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This adventure introduces middle schoolers to wellness through yoga, meditation, journaling, rock climbing, hot springs, and animal cHave you ever seen an alligator in the wild? Do you know what an alligator feels like, sounds like, or tastes like? After joining us on Glorious Gators, your answer to all of these questions will be a resounding yes!
During this trip, students will explore mangrove forests, wetlands, and waterways, observing alligators, wading birds, dolphins, and other fascinating wildlife. Along boardwalks and trails, students will learn about the plants and animals that make this region so special, as well as the challenges these ecosystems face today. During the week, participants will hike through the Everglades, visit the Gator Farm and Zoo Miami, and spend a full day with a naturalist guide exploring the region’s wildlife and habitats via boardwalks, trails, and an airboat.
Day 1
Day 1
After our adventures through the airports and the budget rental cars, we arrived at our beautiful VRBO, explored and started Herping (the act of searching for reptiles and amphibians—such as snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, and turtles—in the wild for study, photography, or hobbyist enjoyment)!
Day 2
Day 2
We saw our first gator today!
We started our day by visiting the Anhinga Trail at Everglades National Park. Right away, we noticed that we were surrounded by wildlife. From the boardwalk, we saw some awesome stuff: an alligator eating a turtle, baby anhingas being fed by their mother, a kingfisher catching a fish, and too many fish- including Florida gar and largemouth bass- to count.
While we ate lunch, we listened to Ranger Zelagin's informative talk about biodiversity in the Everglades. We left with a new appreciation for tree snails, a much underappreciated inhabitant of the hardwood hammocks (Google them for an interesting read). On our walk on the Gumbo Limbo trail, we were able to spot a couple of tree snails for ourselves.
After a major shopping trip to the famous Publix, we returned home to eat dinner and celebrate Natanya's birthday. The group then split: half of us stayed for some relaxation time, while the other half of the group went on a short night-herping excursion.
We wrote in our journals about new facts we learned about The Everglades. Here are some highlights:
Alligators have a 2.5 pH level in their stomachs and can digest anything organic. -Ronan C
The Everglades have a lot of invasive species. -Dylan S
The Everglades are the only place where Alligators and crocodiles coexist. -Kaspar D
There are dozens of unique subspecies of tree snails in South Florida because of the separated hardwood hammock "islands". -Nora K
Crocodiles are distinguished from alligators because all crocodiles have a salt gland that allows them to live in saline water. This expands their habitat range and gives them an advantage over crocodiles. -Ms. Finan
There are many species of invasive fish in the Everglades, including tilapia, cichlids, and oscars. -Ms. Bender
Tomorrow, we get to get up close and personal with the gators on our airboat tour! Goodnight from Florida.
Day 3
Day 3
Day three was our wildest day yet! We set out this morning on an eight hour adventure Safari through the Everglades, starting with a fan boat tour, which took us through the canals to locate sunning alligators, including some baby alligators. Did you know that babies are striped when they’re born? This helps them blend in for camouflage because that is their biggest threat when they are that small (only 1ft long).
Next, we stopped by Clyde Bucher‘s photography Gallery. Clyde Butcher is a wildlife photographer who specializes in photography of the Everglades. Following this, we took a walk along the boardwalk at the Miccosukee reservation in Big Cypress National Park and saw a lot of alligators ranging in sizes from 6 feet to 10+ feet long.
After that, we had an incredible lunch and we tried alligator for the first time! We finished the day with a boat ride, heading out to the Gulf, where pelicans and ospreys flew overhead and dolphins danced alongside our boats.
Dolphins.mp4Day 4
Day 4
Day 5
Day 5
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