All posts by Red Hunt

A former journalist and business analyst that now works in the world of travel marketing. Based in Toronto, Red Hunt has travelled to more than 50 countries over the past 15 years. You can follow Red on Instagram or Twitter.
Travel Articles, Wildlife and Nature

Everglades Series: The Anhinga Trail

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This is the second post in a three-part Everglades series during National Parks Week in the US. The first post was on Shark Valley.

Wildlife galore! The Anhinga Trail in the Everglades National Park was so nice I went there twice – in the same day.

Male Anhinga feeding youngsters
Male Anhinga feeding youngsters

Only 4 miles form the park entrance at Homestead, the Anhinga Trail is a short, flat trail that is partly along a paved route and partly along an over-water boardwalk. At less than 1 mile in length it had a surprisingly large number of creatures to keep me busy. I knew this trail would be a treat right away as pesky vultures and other big birds were hovering around the parking lot when I arrived.

The trail namesake – the Anhinga – is a bird that can be seen fishing and sunning itself in the trees beside the trail. Now, usually I am nto a bird-person, and I don’t quite get ‘birders’, but I’m open to any wildlife experience. With that said – I think I was extra lucky to find an Anhinga family perched in a nest near the trail, posing perfectly for photos. Not only did I get to see fluffy baby Anhinga birds, but I saw their parents fishing in the nearby waters and actually feeding the youngsters. Man those birds were hungry!

Alligator on the Move
Walking Alligator near the Anhinga Trail

I also saw my first ‘mobile’ Alligator here. Over at Shark Valley I had only seen them swimming or lounging around on land. So I couldn’t really appreciate the size and shape of these prehistoric creatures. But, lucky again, I saw one walking along the sandy beach between two waterways. I had expected it to more or less slide along and drag it’s tail around, like a snake, but it actually picked up it’s entire body as it walked along, before vanishing back into the water. Pretty cool.

After these  right place at the right time moments I ventured along the entire trail boardwalk for about half an hour, watching Alligators swim all around. It was a perfectly sunny day, so after the Anhinga Trail I drove on through the Everglades to hike a couple of smaller trails in the hot afternoon. But on the way home, at sunset, I had to stop by the Anhinga Trail again and get more photos during the golden hour of light.

Anhinga Trail Boardwalk
Wildlife watching in the Everglades at Anhinga Trail

With the hot sun fading, the Alligators weren’t as plentiful – they seemed to retreat back away from the trail boardwalk at this time of day.

The Anhinga birds were no longer feeding their young either, but there were all sorts of herons, including the Great Blue Heron, and other birds flying around or stealthily stalking their dinner. Overall, the Anhinga trail provided a very impressive wildlife show for such an accessible destination, and I’d have to give it a very slight edge over Shark Valley for my favourite trail and wildlife experience in the Everglades.

More bird photos from the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park:

Red Shouldered Hawk
Red Shouldered Hawk
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Anhinga Trail Everglades - Bird
Unknown Bird
Travel Articles, Wildlife and Nature

Everglades Series: Went to Shark Valley. Saw some Alligators.

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This is the first of three posts being published during National Parks Week, all about a recent trip to various parts of the Everglades National Park in Florida.

Alligator showing teeth
Ground level view of Alligator at Shark Valley, Everglades

Spending some time in southern Florida this past, I knew I had to check out the Everglades. Up to now my only experience of the area had been driving along the stretch of I-75 nicknamed ‘Alligator Alley’.

Before heading into the ‘Glades I sourced out some must-do activities. As I didn’t have enough time to venture deep into the waterways by canoe or kayak, I had to settle for hiking trails and more accessible options. Three things kept coming up as highly recommended. One was to take an airboat tour, the second was to walk the Anhinga Trail and the third was to take the tram tour or rent a bike in Shark Valley.

Shark Valley

I arrived at about 2:30pm for the 3pm Shark Valley tram tour (and was actually lucky to get a ticket as it was fully reserved, but a few people cancelled – advance bookings are almost essential during peak times).  To get here, it is an easy drive along highway 41 from Miami or Fort Lauderdale on the east coast, or Naples on the west coast of Florida.

Bike rentals and tram tours here are actually run by a concession so you have to pay your $10 entrance fee to the Everglades (good for 7 days), then pay $18.25 for the tram tour or $7.50/hr for bike rentals. I had originally planned to rent a bike, but was a bit short on time, so took the tram tour and hiked around for an hour afterwards.

Observation Tower at Shark Valley
Observation Tower at Shark Valley

I think hiking or renting a bike is the way to go if you want to stop frequently or go at your own pace. It is more than 15 miles / 24 km of trail though, so be prepared with later and plenty of time if you choose that route. The issue I had with the tram was that it did not stop often, and when it did, it was too short a time to get any decent photos of the wildlife. The trams really only stop for 15-20 minutes at the observation tour.  The tower is 65 feet tall and provides a great panorama view of the grassy Everglades.

The two benefits of taking the tram tour over the bike or hike option:

  1. You get an informative narrative by the driver, educating you on the local flora and fauna,  the history of the Everglades and fun trivia such as why the area is called Shark Valley.
  2. Protection from the sun and rain. It is humid and hot out there, without any stops for water. The tram offers the only leisurely ride option for those who don’t want to  sweat too much, and comes in handy for rain protection during frequent downpours.

Why is it called Shark Valley?

Ok, you won’t see any sharks here. The name of Shark Valley does cause some confusion. With the Everglades being a ‘river of grass’ it is extremely flat, you wouldn’t think this area is in a valley, but it is. An elevation change of just 1ft here makes a big difference, so Shark Valley is in a very wide, very gradual, low-lying valley. The Shark reference comes from the Shark River. The mouth of this river is at the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shark River Slough is the main source of fresh water for this part of the Everglades. If you were to venture along the river far enough towards the gulf, you would encounter sharks – they just never make it to the Everglades.

In terms of what I did see at Shark Valley – dozens of alligators including baby ones, a bunch of turtles, herons, anhingas and other birds.  Most of these were spotted while walking along the main loop pathway, however I also took the short Otter Cave and Bobcat trails. It was a great introduction to this huge wilderness park. Did I like it more than the Anhinga Trail? You’ll have to wait for the next Everglades post to find out.

A few more photos from Shark Valley

Turtle in the Everglades National Park
Turtle at Shark Valley
A Heron going fishing in the Everglades
Heron in Shark Valle
Baby Allgator
A baby Alligator at Shark Valley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch for part two and part three of this Everglades series coming soon.