Shark Valley: A Brief Foray into Everglades National Park

Monday, 1 December 2014 
Miami, Florida
Temps: Hi 82F (28C) / Lo 70F (21C)

After being overwhelmed by the crowds at Miami Beach last night, we wanted a different experience today … something that involved nature and wildlife.  So, we headed to Shark Valley, about 27 miles (43 km) from where we’re staying in Kendale Lakes.

Let me clear something up right away.  We didn’t go to an aquarium or other such attraction to see sharks.  Rather, we went to the 1.5 million-acre Everglades National Park — well, to a teeny-tiny portion of it anyway.

As you can see from the map to the right, I’m not kidding when I say that we visited a very small part of the Everglades — the red squiggly-line marked by a red-star is the route of the tram ride we took through the sawgrass prairie to see what we could see on this exploratory trip into the immense park.

Contrary to its name, there are no sharks where we went; just alligators, birds, a lone salt water crocodile, and more.  The name comes from the Shark River Slough, the main avenue of water flow through the Everglades.  As the ranger explained, people got lazy over the years and shortened the name to Shark Valley.

Normally, I would regale you with all kinds of information about the very special ecosystem we visited today.  But I am running out of time to finish posting about this portion of our four-month trip.  If I don’t get this done before we embark on a month-long cruise three days hence, it will be next year before I’ll get back to it.  Hence, if you want more information about the park, you will need to rely on the links I provided above.

Anyway, we arrived at the Shark Valley Visitor Center around 10:15a.  Since our National Park Pass has expired, and we won’t be needing one for a while, we just paid the $10/vehicle entrance fee — not a bad deal, really, since it gains you admission to the park for seven days — if you’ve got that much time.

The ideal way to see what the area has to offer is by bike or on foot.  I can’t keep my balance on a bike; and it was too hot to walk the entire 15-mile (24 km) loop.  So, we did the next best thing and took the guided tram tour.  Mui was offered a military discount on the normal adult fare of $23, so we ended up paying $18/person for the two-hour tour.

Don’t be fooled by this photo, which I took at the Observation Tower
before all the passengers re-boarded; we were full up for the tram tour.

Unfortunately for us, the tour was sold out, so there was no room to spread out once we boarded the tram.  We ended up in seats in the last row of the first car.  The advantage — or so we thought at first — was that the ranger was on the same car with us.  Tip: if you want to hear what he is saying, sit closer to the front, or in the second tram.  With the engine right behind us, I could make out only part of what he was saying.  Another tip: the best side of the tram — especially for the return leg of the tour — is on the left.  On our tour, most everything was on the left side on both legs, so I’m glad Mui asked the ranger in the visitor center for her opinion before we left the building.

The tour was interesting, and served as a good introduction.  We were on a schedule, however, so the tram didn’t stop for bird sightings, except on a few occasions.  We did stop at several alligator sightings, however, which pleased most of the visitors on the tram as they had already told the ranger that was what they most wanted to see.  We had better gator encounters later when we ventured a short distance down the road after the tour was over.  Tip: if you’re going to walk/bike the road, go to the right from the visitor center — the gators are more easily seen there.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the observation tower, where we got off the tram and walked to the top of the 65-foot (20m) high tower for a look at the expansive view of the ecosystem.  It was also here that the ranger pointed out the salt water crocodile that was lazily swimming in the river.  After 20 minutes, we returned to the tram to complete the loop back to the visitor center.

Before we left, however, the ranger and the tram driver unrolled the skin of a Burmese python that was killed in Shark Valley.  Why specifically show us the skin?  Because these snakes are an invasive species released into the Everglades accidentally — or more likely, intentionally — by pet owners who can’t/won’t take care of them anymore.  A major threat to the native species of the Everglades, over 2,000 of them have been removed in the past 12 years or so — just a fraction of the population that is thought to be breeding in the park and surrounding area.  (More info here.)

This 14-foot (4m) long snake skin is from a Burmese python that was killed in Shark Valley.

So what kind of wildlife did we see on the tour?  Gators, of course — and plenty of them; and the salt water crocodile.  Also, pied-billed grebe; ibis; great blue heron; great egret; little blue egret — my first immature one as well as several adults; tricolored heron; anhinga; golden silk orbweaver (spider); wood stork; red-shouldered hawk — later when we were walking the trail.

Anhinga (female)	Little Blue Heron (immature)

So, enough with the words.  Now for a bunch of photos …

Ibis

American Alligator

Anhinga (female)

Anhinga (male)

We were surprised that people were allowed on the paths where alligators
were sunning themselves.  Mui made sure there were others that were
within easier reach of this gator before he agreed to a photo op ;-)

A closer look at Mui’s photo-op companion.  No; he is not plastic.

The little blue heron (left) was having a hissy fit and kept chasing the tricolored heron away.

Wanna see my pedicure?
Red Shouldered Hawk

An anhinga drying its feathers …

… in the company of not one, but two alligators.

My what big, sharp teeth you have!

Now for a story that falls into the “You Can’t Fix Stupid” category.  All through the tour, the ranger told us stories about how people walk up to gators to pull their tails, pet them, or whatnot.  I took the stories with a grain of salt — until we saw a kid try to do just that.  We couldn’t believe our eyes.  And worse, his parents were encouraging him so they could take a picture of him petting the gator.  The kid was reaching down, with his fingers just inches from the gator’s tail when we called out to stop him and told him that what he was doing could easily get him killed.  His parents’ reaction — “oh, we had no idea alligators were dangerous.”  Duh!!!  And double duh!!!

Does this animal look even remotely pet-able?  I think not!

It was close to 2:00p when we left Shark Valley.  Stomachs growling, we drove back to Miami.  I had an errand to run, so we stopped at a mall not far from Mary Jo’s, and while there, decided to have a late lunch/early dinner.  Perusing our options, we settled on Earl’s Kitchen+Bar.  I ordered the soup of the day — cream of mushroom — and Caesar salad combo, which was served with a thick slice of pan bread.  Mui was feeling carnivorous, so he ordered the “Bigger Better” burger — big indeed it was.  As good as the food was though, the hot toffee sundae we split was the pièce de résistance ;-)

Vanilla and chocolate gelato with candied pecans — yummy!

I’m glad we went to the Everglades today even though it was just a short visit.  Eventually, we will return to Florida in our motorhome and explore this national park in depth.  For now, today’s brief foray was a good introduction — and we saved a kid’s life by being in the right place at the right time!  That alone makes it a good day ;-)

R&R and Errands in Miami; Dinner in Miami Beach

Sunday, 30 November 2014 
Miami, Florida
Temps: Hi 79F (26C) / 68F (20C)

Planning our four-month trip, we were initially going to leave home two days from today.  When our friends asked us to join them on a cruise to the Caribbean, those plans changed and we left home on November 19 — with a bunch of to-do’s for the longer trip still pending.

The second day of our post-cruise stay in Miami afforded us the time we needed to handle some of those niggling details.  The rest of the time — we relaxed on Mary Jo’s patio; did chores … thanks for the use of the laundry facilities, Mary Jo; polished and uploaded a couple of blog posts.  And at the end of the day, we squeezed in a bit of sightseeing.

Beautiful blooms add color to Mary Jo’s patio.

As this was my first ‘real’ visit to Miami, Mui said I should see at least a little bit of Miami Beach (MB) — so that’s where we headed.  Our destination: the Lincoln Road Mall, a pedestrian-only promenade described as “South Florida’s premier shopping, dining, and entertainment destination.”

Leaving the car at a nearby parking structure, we went a-walkin’ on the mall.  It was crowded, and noisy; filled with interesting people-watching opportunities ;-)  As night fell, our tummies reminded us that it was time for dinner.  We continued our stroll, stopping along the way to check out the posted menus at the various eateries.  Eventually, we settled on Il Bolognese, which features “authentic recipes from Northern Italy.”  Although it was quite cool and breezy, we decided to dine al fresco at one of the sidewalk tables, where we were kept warm by propane heaters interspersed amongst the tables.

As we sipped our wine, we perused the menu.  From the many mouth-watering dishes, we ordered the teriyaki salmon and the tortellini with piselli and prosciutto to split.  We skipped dessert in lieu of some gelato from the 4D Gelateria we had spotted earlier.  Sorry; no photo — the gelato was so yummy that we fairly inhaled it ;-)

After dinner, we hopped in the car and headed to the infamous Ocean Drive where people go to see and be seen.  At first we thought we’d park somewhere and take a stroll, but one look at the crowds was enough to change our minds.  Instead, we just drove up and down the street, and then headed home.  I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t even take out the camera.

My experience of the Miami Beach area was brief — and more than enough to satisfy me.  No need to go back the next time we find ourselves in the Miami area.

Disembarking Reflection … Welcome Back to Miami

Saturday, 29 November 2014 
Miami, Florida
Temps: Hi 77F (25C) / 55F (13C)

Miami, Florida welcomed us back to the US with sunshine and blue skies; and comfortable temperatures and low humidity.  Of course, it was still dark when we stepped out on the veranda at 6:30a, so we didn’t know then what a beautiful day the city had in store for us — even if it was quite breezy.

Reflection was already docked; the pre-dawn activity in the port consisted of ships slowly streaming by to tie up at their berths.  We got ready and headed to the Opus Restaurant for table-service breakfast — it was crowded, but not as crazy as the buffet tends to get on disembarkation day.

We came on this cruise prepared to do self-disembarkation — meaning we would carry-off our own bags as soon as the ship was cleared.  When we saw that this group was assigned the 6:45a slot, we changed our minds.  We had nowhere special to be, so we requested a late departure instead to let the crowds dwindle a bit first.  We were assigned luggage tag #22 at 9:30a.

That didn’t mean we could stay in our cabin until then, however.  We had to be out of the cabin by 8:00a, so that the stewards could begin their turnaround-day chores.  No problem; we had three staging areas from which to choose where to wait for our number to be called — the Reflection Theater … designated for a number of groups, including #22; the Opus Restaurant … for passengers in concierge class cabins; or the Tuscan Grill … for members of the top three tiers of the Captain’s Club.  We headed to the Tuscan Grill first, and when we saw that it was all but empty, we decided that was the place to be.

View of the Miami Skyline from our veranda before we vacate the cabin.

One of the things I really like about Celebrity’s disembarkation process is that announcements for group numbers is limited to the waiting area designated for each group.  This pretty much ensures that passengers wait in their assigned location instead of crowding the stairs and gangway.  Since we were in the Tuscan Grill, we had to rely on the Captain’s Club Hostess to relay the information to us when our group was called to the gangway.  No problem; she added #22 to her clipboard list and we were free to while away the next hour and a half at our leisure.  We powered up our mi-fi device, got a strong internet signal, and went to work.  We called our families, we checked emails, I uploaded the photos I had processed for the blog.

From our perspective, disembarkation went like clockwork.  #22 was called to the gangway at 9:15a; we walked into the terminal and made our way down the escalator to collect our bag.  Miami’s port facilities have airport-style carousels for luggage being offloaded from the ships.  Each carousel had a sign showing tag numbers, so finding our one bag was a piece of cake.  Immigration and customs was a cinch, as well.

First order of business — pick up the confiscated leatherman tool.  We were directed to do so at the arrivals terminal, so I waited with the bags while Mui went inside to take care of business.  When he returned, we tried to figure out where to find the car rental company shuttles.  Turns out there is no specific place; just stand on the sidewalk by the road and wave down the one you need.

Meet Milo, Mary Jo & Marlene’s friendly Pomeranian.

It took a while before the first of three back-to-back Alamo shuttles showed up.  The rental car companies have gotten smart.  In the past, anyone could claim they had a reservation and hop-on without any proof.  Not anymore; the driver asked to see rental confirmations before he would place anyone’s bags in the luggage racks.  No problem; I was prepared with a pdf copy of our confirmation on the iPad ;-)

Once at the airport, I waited outside the car rental center; Mui went inside to take care of business.  While he was gone, I made note of the other rental agencies who offer shuttles between the airport and the Port of Miami.  For my own benefit — and that of others — they are: Alamo/National/Enterprise, and Dollar/Thrifty.  If there are others, their shuttles didn’t pass by me while I was there.

Mui had reserved an economy car, and that’s what he paid for.  But when we went out to get the car, none were available.  A very upset woman had the last car and was arguing with the dispatcher because it wasn’t a specific model.  She eventually sped off in a huff.  We patiently stood, chatting with the dispatcher.  When an economy car did not become available after a few minutes, we asked the dispatcher nicely if he could just upgrade us.  And he did — he gave us a full-size car at no additional charge!  By 11:15a, we were driving away from the airport in a Chevy Malibu.

Regular readers of this blog know that we usually book our hotel accommodations by bidding on Priceline or similar site.  Sometimes, though, we direct-book with a hotel, or use sites like Trip Advisor or Booking.com.  We used none of them for our post-cruise stay in Miami.  This time we turned to AirBNB for our accommodations.  This is a site from which you can rent a place from local hosts in nearly 200 countries — often at very reasonable rates.

Properties range from luxurious villas, to small apartments and houses, to private rooms in homes for a B&B type of experience.  There are even some boat-stays that can be booked.  After checking out several of the listings, we settled on one that was described as having “… your own entrance with privacy to come and go as you please in our single family pool/spa home.”  Lovely!  The reviews from past guests were positive; the rates reasonable — we took the plunge!

Our first AirBNB experience is a private room in this home in the Kendale Lakes area of Miami.

We had no problems finding Mary Jo’s place as we had already been by to drop off the bags she had agreed to keep for us while we were on our cruise.  Before long, we were on the pool patio enjoying a chat with the very vivacious and friendly Mary Jo; Marlene, her partner, was down with a cold, so it wasn’t until later that we bid her hello — from a distance ;-)  We didn’t stay long.  Mary Jo was in the midst of preparing our room for us; we had a few errands to run and some lunch to get.  So, with directions to The Palms shopping area, we headed off to take care of business.

Mary Jo had suggested Sweet Tomatoes for a light lunch, but the line at the salad buffet was long.  So, we went to Carmine’s Trattoria instead.  It was a lovely day for an al fresco meal, so we asked to be seated on the terrace overlooking a pond.

The al fresco dining setting was the saving grace of our lunch at Carmine’s.

Having had a couple of enjoyable meals at the Carmine’s in DC, we expected a similar experience here.  Alas we were disappointed.  Service was very slow — our server kept saying that he was also tending the bar.  It wasn’t like the place was full or anything, so I’m thinking the problem lay more with the kitchen than anything else.  The food wasn’t great either.  We wanted a light meal, so I ordered a soup and salad — the Italian wedding soup came out separately, which was OK; but it was lukewarm.  Mui ordered a mixed salad with a half chicken parmesan panini, which was tasty; but it was more bread than chicken.  At least both salads were good.  Perhaps the restaurant was just having an off-day, but we’ll think twice before going to another Carmine’s.

The best part of lunch — aside from dining al fresco — the olive oil for dipping our bread!

The salads were good; the soup and panini not so much.

After lunch, we were going to get some Belgian chocolate-chocolate ice cream from the Häagen Dazs shop, but somehow in the midst of taking care of our errands, we neglected to do so :-(  Next time.

By the time we returned to Mary Jo’s our room was ready; we lost no time in settling in.  Of the two rooms available here, we booked the converted pool house overlooking the patio; cozy but lovely, with all the amenities we could need, including a kitchenette.  The en suite was small, but the walk-in shower was quite large … served our purpose just fine.

I think we found a perfect setting to sit back and relax; do our post-cruise chores, such as laundry; and work on the blog in my spare time.  We’ll throw in a little bit of sightseeing while we’re here, too.