Early in the morning, we were on our van headed west from Fort...
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The van offered plenty of room for the six passengers.
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First stop in the Everglades. Our guide Pete spotted a heron way out there on...
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There it is.
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Pete found a turtle and gave us a close up look.
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Beautiful markets. But the turtle was probably very happy when he was...
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Now we'd find out what an airboat is.
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Good thing that just one of these is still alive.
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The store offered all sizes of stuffed alligators for sale.
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Nasty things, aren't they?
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Outside, we spied our first alligator in the wild.
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It swam closer to shore and gave us a good look.
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Very impressive.
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Not exactly friendly looking.
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A look at the tough hide.
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While another guide pointed out the gator, an unusual looking bird hopped by.
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Didn't get a sharp picture of the fast moving bird, and found out it is a...
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This is the airboat we'd be on for the next hour or so.
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Pat and our trusty guide Pete.
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Entrance to the water park. We were soon moving fast over these water plants.
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Disturbed by our noisy airboat, a heron flies away. Little mounds called...
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We sped over several miles of water and wondered how our boatman could...
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Water lily.
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We stopped occasionally to see some of the wildlife.
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There's an osprey. These birds prey on fish in shallow waters.
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A wood stork slowly flew past .
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A closer look .
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Another stop at a dock to take a close look at another alligator.
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That's close enough.
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On and on we went, speeding over the water and the sawgrass. No worry about...
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Somewhere beyond this waterway is the dock, end of our boat ride.
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Back to the dock, and another airboat.
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A short drive later, we came across this beautiful spot.
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Another gator.
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And another closeup. After a few minutes, he tired of us, turned around and...
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There he goes, at the bottom of the picture.
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Now you can see him.
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Then we came upon the smallest post office in the United States. The only...
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The story of the Ochopee Post Office.
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Approaching Everglades National Park.
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Where we'd come from, and where we now are. We had no idea that the...
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Headed out to the open sea to find some more wildlife. Maybe we'll...
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Here we are, enjoying the ride.
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Another osprey.
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A better look. Seems he's spotted us, too.
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A blue heron camouflaged in the branches at the water's edge.
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Out in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, they spotted some dolphins.
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Three of them. Two were mating and the third was either trying to help, or...
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They popped up often, but never gave us a chance to take the pictures we wanted.
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Here they were too close!
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Oops, almost got a good shot here!
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For a while they followed us, playing in the wake of our outboard motors.
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A brown pelican sunning himself.
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Pete is already quite knowledgeable, but even on the boat ride kept learning...
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Quick, there's an egret.
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A closer look.
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Headed back to port.
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We slowed down as requested, but never did spot a manatee.
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Driving back east toward Fort Lauderdale along Alligator Alley.
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It had been a very interesting day in the Everglades, but a long day, too, as...
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North America
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