Where Gators Lie in Wait
Everglades National Park
Southern Florida
March 24, 2012
So we left our Caribbean cruise, said goodbye to Chocolate and the Epic, and rolled our bags down the gangway and back onto American concrete. Our cabbie took us out to the airport where we rented a car and, after dropping our bags at the hotel, drove it west to the Everglades.
There, in the sharp light of late afternoon, in the sultry heat of a semi-tropical spring, we learned that the Everglades are a dry river this time of year, and never a swamp in any season. Turns out to be a good time to spot alligators, since there are fewer pools of standing water and they tend to congregate there.
We saw plenty, and from only a few feet away. The signs warn that they are quick and vicious prehistoric predators. But that doesn't stop the birds from walking boldly in their path.
