Round Up: Things to do in the Everglades

October 25, 2016 by

things to do in the evergladesThe Everglades is a vast wilderness. If you want to plan a trip to this beautiful wetland, there is a lot you can possibly see and do. Even if you’ve been to the Park before, you can always come back and find new places to explore and experiences to partake in. Below, we’ve shared some tips on some things to do in the Everglades Park that are worth visiting.

  • If you’re looking to see some wildlife, the Shark Valley or Homestead entrances of the park is where you should enter.
  • If you have a lot of time, exploring the Ten Thousand Islands off the Gulf Coast, followed by a boat trip to the Everglades City entrance to the park is a great, breathtaking outing.
  • Visit the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center; the Center has a lot of great interactive exhibits and a 15-minute film, “River of Life” in the theater. You can also pick up maps here and have any questions you have answered. If you’d like to schedule a ranger-guided tour, you can do it here; these tours are great for first-time visitors.
  • The Anhinga Trail is a must-go-to place if you want to see alligators and wading birds at close range. This is a 3/4 mile paved, boardwalk trail.
  • The Pahayokee Overlook has an observation tower for people to view the vastness of the Everglades; it’s a great spot to catch the sunset.
  • Flamingo – If you plan to spend a lot of time in the Park or really love the outdoors, this is the area to go. It’s a long drive (38 miles from the Park’s entrance). This area is great for camping and birdwatching.
  • Coot Bay/Mud Lake is a great spot to canoe or kayak through mangrove tunnels and lakes; people can see lots of birds, alligators and crocodiles going this route.

Getting Around the Everglades

Along with all the great activities and places-to-see above, another great way to experience the Everglades up-close-and-personal is a ride on an airboat. Airboats are iconic in the Everglades. With an airboat tour, you can see wildlife and areas of the wetland that are inaccessible by foot. There are so many things to do in the Everglades! To book an airboat tour, contact Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click here.

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The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

October 18, 2016 by

MiccosukeeDid you know a Native American tribe resides still in the Everglades? There is, and they are called the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. They occupy several reservations in Florida, known as the Miccosukee Indian Reservation The largest section of this reservation is 333 acres of the north border of the Everglades National Park; in fact, the tribe controls around 200,000 acres of wetland; this land must be used for “the purpose of hunting, fishing, frogging, and subsistence agriculture to carry on the traditional Miccosukee way of life.”

The Miccosukee were originally part of the Creek Nation, who were an association of clan villages in Alabama and Georgia. The Miccosukee come from the Lower Creek region of Creek Nation and speak Mikasuki; they lived with other Lower Creek tribes in harmony as they shared religious and social practices. To survive, they hunted, fished and grew crops, including corn. The Tribe celebrates this new harvest each year still at the Green Corn Dance.

Around 1715, the Miccosukee made their way down into Florida in an effort to escape European settlers, as well as the Upper Creek Nation (who they did not get along with). The remained in the panhandle area for a while, but then ventured to settle around Alachua, which is south of the Tampa Bay area.

After Spain sold Florida to the United States, treaties between Indian leader and the new American settlers were occurring but in 1830 the Indian Removal Act was put into place and the Second Seminole War and Third Seminole War took place. During these wars, the Miccosukees escaped the fighting and hid in the Everglades. The current tribal members are descendants from the 50 members who were not captured in the wars.

In the Everglades, the Miccosukees had to adapt the new environment so they created “hammock style” camps. They fished and hunted to eat. They began to harvest native fruits of the hammocks, but corn, which played an important role in their customs, became difficult to grow.

Over the years, the Miccosukees have adapted to new ways but have always retained their culture. They have kept their language, medicine, and clans. Many still do not live in modern housing and prefer to live in chickees, which are thatched-roof houses on stilts. Since the 9160s, the Miccosukees have their own Constitution and bylaws.

The Miccosukee Indian Village and Airboat Rides is a family camp where there are sleeping, working, and cooking chickees. This village includes a museum, board walk, and alligator arena. People can visit the camp and watch the Miccosukke Indians engage in doll making, beadwork, patchwork, and basket weaving. There are alligator demonstrations, airboat rides, a restaurant, and a gift shop.

This village is a great place and trip to learn all about the culture, lifestyle, and history of the Tribe. The Village is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry costs $10 for adults, children (5-12)$6, and children under 5 are free. Airboat rides around the Village cost $16.

Explore the Everglades

The current population of the Miccosukee service area is 550 members. Membership is open to Indians who are on-held Miccosukee Indian blood and are not enrolled in other tribes. Definitely check out this culturally-rich area and learn more about their history in Florida and the everglades at their Village on Tamiami Trail in Miami.

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Sleep Under the Stars by Camping in the Everglades

October 11, 2016 by

Tent On A CampsiteCamping is one of the best ways to experience the great outdoors. But, did you know you can actually go camping in the Everglades National Park? You can! The park offers camping opportunities in both the front country and back country. Visitors are able to go camping year-round, but the wet season (June through November) is a more difficult and uncomfortable environment for camping. If you’re thinking about experiencing this beautiful wetland through a camping experience, remember to come prepared; the park does not provide any camping equipment for people to buy or rent.

For the front country camping, there are two drive-in accessible campgrounds from the Homestead entrance of the park, which are Long Pine Key Campground and Flamingo Campground. People can bring both tents and RVs to the sites. These are the only two sites in the front country part of the Everglades.

For the most part, the number of camp sites in these campgrounds meet the demand. In the winter (busy) season, it is recommended to reserve a site for Flamingo. A limited number of group sites (which accommodate up to 15 people) are available. A maximum backcountry stay is 14 days.

With backcountry camping, people can camp at a number of ground sites, beach sites, and elevated camping platforms across the park. These sites can be reached by canoe, kayak, motorboat, and some can be reached by hiking. Most of these sites are in the Ten Thousand Islands and along the rivers that flow into these islands.

For this type of wilderness camping, a permit is required, which a person can pick up the day before or day of his or her trip at the Flamingo or Gulf Coast Visitor Center or the fee station at the Homestead park entrance. The permit processing fee costs $15 and there is a $2 per person per day camping fee.

Visitors are asked to use caution at campsites where alligators and other wildlife have been fed/gained access to human food.

Explore the Everglades

If you plan on exploring the Everglades before you set up camp, an airboat tour is a great way to get around the park. To book an airboat tour, contact Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours by clicking here or calling 800-368-0065.

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Bird watching in the Everglades

October 4, 2016 by

Avid birdwatcher? Well, the Everglades is a great place to go bird watching; you’ll see a variety of birds. The Park provides the perfect setting with plenty of spots where birds roost, nest, eat, or fly by. In fact, the Park is one of the top 10 birding locations in the world; park goers have the chance to see both resident coastal and wading birds in a number of different species. There are more than 350 species of birds in the Everglades for a person to catch a glimpse of! Come prepared with a set of binoculars to spot as many as you can!

Because of its geographic location, the Everglades is the ideal place for migratory birds to visit. Some of these birds include: Black skimmers, ducks, red knots, sandpipers, terns, willets, whimbrels, dunlin, long and short billed curlew, the American oystercatcher, and many more.

Below are some of the great spots within the Park where you can go bird watching:

Anhinga Trail – During the dry winter season, people can spot wading birds, cormorants, purple gallinules, and nesting Anhingas along the path during the day.

Eco Pond – In the morning, bird watchers can spot wading birds, American coots, osprey, white-crowned pigeons, warblers, red-shouldered hawks, Anhingas, rails, painted buntings and more around this bond.

Gulf Coast Visitor Center – In the vicinity of this visitor center, people have the opportunity to see wading birds, cormorants, osprey, bald eagles, pelicans, shoebirds, peregrine falcons, wood storks, and more.

Mahogany Hammock – Around this area, the cape sable sparrow can be seen in the early morning during the spring, along with bald eagles and warblers. Owls come out in this area in the evening.

Mrazek Pond – Throughout the year, ducks and wading birds hang out around and in this pond. For a few days during the winter, people can spot roseate spoonbills and wood storks.

Other great Everglades spots to go bird watching: Nine Mile Pond, Paurotis Pond, Shark Valley Tram Road, and Snake Bight Trail.

Explore The Everglades

Want another way to go bird watching in the Everglades besides on foot? Try an airboat tour! An airboat tour can bring to around places in the Park where birds will be nesting, wading, and flying by that you won’t be able to access by walking. To book an airboat tour, contact Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 1-800-368-0065 or click here.

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