The Everglades in Florida: A Magical Place
We spent a week driving through the Everglades — from airboat tours and a 600-pound alligator named Charlie, to quiet water glades, star-filled nights, and a run-in with some very determined mosquitoes — before finally making our way down to the Keys.
7/28/202610 min read
We all know there's Everglades National Park, but… the Everglades are way larger than the national park — actually a 1.5 million acre subtropical wetland ecosystem in central and south Florida, and we LOVE exploring it.
When we moved to Florida we drove through alligator alley several times, and the joy of spotting alligators from the road became more of a desire that grew with time — time spent seeing these beautiful, scary, incredible prehistoric animals. So a little while back we decided to do a trip through the Everglades and see it all (all we could, at least) — our trip would be going to Everglades National Park, and then from there down to the Keys. We took a full week to do it. (Truth? It wasn't enough time, but there might never be enough time.)
Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
We started our adventure on the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, which is an amazing place to start if you've never done a trip through the Everglades, since you can do a nature walk and enjoy the wildlife in their natural habitat, which makes it feel a bit more real than watching them from far away. The alligators were so close to the shore that you could touch them if you wanted to.
We do not recommend that.
For us this was such a treat. We got to experience the thrilling feeling of seeing an alligator walking through the grass all the way to the water, which was one of the coolest things we've seen. We saw over a dozen alligators in just an hour, which already feels like a lot but actually wasn't, since there can be way more — closer to 50, maybe more in a day. Kinda crazy to be so close to so many.
A few things worth knowing before you go:
Alligators are wild animals — you should not approach them. They need their space.
Do not get close to the water. They are fast.
Remember, you are in their territory.
Stay on trail.
Bring water.
Wear sun protection.
After Big Cypress Bend we continued our journey and drove the scenic ride (Janes Memorial Scenic Drive), because when there's a scenic ride you should always take it, and it was worth it — beautiful, quiet, calm, not rushed. Although we didn't get to see more alligators on this scenic drive, we got to see some deer roaming around, which we never expected to see in Florida, to be honest, so it was quite a lovely surprise. We also got to see a lot of different species of birds that were absolutely stunning.
We spent our entire day driving, stopping, getting out, and spending a little time immersed in nature, so when our day ended we went back to a spot found earlier so we could camp out for the night (since for this trip we decided to do a little car camping). We parked, got our chairs out, made dinner, and watched the sunset while eating in the wild Florida. We finished, cleaned up, and set up to get to bed.
Airboats, the Gator Sanctuary, and Charlie
After our tour ended we drove through town and found a cute park where we cooked and ate lunch, but truthfully we were rushing because we needed to get to Wootens Animal Sanctuary — warmly welcomed by two four-foot-long alligators saying hello from the water, which sparked our curiosity and excitement.
The sanctuary is a great place to see alligators of all sizes, more than we would ever probably see. During our time there we saw over 200 alligators — one of the highlights of the entire trip. Then there was the gator show with Charlie the Gator and Cole the handler. Charlie, who is the famous alligator, is 12 feet and 600 pounds — insane. Charlie gets into "Charlie's gate" and "plays," touches, and explains all you need to know about alligators. But when you see a man put his hand into the open mouth of an alligator that big, it's kinda thrilling but super cool.
Some of the other things we enjoyed about this sanctuary: they also have tigers and teeny tiny baby gators, which you can hold and touch — a literal dream come true. There are also American crocodiles, and we finally understood the difference between alligators and crocodiles by seeing the two so close, almost next to each other — which to be fair is pretty obvious once you learn it, but is also very scary how big crocodiles can get, since they definitely look a lot scarier.
The next day we woke up early in the morning — and we do love waking up early, but sometimes when you are so calm and relaxed you just want to take it easy. Although, we already had plans with Captain James in Everglades City.
Who is Captain James? Well, that's the company name: Captain James Airboat Tour. We'd never been on an airboat before — we took an alligator boat tour in Louisiana in the past, but it was a motor boat — so we were so excited to do an airboat, and it lived up to our expectations.
It's one of the coolest experiences and dates we've done: the speed (they can go fast, which made it even better), the fun of grabbing our things, and the little fear of falling in the water. One of the highlights of this experience — we were the first group to spot gators, which was a treat and quite crazy, since it was so close to our boat that we could almost reach and touch it. Then we went fast again and again, and before the tour ended we saw a little raccoon running and doing some tricks — mostly gathering its food, but also looking right at us — and it was adorable. We did sick tricks in the boat with a funny tour guide, Ivan, which made it a pretty unique experience that we 100 percent recommend.
When we finished the drive we decided to make dinner close by, and found a nice spot — the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve Park Office/Ranger Station — which was awesome since we were the only two people around. Our dinner smelled amazing and the view was beautiful. The sky, colored by the setting sun, gave us the perfect backdrop for the ending of a perfect day. Then the night came, so we packed up our things, drove back to civilization, and camped in a Walmart lot. Not the fanciest, but definitely some of the richest days.
After the gator sanctuary, we drove to the Oasis Visitor Center, which has an epic movie playing with tons of info that is so worth watching. They also have a fantastic spot for gator watching right on the boardwalk outside the center, where you can observe from above and quite close without compromising security, and it truthfully feels like you can simply enjoy the view for hours without worrying about being on their path. For us this place was a blast, since we got to see gator "fights" — them crawling on each other, throwing snaps, and one gator snapping directly at Alex, out of jealousy, apparently.
A little after a great time down here, we decided to go back and drive the scenic ride (Janes Memorial Scenic Drive) one more time, and we are so glad we did — our friend received us right at the entrance by the shore, a gigantic gator chilling right on the edge of the water. With no rush in the world, we stopped and spent a little time admiring this wild animal in the calmest way. Then we drove a little more, where more birds greeted us and made us wonder and talk and enjoy being so close to nature.
Loop Road and the Water Glades
Next morning we woke up and ventured back into the Everglades. We decided to drive down the Loop Road Scenic Drive, since we'd heard from rangers at some of the different stations that this scenic ride was a must-do. So without any other plans or expectations, we went for it, and what we found was magic.
We stumbled upon a bridge that offered views of what is known as a "water glade" — a tranquil, open clearing in a forest or wetland where shallow water pools, allowing grassy meadows, sedges, and aquatic flora to thrive.
What we saw: the reflections of trees, flowers, and birds on the water, the roots of those trees sticking out like ancient creatures that could walk over the water at any moment but love to be still, gators roaming so slowly that they barely made ripples. A magical place indeed.
And that wasn't all. When we left that clearing and kept driving, we saw more and more alligators sunbathing on the side of the road and moving slowly along the water. A lot more birds, with beautiful colors and shapes. We saw epiphytes — the plants that grow on other plants, their roots not connected to the soil but instead often in direct contact with the atmosphere — and we could feel it.
We spent the whole day driving slowly around there, stopping to take pictures, simply admiring. We had some snacks to sustain ourselves, but the truth is we were so present that we weren't even hungry.
The day ended, and that night we camped in Florida City, since we were diverted by fires from heading straight into Everglades National Park.
The Anhinga Trail
So the next day, instead of heading into the park as planned, we "hiked" the Anhinga Trail — more gators, birds, turtles, and fish were our companions. More than a hike, it's a long walk over a wooden boardwalk on top of the water, where you can see even more of that wildlife and flora distinctive to Florida, just a couple feet from you — so close you could stretch out your hand and touch them.
We walked and enjoyed the quiet of the place, the overlooking grasslands view it offers, the hidden gators in the water under a couple of plants or covered by the grass, the turtles emerging to say hello and get some air, the bright colors of the epiphytes, the lily pads growing in the water — holding hands, loving life, and admiring the beauty of this place.
After our little "hike," we drove away and stopped at Long Key Campground to set up a picnic. We spent about an hour prepping, cooking, and eating, and then we were ready to take the step toward our next adventure. Right after, we drove to Flamingo Campground.
We made it and got to our site — an open space right under a tree — which felt like a good spot to escape the sun beaming into our car, so we loved it right away.
We left all of our things and went for a walk to get familiar with the place, which, to be honest, might be one of the coolest and nicest campgrounds we've seen in Florida — open, big, clean, close to water so you can do boat activities, kayaking, fishing, and enjoying a Florida not every person thinks about. They have ranger talks, a convenience store, and even a restaurant on the premises, so if you don't fully feel like cooking yourself, you can still enjoy a nice meal. Super worth it if you're visiting the Everglades.
We walked around for a little bit and got close to the marina — the boats floating in the water, the trees on the other edge, made it feel very unique. While walking, to our surprise, we saw an osprey nest with both parents and little osprey babies, which made our welcome to Flamingo Campground even better. After our walk we went for a small drive around the site to explore it a little further (it's pretty big), and while driving we got to see a little falcon doing some flying tricks. So even in a campground, we were still getting a little of the wild Florida we love so much.
We went back to our spot and took a second walk to the pier, and the timing was crazy, since we got to see an American crocodile swimming right next to the marina before heading back to our place.
That night we camped at Flamingo — showered, cooked, ate dinner, and discovered how much we hate bug spray. (Yeah, there were tons of mosquitos, but the smell of bug spray was worse than getting eaten by them.)
Before going to sleep, we took a moment and decided to go to the bat talk that the park rangers offer for free at the campground, which was taking place that night. We didn't know what to expect, but what we learned that day made us appreciate bats more than ever and instilled immense respect in us for these animals. We heard them, understood them, and maybe for the first time really "saw" them.
We walked back to our spot for the night, but Alex grabbed our camping chairs and lamps and asked me to follow. We set them up away from the other campers and the lights, and we watched the stars while getting snacked on by bugs — but we wouldn't move, because the sky was so clear and full that we saw the full Orion constellation and the Vela constellation, which was absolutely stellar. Then Alex showed me how to find the North Star, Polaris.
The next morning we woke up around 7, and by 7:30 we were already doing a bird walk with a ranger. It lasted about 45 minutes, but we got to see more beautiful birds and finally put names to the ones we'd been seeing during our entire trip in the Everglades.
After that lovely experience, we packed up everything and started our drive to the Keys.
So our recommendation: Bring mosquito nets. There are magnetic ones for the outside of the car, or a natural bug spray works too.
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