Thirteen years ago I made this journey with my mom, my dad and my younger brother, who was eight at the time. My dad remembered seeing Flamingos, and we were all excited to go see flamingos in the wild.
At the beginning of the Everglades we made a stop at the visitor center at the park entrance. It cost $10 per vehicle to enter the Everglades National Park. We had brought our own sandwiches and drinks, so we made a frugal pit stop. On our way south, we stopped at several different trails, and it was interesting to see the different parts of the Everglades.
About 38 miles south of the entrance, we finally reached Flamingo (about 2 hours later due to the small road and many trail stops).
We had a second pit stop that include Florida Strawberries on a bench overlooking the Florida Bay.
Kayakers made stops at a primitive campground before continuing on their journey, and other campers made it to the Flamingo campground.
Unfortunately there was no sight of the wild flamingos. Went up to the visitor center, where we leaned more about the place. We where told that the flamingos are a rare sight now a days, and that we were lucky that we spotted so many of them on our last visit. Lesson learned, if you make a visit mainly to watch wild flamingos, call ahead ask whether the flamingos are there or not before you set out on a very long journey.
The Inn is no longer open due to damaged suffered during Flamingo, but there is a campground nearby and a busy marina.
On our way back we made a stop at West Lake Park, and we spend some time walking through the mangroves.
Making it to Flamingo in the Everglades National Park is an all day event, and there are no fast food places or anything close to it nearby, so make sure to make your own lunch or pick something up before you leave Florida City.
If you would like to see alligators in the wild, the best place to make a stop is at the Royal Palm trail just south west of the entrance to the Everglades National Park.
Of course you can also be lucky and meet an alligator on the way, while you are looking at directions.
We had a fabulous day in the Florida Everglades, and the weather was picture perfect. Before entering the Everglades we enjoyed watching the tomato fields and orange groves in the farmland surrounding Homestead and Florida City.
You can read more about Flamingo and the Everglades National Park here. If you want to call ahead and inquire about flamingo sightings, you can do so at 239-695-2945.
You can find a map of Flamingo and the Everglades National Park here.
No comments:
Post a Comment