Return from the 'The River of Grass'

The Everglades is a place not all that easy too describe. One's image of just endless grassy marshes may be only partly true. One's thought of the Everglades as a small wilderness national park down on the southern tip of Florida is not true. The river of grasses or Glades start much higher in the state of Florida.

The Glades is less a marsh land and more a giant, wide, long river that flows through southern Florida at a very slow pace. Originally this river flowed mostly to the western coast of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico. Now much of it is diverted through agricultural drainage ditches and ends up in the Atlantic.

This area is home to a huge diversity of plant and animal life. From orchids, to herons galore, alligators and fish. Each day I was constantly amazed with the life and each night able to smile under stars.

We took a 20-day trip south to north and spent a night in the Ten Thousand Islands Wilderness.

When I return to the glades I would like to spend more time in the islands section of the Gulf coast.

Few notable things I learned while down in the Glades:


-Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a poweful women writer and conservationist who played a large role in protecting this piece of land. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjory_Stoneman_Douglas

Clyde Butcher is a photographer from the area who really impressed me with his black and white work http://clydebutcher.com/

And of course the people and other animals who came before us. The Seminoles, The Calusa, Alligators, turtles, horeshoe crabs, pelicans....

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