Hiking Florida :: Digesting Alligators

Alligator digesting a turtle

We did a lot of hiking while we were down in Florida. Flat hiking that is, as Florida isn't known for its hills. One of the places we explored was the Everglades. The landscape is gorgeous and varied from one area to the next.

Everglades River of Grass

We hiked through marsh lands that looked like a savannah, tree hammocks, dense mangroves to wide open ponds choked with lilies that are home to birds, turtles and alligators. The trails were easy to hike as there was a network of wooden bridges that made it easy to navigate through the marsh.

Close up of grasslands with White Ibis

One of the most interesting things we saw was an alligator up close, on land. We chatted with the park ranger who explained that this guy had been lying there (perfectly still) for 5 days digesting a turtle he ate. She explained that if you looked at his stomach you could see the circle from the turtle's shell and the gap just before his hind legs showed how stretched his stomach was from the turtle. 

The area is considered a tropical wetland, and it serves as a drainage basin for southern Florida. One term I loved (identified by writer Marjory Stoneman Douglas) was "River of Grass." Which is just so true. When you look out over the grassy savannah you realize that it is not solid ground, but a large waterway filled with dense grass. During the wet season this slow-moving river grows to 60 miles wide and 100+ miles long. 

Marjory was a journalist, feminist and environmentalist. When she was younger she spoke out on women's suffrage and civil rights. In to her 70s, she took a central role in protecting the everglades and earned the nickname the Grande Dame of the Everglades. She lived to be 108 and and collected all kinds of awards including a Presidential Medal of Freedom. I would have loved to spend a bit of time with her listening to the tales of her life.