Everglades National Park

Home to the American crocodile, the Florida panther, and the West Indian manatee, the Everglades are unique in the United States and important to all the world as recognized by their UNESCO World Heritage listing. Fish the flats, hike a trail, camp in the wilderness, take a ranger guided tour ... all of these are possible, and there are boat and tram tours as well.

Comments:

We hired one of those hover boat thingies, and the guides fed the raccoons marshmallows and the gators fish. At the age of 8, this was super cool. The boat drivers don't get paid so leave them a nice tip to thank them for their time. I think they have so many tourists wander through that they are able to survive on tips alone. As I understand it, you pay X dollars to the people at the docks for the use of the boat and then the drivers work for free and live off tips.

One thing that was kind of cool was that someone said something like "Where's the alligators," and the guide said, "Well, there's one right there." We looked where he pointed, and it was the proverbial oh-my-gosh moment as we realized there was one Right There, just feet away.

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Last Updated: June 2007