The Future of Airboats in the Everglades

August 29, 2016 by

airboatsOne of the most iconic things in the Everglades National Park is about to start disappearing. No, it’s not an endangered animal or plant, it’s the airboat. For more than 85 years, airboats have been gliding across the waters of the Everglades, but Congress and the National Park Service are looking to phase them out.

In 1989, Congress mandated that the U.S. Park Service develop a comprehensive management plan that would include the government buying 9,000 parcels of land. After dozens of meetings and years later, this plan is ready to be implemented, which means an end to private air boating in the park. However, air boaters that can prove they were atleast 16 years old and an active airboater as of 1989 will be grandfathered in. It is still unclear how many will qualify under those parameters. For everyone else, there’s not much time left to keep their business in the Everglades.

The only air boating that will be allowed in the eastern section of the Park will be four commercial air boat tour operations that work as contractors for the park. Park officials will dictate the air boat’s schedules.

Many air boaters, including members of the Airboat Association of Florida, are heartbroken over this news. They believe air boating in the Everglades is a major part of Florida’s culture, and it will now be nearly gone.

Air boaters have the opportunity to air boat elsewhere or on state lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. There is also a chance many will disobey the laws and continuing riding through, while being on the lookout for park rangers.

According to the Florida Biodiversity Project, the wetlands are being eroded by air boat traffic. The group wants all air boats banned until its proven the vehicles aren’t violating the Clean Water Act. They believe this ban is the only hope to prevent permanent destruction in the Everglades.

Catch an Airboat Tour While You Can

Airboats will soon be a thing of the past in the Everglades. Catch a ride on one as soon as you can. Airboats allow Park visitors the chance to be up-close-and-personal with the Park. To book an airboat tour, call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click here.

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Plant profile: Pond Apple

August 19, 2016 by

pond appleThe Everglades is home to an array of plants that thrive in the wet, subtropical climate. Although mangroves and grasses come to many people’s minds when thinking about plant life in the Everglades, we’d like to profile a plant that many people might not know about that is native to the area: the pond apple.

The pond apple, Annona glabra, is a shrub or small tree with evergreen leaves, white/pale yellow thick-petal flowers and large fruit.  This plant is also known as alligator apple, swamp apple, corkwood, and monkey apple. Along with the Everglades, this plant is also native in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, South America, West Africa, and South Asia.

They can grow up to 30 to 40 feet tall by 10 to 20 feet wide. As a young pond apple tree, the bark is gray and scale; as the tree gets older, the bark becomes fissured and can turn to a reddish-brown color. These trees can be found along streams and rivers banks, canal banks, slough swamps, freshwater ponds, lakes, and strands. The pond apple is known to flourish around bald cypress trees. They tolerate salt water and cannot grow in dry soil.

In the past, there was a pond apple forest at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee, but due do drainage over the years this habitat was destroyed. Still, the largest numbers of this species of tree are found in the Everglades, but they can also be found throughout other areas of Florida.

Native Indians and settlers to the Everglades ate the fruit off this tree, but it is now considered unsavory for humans to eat. Most of the fruit will mature and fall of the trees in the fall and winter. When they drop, they are green or green/yellow in color. The fruit has a sweet aroma and the pulp is fleshy, mealy, and pithy. The flesh is yellow/orange in color and is filled with more than 100 dark-colored seeds within. The seeds are poisonous, and powder from the seeds have been known to blind people. The seeds and leaves of this plant are known to be insecticidal. More recent studies are showing that the seeds contain anticancer compound, which may be able to be used medically. Birds, raccoons, squirrels, and alligators have been known to eat the pond apple fruit.

Not only does the pond apple provide food for many animals in the Everglades, it also provides shelter and creates a safe haven for many, as well.

Visit the Pond Apple’s Habitat

Explore where this fruit-filled tree thrives while on an airboat ride. An airboat can take you through many places in the Everglades with the opportunity to see this plant, along with hundreds of other species of plants, many of which are unique only to the River of Grass. To book an airboat tour, call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click here.

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Go Slough Slogging in the Everglades

August 11, 2016 by

Slough SloggingThinking about heading to the Everglades? Or want to experience it in a different way? Try slough slogging. Ever heard of it? Slough slogging is a great way to experience the Everglades – participants get up close and personal with the environment. In short, slough slogging is a wet hike, or off-trail hiking, in the wetlands in the park with a park ranger.

By slough slogging, you get to experience the Everglades in a way most people never get to. Guides take people through the Shark River Slough. Participants must bring water, sturdy close-toed lace-up shoes, and long pants on this hiking trips; it is also suggested that people bring sunscreen, a long sleeve shirt, insect repellent, binoculars, and snacks. Groups should expect and be prepared for high water and plenty of insects that will bite.

For these trips, it’s best to plan ahead, because guided hikes in the Everglades are limited to 15 people in a group; reservations are required. To partake in a slough slogging trip, participants must be 12 years or older. These trips are free.

During these trips, groups move slowly through the muck and uneven terrains into the cypress dome. On these trips, people get the chance to see lots of different plant life, fish, and birds.

Slough slogs are scheduled and weather dependent; these hikes run several times a week from December through April, but do occur throughout the rest of the year, just less frequently. For more information, click here or call 305-242-7700.

Explore the Everglades Further

Trudging through mucky waters isn’t your thing? That’s OK, plenty of people don’t want to get dirty on a sight-seeing trip of the Everglades. For a less messy trip that will allow you to see even more of the Everglades, an airboat tour is your best bet. Whether you’re tired from slough slogging earlier in the day or don’t feel like walking around, an airboat ride provides the ideal Everglades viewing experience. To book an airboat tour, call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click here to schedule a tour today.

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Take A Ride on the Shark Valley Bike Trail

August 2, 2016 by

shark valleyThe Everglades is a beautiful, majestic place perfect for you to explore and enjoy in a variety of different ways. If you’re looking for some extra exercise and a peaceful and enjoyable way to experience the park, you should try biking through Shark Valley.

The Shark Valley bike trail is a 15-mile trip that is good for any type of bicycle; this trail is flat and is not a rough terrain. On average, this ride takes bicyclists two to 3 hours to complete. Usually, people don’t bike nonstop on this trail, because they stop to view the beautiful wetland scenery around them.

The bike trail is also used by trams, run by Shark Valley Tram Tours. People ride bikes opposite the flow of tram traffic. The loop starts at the visitor center. People are asked to stop biking when a tram passes, and they can continue once the tram has fully passed them. The speed limit for trams and bicyclists on this trail is 25 mph for safety purposes.

People are allowed to bring their own bicycles, or they can rent them from Shark Valley Tram Tours. Bikes are available to rent on a first-come, first-served basis. The rental bikes are single-gear, coaster brake bikes with adjustable seats. There are also children’s bikes available, as well as bikes with child seats attached. Shark Valley Tram Tours also provides helmets and baskets for people to use with their bike rental. Bikes can be rented and used on this trail from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On this trail, there are no short cuts. For people who do not want to or cannot complete the 15-mile trip, they are advised to turn around on the road to return. The parking lot for this trail closes at 6 p.m. People can find restrooms and a water fountain at an observation tower at the farthest point on the loop road.

If you’re looking to ride with a group larger than 20 people, you need to obtain a special use permit from a park ranger. Also if you want to bike outside the normal biking hours, you will also have to obtain a permit.

Through the ride on Shark Valley trail, people can get a closer look at bayhead and hammock ecosystems in Bobcat Boardwalk and Otter Cave Hammock trail, which are a couple of unpaved walking trails people can explore along the way.

Being in the middle of the Everglades, there is the chance of seeing wildlife. Feeding or harassing the animals in the park is not allowed, and people are asked to keep their distance from any wildlife they see for their own safety.

Visit the Everglades

Biking is a great way to explore the great outdoors of the Everglades Park. Another awesome way to see even more sights throughout this precious ecosystem is a trip on an airboat. Airboats can bring visitors to places beyond where a walking or biking trail can reach. To book an airboat tour, call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click here.

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