Everglades National Park, Day 2, Royal Palm and Flamingo

We started the day bright and early and were literally the first visitors at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center. We bought some t-shirts and souvenirs, watched a movie about the Everglades, and then toured the informative exhibits in the visitor center. We decided to head to the Royal Palm Visitor Center for a re-do of the walk along the Anhinga Trail from the night before but in the company of an experienced park ranger. During the walk, we saw alligators, turtles, and grasshoppers and learned a lot from the park ranger. Afterwards, we drove the 38-mile park road to Flamingo Visitor Center to check out the sights of the Florida Bay. On the way, we stopped at the Mahogany Hammock trail for a short walk along a boardwalk through a dense, jungle-like hardwook "hammock" including gumbo-limbo trees, air plants, and the largest living mahogany tree. At Flamingo, we all spotted some of the threatened West Indian manatees, which are described as homely and having the appeal of a plump grandmother with flippers like oven mitts. Sighting the manatees was a very exciting event for Clare and Conor. All in all, it was a great start to our second day in Everglades National Park.