Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Painted buntings at a feeder

We both had some things to do in the morning so we awoke at 6 am then did some things in the room and left at 8 am following our Kashi breakfast.  We drove to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  We arrived a little after 9 am and paid the $28 fee for our admission then signed up for a guided tour at 10:30.  Our guide, Phil, a retiree from Athens, Ohio, was a knowledgeable and capable guide.  He gave us an overview of the area as well as the variety of plants and animals that inhabit the 17 square miles of the sanctuary.  We walked along part of the nearly 2.3 mile board walk with visitors from New York, New Jersey, Seattle and Kentucky.  Phil pointed out all of the birds that we saw and shared a lot of information about the history of the area.  After we completed the tour around 12:30, we returned to the car and had our normal travel lunch of peanut butter, crackers, apples and carrots. 

Red and grey lichens

We went back to walk the entire trail including the parts that were not on Phil’s tour.  There are some huge cypress trees in the swamp some of which had strangler figs growing on them.  We saw many epiphytic bromiliads growing on branches as well as many varieties of lichens.  We were amazed by the tiny floating ferns that we thought were duckweed plants, there were also resurrection ferns that appear dead until the wet season when they rejuvenate.  There were also strap ferns and leather ferns that grew in profusion in the swamp. 

Along the way we saw a number of song birds including painted buntings, gnatcatchers, phoebes, black and yellow crowned night herons, ibis, grebes and many others.  One small adult alligator was seen but we did not see her babies.  We saw a raccoon foraging for food in the swamp and a small frog swimming on the surface.  A cottonmouth water moccasin was sunning in some plant matter not far from the boardwalk.  Probably the highlight of the trip caught us quite by surprise.  As we were back on the road leaving the area, we saw a large cat running across the highway.  It took us some time to realize that we had seen a Florida Panther!  

There are only about 80-100 panthers still alive and we saw one today.  Most people in the area have never seen a Florida Panther.  These cats are the same species as a puma, cougar or mountain lion but inhabit the Everglades area of Florida.  The population is sharply down because of habitat encroachment and deaths on the highways.

When we left the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary we drove to Marco Island to meet our friends, B. J. and Diana Johnson.  The Johnsons are here spending a few days before leaving on a 20 day cruise throughout much of the Caribbean.  Their condo is very nice and convenient to many interesting areas.  They told us about one of their favorite restaurants on Marco Island, Snook Inn.  

Cypress tree with strangler fig

We all decided to go there for dinner.  We had a boiled shrimp appetizer.  B. J. and Diana had a large lunch so only had a bowl of conch chowder Mary had broiled grouper stuffed with crab.  One fillet had a dill sauce and the other had hollandaise.  I had a broiled seafood combo platter that had Mahi Mahi, grouper, crab, three scallops and three shrimp. Mary and I both had a baked sweet potato and a small salad.  We were very happy with our meals.  The quality of the food and service were both very good.  We really enjoyed chatting with the Johnsons.  They have been our good friends for over 35 years and we enjoy seeing them only regretting that we don’t get with them more often. 

We drove back to our hotel through Naples.  We were aware that Naples has an overall very high income.  The size and quality of homes is an indication of the resources of the residents.  Another indicator is the number of golf courses in the Naples area.  The flat sandy land, the warm climate and the high income people in the area who golf creates a need for the many links in the Naples area.  One thing that did surprise us is the cars in the area.  In driving in and through Naples during our trips to the Everglades or to Marco Island we have seen Bentleys, Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis not to mention the BMWs, Mercedes, Lexis and other luxury cars.

We plan to leave the Wyndham Garden Fort Myers Beach tomorrow morning and drive to the Tampa area where we will visit some local attractions then check into our hotel near the airport where we can get to the terminal at PIE in time for our Thursday morning flight.

Everglades City and Shark Valley

After waking around 6:30 am we had a breakfast of the Wheat Chex and bananas as well as a couple of cups of tea.  We left the Wyndham Gardens Fort Myers Beach before 8 am and headed south through Naples to Everglades City and Everglades National Park.  We purchased a pass on a guided boat tour through the mangrove areas in the estuarine areas nearby.  We were the only passengers for our young captain, Parker, who was very knowledgeable of the birds, wildlife and ecology of the area.  In our 90 minute tour we saw a number of local birds including kingfishers, great blue herons, little blue herons, green herons, great white herons, yellow crested night herons, white ibis, rosette spoonbills, brown pelicans, cormorants and anhingas among many other small wading birds. 

We took the boat into an area called a mangrove tunnel where the white, red and black mangroves grow over the river channel to form a tunnel effect.  We saw a number of alligators, turtles, fish, fiddler and mangrove crabs back in the mangrove tunnel.  The only negative was that the mosquitos were voracious back in the mangroves.  We both came away covered with bites so Mary bought a bottle of 98% deet when we got back to the dock.  We drove around a bit in the Everglades City area then started east on Rt. 41 through the Everglades.  We had a lunch of peanut butter and crackers as we drove. Although much of the day was a bit overcast, the temperature was in the low 80s.    

In the mangrove tunnel

We saw a loop road that parallels Rt. 41 through the Everglades so we took the narrow gravel road for 24 miles.  Along this road we saw a great deal of wildlife including a huge variety of birds, many alligators, soft shelled turtles an even a cottonmouth water moccasin.  The water moccasin was in the road and we were afraid that someone would run her over with a car so I blocked the road with our car and put her over to into the wetland where she would be safe.  There were few cars on the road but I wanted to make sure that she didn’t get killed.  We spent a lot of time on this road since there were many places where we could look for wildlife.  We saw two wood storks that we hadn’t seen this year.

Continuing back on Rt. 41, we made a brief stop at the rest area where we walked the boardwalk and saw a few anhingas and three alligators.  We stopped at the Big Cypress Visitor Center for a brief walk to the viewing area where we saw one manatee behind the visitor center.

Continuing east on Rt. 41, we drove to the Shark Valley area of Everglades National Park.  We paid the $20 fee for a seven day National Park pass as we waited for a parking area to open.  The ranger only lets additional visitors into the area when a car leaves to assure that adequate parking is available.  We decided to walk some of the Shark Valley Loop Trail which is a very level paved trail. 

A female anhinga dries her wings

During the first half mile of the trail we saw many birds and lots of alligators some of which were very close, some even lying on the trail.  We saw large adult alligators as well as a clutch of newly hatched babies and everything in between.  We saw most of the birds that we had seen earlier but we also saw a purple ganinule that is one of the prettiest birds in the area.  We had walked out the loop for over 2.5 miles before we discovered that the trail is a loop that is over 15 miles in length.  Since it was after 4:30 by then we decided to start back toward the car.  It was just as well since we saw nothing new after the first half mile or so of the trail.  Most of the trail was many of the same birds and fewer alligators than in the first part of the trail. 

A large alligator sunning

When we return to the area we will walk the first half mile and some of the short side trails but skip the remainder of the trail.  It is a great place to walk or bicycle but we felt that we had walked plenty by the time we returned to the car after our 5 to 6 mile walk.  A two hour tram ride around the loop is available for $24 which isn’t bad but you can’t get out and see things as you like.  Bicycles are also available to rent and we saw many European and Asian visitors riding out the trail.

We left the Shark Valley Trail Loop area of Everglades National Park a little after 5 pm and drove back west on Rt. 41 to Everglades City. 

A clutch of baby alligators

We went to dinner at City Seafood that was recommended to us by Captain Parker from our morning boat ride.  It is a very casual places that caters to locals and boaters.  The freshly cooked meals are “baskets” that come in the paper boats.  We both had the fish basket which is made with locally caught grouper and included black bean salad, very good cole slaw that may have included Granny Smith apples, a generous portion of French fries and lots of fried grouper.  We both enjoyed our meals.

After dinner we drove back to the Wyndham Garden Fort Myers Beach but going through Naples and Bonita Beach.  It took a little longer but allowed us to see some different places.  We got back to our room a little after 8:30 pm and crashed after quick showers.  Since our room keys didn’t work when we got to the room, I ran to the office to get them reprogrammed.  The hotel restaurant/bar, Pinchers, has live music a lot of nights.  The band was playing all classic rock, mostly from the 60s and sounded OK although we were happy that our rooms were on the other side of the hotel.  It just cracked me up that the old geezers (a little older than me) were out in their Bob Seeger and Jimmy Buffett (sorry, I fell asleep between Jimmy and Buffett) T-shirts and rocking out.  The party animals tired out by 9 pm and the place quieted down.