On our third morning in the states we left Miami bright and early and headed towards the Everglades. Once at the National Park office we chatted with the friendly rangers who helped us plan our canoe trip and we got the permits sorted. They also taught us how to read the tide chart, which is crucial for a trip like this. We decided to test the waters first with a one-day trip going up the Turner River. We collected our steel canoe and then we set off. After some tough paddling through water so low that the bottom of the canoe was dragging in the mud, we entered Turner River, which quickly became quite narrow. This was a whole new world we’d entered! The mangrove formed a tunnel around us, this was not the Everglades we’d seen on TV, this was much better! Further up the river we came across a couple of fallen trees that were effectively blocking the river passage. We had a lot of fun squeezing the canoe under, with us lying in the bottom or crawling in the branches above. Back on the mainland we headed to Burns Campground in Big Cypress Reserve, a reserve adjacent to the Everglades National Park. Here we saw our very first alligator! Such impressive and ancient looking animals, it is easy to imagine them being around the same time as the dinosaurs.

At night it got REALLY cold, we huddled together with both sleeping bags over us and we were still freezing. We though Florida was warm...

Going up Turner River

Our very first alligator