Journal Entry 10
This morning I woke up with a melancholy kind of excitement. This is our last day exploring The Everglades before making our way back home. We have most certainly maximized our time here, but the thought of this adventure ending and returning to reality does make me a little sad.
Today we are heading towards an area known as Shark Valley. It is one of the more “touristy” areas of Everglades National Park, so I am sure it will provide a different perspective to what we have experienced in the days prior. Unlike the cypress dome and hard hammocks that dominated the landscape the past two days, there is nothing here but sawgrass with singular trees dotting the plains. There are a few thin clouds in the sky, and we certainly felt the sun seeping into our skin. Luckily we brought along sunscreen to avoid any permanent damage to our skin.
(Image taken by Viviana Moreno in Shark Valley, Everglades National Park)
Upon arriving, we were fortunate enough to find a park ranger beginning a small discussion about the area. While following her deeper into the sawgrass prairie, we found an alligator nest! As excited as I was to see them up close, we kept a VERY safe distance as we were sure their mother was close by. We learned from the tour guide that alligators are very protective mothers that care for their young until they are old enough to go out and live on their own! This was really surprising to me because you don’t always hear about reptiles caring for their young, usually we learn about mammals or birds exhibiting this behavior.
(Image taken by Viviana Moreno in Shark Valley, Everglades National Park)
We also learned WHY sawgrass gets its name. The park ranger giving the discussion had a few blades of sawgrass for us to touch and explained that it has sharp edged blades that will break skin if not handled correctly. Being the dangerously curious individual that I am, I ran my fingers along the edge of the blade of grass downwards and felt nothing, but in moving my finger an inch upwards I understood how it got its name quite well, thankfully without drawing any blood!
A bit of independent exploration in the area led to a few more encounters, including one slightly frightening one. As I walked down a trail with one of my fellow explorers, we stopped dead in our tracks as an estimated 4 foot gator lay resting on the bank beside us. The gator seemed equally startled by our appearance as it lifted up its head as if to say “aaahhh!”
Respecting the alligator’s space, as we always must, and he/she went back to sunbathing as if we hadn’t appeared at all. The image below shows the photo I took of the animal. For scale and specifically to note the closeness of this reptile to us, note the bottom right corner where you can see my shadow and a bit of the paved road.
(Image taken by Viviana Moreno in Shark Valley, Everglades National Park)
As we were leaving, we heard a bit of commotion coming from the edge of the sawgrass prairie. We later learned that a tour group had seen a 17 foot Burmese Python resting in one of the tree islands we saw in the distance. A few of us were willing to endure the blades that truly put the “saw” in sawgrass just to see it, but alas, it was much to far of a hike to take the risk or to waste a trip, should it be gone by the time we arrived. Despite not seeing it with my own eyes, it was exciting to be so close to an animal that has taken center stage in the conservation issues of The Everglades!
