Day 7 – Friday

Today started early with an exciting airboat ride across the waters of the Everglades. We had a boat to ourselves, donned our ear protectors and were driven really fast through some narrow channels and out into a large pool too.

This wasn’t about wildlife spotting, although the birds were out in force. This was about exhilaration. The captain made us go faster and faster, ending with a full 360 degree turn. A lot of fun!

After that we headed along the Tamiami Road (so called because it joins Tampa and Miami through the northern Everglades and had a day when the wildlife just got better and better.

First stop was the Big Cypress Visitor Centre. We watched a film about the Big Cypress National Preserve and the kids completed another Junior Rangers badge, but the real highlight was watching the manatees from the boardwalk. There must have been 6-8 of them, all coming to the surface right in front of us. And there were around three alligators for good measure.

After that we headed a short way up Turner River Road – a dusty dirt road which follows the Turner River. We only went a short way because of the horrible bumpy road and because there were so many alligators in the water right next to the road that we didn’t need to. At one stage we counte 9 from where we were stood.

Spot the scariest monsters in these photos...

Back at the entrance the road there was another boardwalk where we saw our first turtles. We stood watching them for ages.

Finally we drove on to Shark Valley – so called because the water from this area drains to form the shark river, not because there are any sharks. Here we had our closest encounters yet with yet more alligators and turtles – we even saw some very tiny alligators.

The highlight was probably watching an anhinga (a bird) catch a fish by swimming under water and stabling it with its beak and bring it ashore. Here it banged it against a rock until it was dead and then ate it whole, head first, right in front of us.