balance for the second. While we waited for the tram we sat in on another
ranger talk.
The topic this time was energy and food chains but could have been
called 'biology for the insane' (or Biology 101 as the Americans might have
put it), as its language and proliferation of cuddly toys was aimed at primary
school age kids or possibly embryos. However, it was fun and seeing as we
were half of the audience it would have been cruel to leave part way through.
The lack of crowds was probably due to the weather, humid again but today
featuring lots of showers. However, our tram was packed - largely with a
group from an ‘elder hostel', which we learned was like a ‘youth hostel’, but
kind of the opposite!
The two-hour trip proved good value for money at $26 between us and it
almost got us out of the rain (the almost due to the fact the tram was open-
sided). The guided trip taught us lots about the ecosystem of the everglades
and confirmed some of our earlier bird identification work - it also taught us
the names of more birds. From an observation point we were given an idea
about the scale of the park as it stretched out around us. The word, once
again not really doing justice to the experience, was ‘BIG’.
Unfortunately the tour also gave us 'saw grass fatigue' as the ranger
leading the tour was obsessed with this rather dull plant and took every
possible opportunity to leap from the tram into the grass - often thigh deep in
water. This aspect of the tour could certainly have benefited from a 'gator
passing through close by.... for entertainment value.
The ranger was the first one we had spoken to about our wood stork