We arrive at Midway Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve
A nice site
Enjoying coffee outside in the morning.
We head to the closest Visitor's Center
There are some alligators in the canal by the boardwalk
We drive the scenic loop road back to the campground.
Lots of Egrets and Great Blue Herons
and they like to lead the way.
Not much else along the trail but we did spot this alligator at the end.
We do a bike ride on the Tram Trail at the Shark Valley Visitor Center. Gary's first long bike ride since his knee replacements so we set a 3 mile one way limit.
Again, lots of Herons
Swamp Lilies
It's a nice level paved trail.
There were a lot of these grasshoppers along the way - get a room!
Gary hit the 3 mile mark and waited while I investigated a little further
At mile 4, I came upon this sight.
Need a punchline to: 3 Vultures and a Great Blue Heron meet an Alligator on their walk. . .
I thought maybe it was playing dead to get the birds closer to eat. There was a group of about 5 of us debating whether we should continue on or not. A woman, her son, and another guy on bikes decided to go for it. The Alligator didn't look happy about that, so I decided to turn around.
An Anhinga
Apparently, Alligators can't read or don't care.
We had planned to take the Tram all the way around the 15 mile loop the next day, but it is a washout. We get stir craze and drive to Everglades City.
Town Hall
We tour the local museum
Get home and poor Tucson hasn't pooped since yesterday morning and hasn't peed since last night. Raincoat is in the car, so I don one of my bathing suits and take Tucson out. He did his business, but I ended up stepping on a fire ant hill. Ouch.
The next morning, the rain stops and we head back down to the Shark Valley Visitor Center to catch the 9 a.m. Tram.
We are fortunate that they are still operating the 9 a.m. Tram. Because of all the rain the rest of the tours through the weekend are cancelled.
We start out seeing lots of birds.
Then we start seeing Alligators
This guy was in the middle of the road and was not happy when forced to move.
Our guide Juan and driver Ricky are great.
The paved road is actually under water.
We have to stop at one point and wait while the guide tries to get a turtle that swam under the Tram.
1/2 way is the stop for the observation tower. 
There was 2 inches of water on the path in. I was the 1st to take off my shoes and walk through.
It actually reminds me of the tower at Clingmans Dome
Gary decided to brave it!
Nice view!
Egret in the road
On the way out we are treated to seeing a Crocodile on the left side. south Florida is the only place where both Alligators and Crocodiles coexist. An estimated 200,000 Alligators live in the Everglades. There are approximately 3,000 crocodiles living in the swamps of South Florida.
Looks like bikers are still braving the ride.
Not sure I would do it knowing what lurks on the edges.
Ran into one snake, it was on the other side of the tram so this is the best shot I could get .
I estimated we saw close to 3 dozen Alligators, 1 Crocodile, numerous birds except the Purple Gallinule which I have yet to see.
We make it back. The 2 hour tour lasted just over 3 hours, it was awesome!
The next day we do an airboat tour
The take us into the sea of grass
and we're off! A wet and wild ride!
We found some alligators. The water is super high so they have lots of places they can go. In the Winter the water drops and they are more concentrated in areas that have water.
As we are pulling back into the marina, we see the Purple Gallinule!
Gary has really enjoyed the Everglades. Next stop Ortano South Lock.
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