The Royal Palm Visitor Centre is an excellent place to view alligators on the many wooden boardwalks. You will also see many birds, fish and other wildlife. A narrated audio tape is available for loan. Also available for loan is a wheelchair on a first come first serve basis, not that I need that being lucky enough to have my scooter.

On another trip we visited Shark Valley Visitors Centre. Here we took a tram ride tour through the Everglades which was a lot of fun. The tram stopped en route at a viewing Tower, and because I had actually forgotten my wheelchair on this trip out, Steve actually carried me all the way to, and all the way up the Tower!!! This is a very special memory for the both of us! The views from the top were all the more amazing for his efforts!

Shark Valley is also a good place to hire bicycles, provided you are unafraid of the many alligator hiding just off the beaten track! It's OK though, they won't attack you, unless you go looking for trouble. We have also visited Flamingo Visitors Centre but couldn't tell you much about this place as all that happened to us there was we saw one flamingo, a few birds and then got attacked by about a thousand mosquitos so we just turned tail and fled!

Another great Adventure in the Everglades is a visit to an Alligator Farm. You will see loads of Alligators here. We went to one and the Entry cost about $30 including an Airboat ride and Alligator and Snake Shows, well worth it! We enjoyed the ride on the Air-boat, saw many birds, gators and wildlife, and went really really fast at one point which was really good fun!

The gator show was great too and we even got to hold a baby Gator and a Burmese Python!

The funniest part of the day was when Steve imitated a strange wild birds cry (awa, awa, awa) from amid the forest and everyone on the Airboat Ride turned around to try to catch a glimpse of this bird!!! We also tried Alligator for tea when we got home, and it tastes most unusual a bit like chicken but a lot more chewy!

For further information

visit the Florida Everglades webpage (Click Here)

When staying in the Florida Keys, travelling up North for the day to the Everglades is a must! The wildlife is breath-taking. Set off early so that you can spend most of the day there. It costs only $10 per vehicle to Enter the Everglades National Park and the pass is valid for seven days and you are free to roam wherever you please. Blind and permanently disabled people should be able to get a Gold Access Pass which allows 'life-time' free entry to the park.

Alongside the fabulous wildlife, the alligators and multitude of tropical and temperate birds and fish, there is plenty more to do and see in the Everglades National Park. Activities include Biking, Boat Tours, Boating, Fishing, Bird-watching, Camping, Canoeing, Tram tours, Horse riding, Airboat Rides, Alligator & Snake show Viewing!

My first experience of the Everglades was visiting The Royal Palm Visitor Centre. It was my first visit to Florida and we had flown in to Miami the day before. It was been a long and difficult journey for me and upon arrival in Miami I was one very sick bunny. The 'invalid' room we had booked in the Howard Johnson had turned out to be aptly named! The next day, however I woke up and peeped out of the window to see palm trees and glorious sunshine. The next minute there I was scooting around in the Visitor Centre, exhausted and shaken but distracted by the spectacular wildlife. My main concern was dodging the odd snake hanging in the trees and not getting too close to the alligators lying around!