Day 359 (More Everglades)

I decided that instead of going to the Everglades Alligator Farm, which would have probably have been fun, but just felt too much like a tourist trap, we would go back to the real thing and explore more of Everglades National Park. I was also hoping to see a manatee in the wild, and although we did not get to see one, I'm glad we went back, because the park is just so weird and beautiful.

There's these plants that grow up in the trees, commonly known as "air plants." They have such unusual shapes and actually create miniature ecosystems by trapping water with their leaves where frogs, and unfortunately mosquitoes, can lay their eggs, which hatch and grow to adulthood.

We took a boat ride in the park to explore more of the backwaters.

There are lots of animals here...

We went to a pond, but decided not to get too lose when we saw this floating in the water...

Turkey vultures

Ibis

Herons

Egrets

And, my mom even found this cool looking mushroom:

PICTURE OF THE DAY: Doesn't this just look like some kind of alien landscape?