We started our final day in the Everglades visiting the pod of 8 or 9 manatees in the marina! Such homely yet adorable lumps! Then it was off to Mahogany Hammock, reportedly home to barn owls and huge mahogany trees. Sadly the owls were quite secretive and shy so we never saw them.

Then we shot back up to Royal Palms Anhinga Trail so I could visit the alligators while Chris did a telecon with his office. (we don’t get cell signal til after Mahogany Hammock)

A light misty rain was falling, which advanced to a drenching downpour, however afterwards we were rewarded with a beautiful full rainbow! It’s probably well past time I posted a photo of Jakie in the camper! After lunch we headed out for a back country boat tour which was great!

Right off the bat we spotted a 15′ crocodile!

So many birds were on full display. We saw snowy egrets, green heron, blue heron, tricolor Heron, anhinga, ibis, and more!

and here below is a baby croc!

Back at the marina we were extremely lucky spotting a massive crocodile out in the bay propelling himself partially out of the water after a bird! And of course our manatees were having fun – even rolling over flipping their tails out of the water (!) instead of just pushing their noses out with a loud snort & sinking underwater again. Everglades has been more than wonderful! Tomorrow on to Key West! From peaceful unplugged wilderness to quirky funky urban life!