocodiles/alligators are not only at home in the Everglades, but in all of Florida. As humans encroach into their habitats, more and more conflict points are created. Settlements are built into the animals' original space, resulting in unintentional encounters.

Then the journey continued to Fort Lauderdale. Here we spent one night and also had an unintentional encounter with an animal. However, not with water creatures, but with hissing cockroaches. But we also survived that and are sleeping in West Palm Beach tonight.

West Palm Beach is also located on the east coast of Florida and is part of the beach towns we have already visited. After a relaxing day of driving along the Atlantic, swimming in the pool, and doing laundry (which also needs to be done sometimes), we are looking forward to getting into bed. Tomorrow we will continue to Cape Canavarel. Here we are particularly excited about the Kennedy Space Center! We are skipping Disneyland and Universal Studios for cost reasons and also because it is simply too hot outside. But we will definitely visit the NASA site.