Everglades National Park, Florida!!

I wanted to post about Everglades since many weeks. Finally here I am writing about it. Ajay and myself took a trip to South Florida in December. We planned to visit the popular South Beach and KeyWest. After reaching there we heard about Everglades National Park. We knew nothing about it and thought it must be just another park with some wildlife. We had an extra day and hence went up to see Everglades. We first went to the main visitor center, spoke to the rangers there and watched some videos and got ourselves acquainted with the park. Only then did we realize that we were in a place which is unique and one of a kind. It is the only sub-tropical habitat in North America with a very delicate ecosystem which is being carefully preserved. We ended up going back there the subsequent day also. Just this weekend I came to know that the Everglades is at #5 on the travel channel's top 10 Natural Wonders of the World. This ranking is based on their uniqueness and the number of visitors every year.


Everglades is basically a shallow, slow moving flood which I believe at times is 40 miles wide and 100 miles long. It slowly moves southward across the Florida Bay. This marshland is a result of the watershed from Kissimmee River (near Orland0) which flows south into Lake Okeechobee, a fresh water lake. During the wet seasons, the water leaving this lake forms this slow-moving marshland, which moves about 1 yard in an hour. It is also called the river of grass because of the sea grass found in the marsh. There is a huge variety of flora, fauna, and wildlife living in this unique subtropic environment. 350 different species of birds can be seen here including the Anahinga, Heron, Woodstock, White Pelican and many more. It has a number of endangered species like the Manatee, Wood Stock, American Crocodile, Florida Panther and many more. It has white, black, and red mangrove forests, cypress tress, ferns, orchids, and many more. It is the only place in the world where both Alligators and Crocodiles live together. Alligators survive in fresh water and crocodiles in salt water. Here the slow-moving fresh water marshlands slowly moves southward and merges with the salt water of the ocean, hence allowing both alligators and crocodiles survive.




The national park has 5 different visitor centers and each of them offer a different kind of experience with the wildlife and vegetation. We visited three of them and got to see many unique things in all of them:

1. Ernst Coe (Main) Visitor Center: It has the Anahinga Trail and the Gumbo-limbo trail which are 3/4 mile long trails each. Both offer a entirely different kind of experience. The Anahinga trails is a raised wooden deck over the marshland from where we could see many different species of birds and Anahingas in particular. We got to see alligators and beautiful sea grass spread across a huge area. The Gumbo-Limbo trail took us through a huge canopy of tropical trees and particularly the Gumbo-Limbo trees also known as Tourist trees. These trees are reddish in color their skin is found peeling off in the summer similar to the Florida tourists getting tanned and hence the name - Tourist tree.


2. Shark Valley Visitor Center: This is in the northern part of the Everglades, and the best place to the river of grass. It has an observation tower which offers a great view of this slow-moving slough. We took a tram tour on a 15 mile road and go to see at least 30-40 alligators from extremely close quarters. We saw them basking in the sun on the sides of the road and in the marshes. We also got to see some baby alligators and different kind of birds.


3. Flamingo Visitor Center: This is the southern most point of the everglades where we took a boat tour on the wilderness waterways and got see the point where fresh water meets salt water. We got to see an American crocodile, mangroves, many different kind of birds and vegetation. It also has many hiking and canoe trails.


On the whole a great place to visit especially if one likes nature and wildlife. There are lot of activities in this national park to keep anyone busy for at least 2 days. This place is informative, educational and fun for both kids and adults.

Ignited Minds - book!!

'Ignited Minds' is an excellent book written by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam - current President of India, and an eminent scientist involved in teaching and research. In this book, Dr. Kalam motivates every Indian to do their best (through hard work) in whatever they are doing, through his personal life experiences. He just asks everyone and particularly the youngsters of the country to dream of a good life for themselves and dream of India as a developed country.

Though this is not exactly Dr. Kalam's biography, there is a lot of information about his life and his achievements for the country. I enjoyed reading about those and felt happy that there is someone constantly doing great things for the country. He talks about his work at ISRO, particularly about his contributions as the Project Director to the first satellite launch vehicle (SLV-III) which could successfully launch the Rohini satellite in 1980. He then worked with DRDO on the Integrated Guided Missiles Programme and successfully developed Agni and Prithvi missiles. He then talks about this work as the Scientific Advisor to the Defense Minister in 1990's. During this period he led the Pokhran nuclear tests thus making India a nuclear weapon state. Dr. Kalam also talks about his other work 'India 2020 - A vision for the new Millennium' which was conceived by him along with 500 other experts when he was the Chairman of Technology Information, Forecasting, and Assessment Council (TIFAC). I am really hoping that we can achieve this dream.

Apart from learning about all the technological advancements led by Dr.Kalam, this book also reveals that he led a very simple life. He traveled around the country extensively, and always made sure to meet students and children. He loves being around children and strongly believes that they will play a major role in transforming India into a developed nation. Hence, he spends time inspiring them and igniting their minds to dream of great things (for themselves and their country) and fulfill those dreams through hard work and dedication. He gives many interesting tidbits about his travel and talks about the vast untapped natural resources in many parts of our country.

This book is a good read for all ages as it fires up the mind. I am looking forward to reading his other works, and especially 'India 2020'.