Swamp Thing
If you're looking to add a little adventure to your Fort Lauderdale vacation, a trip to the Everglades is a safe bet. Trade in lazing on beaches for alligators sunning on mud banks — how close you want to get is entirely up to you.
Walking Eco Tour
Only 40 miles from Fort Lauderdale but a world away lie the Everglades — a sprawling tropical wetland that teems with exotic plants and animals, marshes, prairies and sloughs. It's a place where 600pound bull alligators are an almost mundane sight, and it's also the home of the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes.
In other words, it's an adventurer's playground. From hiking peacefully to hunting your own dinner, the choices range from mild to wild in this national treasure. Are you brave enough to conquer the sometimesserene, sometimesscary, alwaysstunning swamp?
1 Walking Eco Tour
Get close but not too personal with the flora and fauna of the Everglades on this leisurely threehour, birding hike [1]. Don binoculars, a hat and old shoes for a trek over mudcovered [2] trails. A guide will point out wild orchids, bromeliads and cypress knees [2], or some of the thousands of birds that winter here, like the Whooping Crane, Roseate Spoonbill or the iconic Anhinga [1]. Everglades Area Tours, 238 Mamie St, Chokoloskee; 2396953633; www.evergladesareatours.com
= O POINTS
2 Kayak and Canoe Eco Tour
Step up the eco tour by putting some muscle into it and taking the kayaking [5] version. Paddle your way along the rivers to reach islands inaccessible by foot, which are covered in forests of tangled mangroves and host rookeries of wading birds. Let's see you juggle your paddle as you capture a perfect pic of a bright Purple Gallinule or a Great Blue Heron [1].
= 4 POINTS
3 Everglades Holiday Park Airboat Tours
For some highspeed action, hop on an airboat [3] and zip over the glasslike water at up to 40 miles per hour. Keep an eye out for 12plusfoot gators For some highspeed action, hop on an airboat [ ] and zip over the glasslike water at up to 40 miles per hour. Keep an eye out for 12plusfoot gators [10] in their natural habitat — swampy mud banks, sloughs and rivers — from the safety of the windpowered boat. The reptiles' nervous neighbors also abound — spot otters, deer, wild shoats, raccoons [2] and other critters that don't swim or run as fast (up to 20 mph) as these "living fossils." Everglades Holiday Park, 21940 Griffin Rd; 9544348111; www.evergladesholidaypark.com
= 15 POINTS
4 Billie Swamp Safari
The truly adventurous will want to go on this oneofakind swamp safari with a Seminole guide. Start by gathering 'round a campfire to hear Native American legends about the enlightening environment, followed by a bumpy buggy ride [3] through the glades by sunset. Beware of the giant water buffalo and bison [5] and keep an eye out for local nocturnals — turtles [2], owls [1] and (horror of horrors!) mobs of gators [10] that peer at you through beady eyes. Perk your ears up and you may hear wild boars [10] snorting in the bushes or a panther [15] growling nearby. Back at camp, your valor will be tested again as you sleep in a traditional chickee [8] — a rustic, openair, palmthatch covered hut set on stilts with no running water or electricity. Billie Swamp Safari, 30000 Gator Tail Tr, Clewiston; 8639839396; www.billieswamp.com
= 52 POINTS
5 Alligator and Wild Boar Hunting
For a real walk on the wild side in the Glades (besides alligator wrestling, which is plain crazy) go on a guided hunting [30] trip to bag gator [10] or boar [10]. You can track the dinosaurlike lizards in the marshes from an airboat [3] or stalk the sinister swine on foot [1] through the brush (again, watch out for the bison and buffalo! [5]). While you're out there, nobody'll mind if you take a few dozen Burmese pythons [15] with you. The swamps are literally crawling with this deadly invasive species and the state is trying to get rid of 'em. Don't say we didn't warn you. Everglades Adventures, 28965 Obern Road, Clewiston; 8639838999; www.huntsflorida.com
= 74 POINTS
Braveometer
Flora = 2 points
Birds = 1 point
Hike/Walk= 1 point
Mud = 2 points
Airboat = 3 points
Swamp Buggy= 3 points
Kayaking = 5 points
Other wildlife = 5 points
Chickee = 8 points
Nighttime = 9 points
Alligators = 10 points
Wild Boar = 10 points
Panthers = 15 points
Pythons = 20 points
Hunting = 30 points
0-10 points = Child's play
11-21 points = Might want to call your mom
22+ points = Who are you, Crocodile Dundee?
Reader Comments
- There are no comments posted yet. Be the first one!
