We arrived at our campground in Big Cypress National Preserve as the sun was setting, so we didn’t have time to explore before it was dark and the mosquitoes invaded. They were absolutely brutal, so we took refuge in the RV. We had a feast for dinner and then the girls watched a downloaded movie (there is no wifi or cell service here). We also chased the mosquitoes that snuck into the RV, smacking them against the walls and leaving tiny little blood spatters in their wake. Those nasty buggers, I hate them!
In the morning the mosquitoes outside had abated and we were able to fully appreciate our campsite. Again, it is a quiet one with a view of a beautiful pond that supposedly is a home for alligators. Totally gorgeous. Zach and I sat outside with our coffee watching a parade of birds: red bellied woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, herons, egrets, and even a banded kingfisher, along with others I can’t identify because my bird app needs wifi. Dang it.
Our plan for today was an ambitious one. We unhooked the RV and drove 20 minutes to the Oasis Visitors Center in the Everglades National Park and set the generator running to fuel the a/c so Zellie would stay cool. Then we hopped on our bikes and headed for the 15-mile Shark Valley loop! The valley feeds into the Shark River, where there are actually freshwater bull sharks, but none of those make it to the valley. However, we had high hopes of seeing alligators, along with lots of birds and other wildlife. Melina, however, was very VERY nervous about seeing gators. I assured her that if we were even lucky enough to see one, it would be from a safe distance. Zach told her he had something to show her, and took a big swiss army knife out of his pocket. “Do you see this?” he said, unfolding a large blade, “this is Stabby McStabberson. This is what I will use to stab any gators that get too close.” then he pulled out a large serrated blade. “And this is what I will use to cut their bones. And this corscrew is what I will use to gouge out their eyes. And then we will use this bottle opener to open up the drinks we will have in celebration of our victory over the alligator.”
Melina reluctantly steeled herself and we started on the pathway, a wide paved road that is used for a tram to drive tourists on the same route we were biking. The road has water on both sides- a canal on the right, and the flooded plains on the left. This is the tail end of the wet season, and with the number of big storms this year the water is apparently even higher than usual. We had gone maybe 100 feet when BAM- I had to stop quickly because a huge 10-foot alligator was parked right on the side of the road in front of us!
We stopped for a moment to look and I had to practically hold Diane back from getting closer, but Melina absolutely flipped out. We raced by on our bikes and then paused to gather ourselves. Poor Melina was nearly in hysterics. I had just calmed her when BAM! Another gator. It was like this for a while…we saw maybe 8 gators in the first 5 miles of our ride, all lounging lazily along the right side of the road just about eight feet away from our bike tires. It was cool, and also a little bit terrifying.
Thankfully the gators thinned out and Melina calmed down. On that first half of the loop, we saw so so many gorgeous water birds, many of the ones I’ve mentioned already (anhingas, great blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, ibis), but also little blue herons, cormorants, and even possibly a tricolored heron. Zach and D even saw a huge turtle swimming in the canal, and we got to see a cormorant spear a fish right in front of us. The biking was easy breezy since it was totally flat and the weather was cool and perfect. It was spectacular, and easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.
After about 7 miles there was a huge puddle of water about an inch deep that we rode through for about 100 feet before we got to the observation tower. We were soaked, but we had been told this was the wettest part of the ride so we weren’t too worried. We enjoyed the tower and had it all to ourselves! Apparently traveling during a pandemic during the wet season has its benefits. We ate our picnic lunch and saw some snakes (maybe brown water snakes?), one on land and one swimming through the shallow water on the road. The girls got up close and personal with one of the enormous grasshoppers they have here. At one point a park ranger pointed out that a crow was getting into the saddlebag on Zach’s bike, and he warned us that they can open zippers and love to steal things. He said he watched once as a crow stole a man’s car keys and then flew away and dropped them far off into the prairie! Thankfully, we had Diane to scare them away.
As we started on the ride back, our spirits were high. Zach pointed out a heron and as I watched it take wing I vaguely heard Melina say something like, “Mom, look at the- oh don’t oh NO!!” I had rolled right over one of those huge grasshoppers. I think that was an omen. The second half of the loop was…challenging. We rode through inches of water (sometimes as much as 3 inches deep) and occasionally dodged little snakes in the water as we rode. At one point the sky opened and we were pelted with painful rain that felt like hailstones. Diane was in front of me and was crying because it was so painful, when she all of a sudden swerved, almost off the road on our left. I grabbed her and stopped her and helped her continue forward, but she was sobbing and practically screaming. I couldn’t understand what she was saying in the rain, but we got to the next dry spot and the rain stopped and she told me: there was an alligator on the road, in the water RIGHT NEXT TO US that she had swerved to avoid!! Zach and Melina had also seen it, but I was so focused on Diane that I had thankfully missed it. Poor Diane was a disaster after this, and we had to ride through about 4 miles more of water! It was pretty horrid. Finally, the road rose above the water level, but then the wind kicked in. The wind that must have helped to make the first half of our ride so easy was now blowing in our faces, fighting us for every mile. Zach and I still enjoyed the rest of the ride, but it was tough on the girls and they were so relieved to make it back to the RV where they could cuddle Zellie and eat halloween candy.
Even with the close encounters and the challenging conditions, this was still an experience of a lifetime. All in, we saw probably between 10 and 15 gators (we lost count early on). We were never in real danger as the gators were completely uninterested in us and we never even saw one in motion. And, we’re fine. The girls now rank alligators as worse than the monkeys in Thailand, but hopefully we haven’t scarred them for life (again). Zach cooked us a steak dinner over charcoal with the sunset in the background, and the girls are happy again.
Now the next danger we have to worry about: Tropical Storm Eta. It is possible that it cuts our stay on Sanibel Island short as it is expected to reach southern Florida next week…on the day we plan to meet up with some old friends. A day that also happens to be Melina’s birthday. Ugh. We are working on contingency plans, but we are obviously not taking any chances and will head north early rather than risk a strong storm in an RV. Luckily, we have lots of options so Melina can still have an amazing day, but we are crossing our fingers that it changes course and we don’t have to worry about it at all.
Post script: I had nightmares about that gator in the water all night long. I didn’t even see it, but I have a feeling it will haunt me for years.
Traveling Together 
I’m going to have nightmares about that alligator and I wasn’t even there. That was an adventure of a lifetime and THEN some!!
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Ohmygod. We even asked a park ranger before we started about the state of the bike path and he said, “The path is open. There are a few puddles, but you can go around them easily.” LIAR.
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Looks like a great time. Love the gators! William
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Ohhhhh they are haunting creatures! Thank goodness for Halloween candy!
❤️❤️❤️
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