Miami

This morning we called up a Uber ( getting real clever at that).

Doris arrived and o no she only speaks Spanish...that's okay we'll get by.

Headed out to the Everglades where we were met by Chad from Everglades Nature Tours and his lovely assistant whose name escapes me at present. She was a bit of a character. Took a photo of us on the airboat holding a paper with our surnames on it. Then told us it was so she could identify our bodies later....great!

And we're off

So what did we learn?

The Everglades are actually a moving river not a swamp.

The river runs from east to west and then into the Gulf of Mexico

The Everglades cover 1.8 million acres.

There are lots of fish in there particularly the Loudmouth Bass. 

5 species of turtle.......mmmm they are alligator food.

Apparently the alligators can go a whole year without eating.

The alligators in there can live up to 75 years.

There are 64 different types of frogs....The bullfrog is sort after as it's their legs you will eat  in a restaurant. Every 50 days they produce 40 - 60 babies so it's open season on them.

This year is the most water that have been in the Everglades for 15 years. All the water in there comes from above.

The start

The brown stuff you can see is like an algae which actually filters out the impurities in the water. Apparently the water is drinkable....mmmm not sure if I'd want to be the tester.

Purple flowers...my favourite...they were used by the Indians. Crushed up and sugar added and you a sort of peanut butter.

This Cyprus tree is around 200 years old. The Indians also used these trees to make their canoes.

Just to the right of the photo is a Cyprus tree that was damaged in the 1992 cyclone Andrew. It has just started reproducing foliage this year.

There were heaps of these Lotus flowers, however they are called Bankers. Now, you know that would appeal to me !!!

The reason..... They are only open the same hours as bankers !!!......love it 

Now, Peter, what are you eating?

Well, it was a grass that kinda tasted like maybe a bland celery.

This is where we saw the alligator, however I think he saw 4 kiwis and hid.

Peter said the devil was peeping out of the water as the boat took off. 

More photos on the next post