Camping in the Florida Everglades, Day 1
June 20th 2007 02:47
Speaking as a person who has camped and trekked most of my life, I can safely say that camping in the Everglades is an experience like no other.
I'm completely addicted to it.
What sets it apart from, say, camping in a rainforest or in the mountains, on a river or at a "campsite" (I hate campsites--I go out there to be alone, not meet people)?
Silence. Stillness. No sound but the wind.
Noise pollution is insidious; I don't notice how many noises my ears are subjected to until I get out to the Glades again.
Camping in the Glades isn't for everyone. It's rough, explosively hot, drippingly wet, gaspingly buggy, and the terrain all looks the same when you're trying to navigate off the marked trails.
But when you're out there at night..with nothing but the frogsong in your ears..
..or you hear, with a thrill that never gets old, the chuff/inhale of wild dolphins coming to hunt at dusk..
..or hear nothing but a soft hisssss of wings as hundreds of egrets take off while you approach a lonely island in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico..
or see the stars close enough to touch in a velvet-black sky..
That's when you get hooked.
The Everglades reaches in and grabs you by your soul.
Except in season.
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
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Comment by katyzzz
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Interestingly and lyrically written. I appreciated your writing very much. The video reminded me of where I lived as a child we could get right down to the river and and the mangroves and all on our own block of land.
There wasn't much on the video, was that right?
katyzzz
Comment by charliesgirl_992000
Histeries, Mysteries and what not
Lifes little slices
Mystical Creativity
Tammy
Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
The Everglades reminds me of part of Northern Queensland -Croc country- no one leaning out of our boat there!
...also...just an hour from Sydney (by car and boat), in the region called Hawkesbury...lots of places to explore...with the same sense of serenity, scenery, solitude and tranquility. And no gators nor crocs!...but further up near Port Stephens...lots of dolphins!
We 'camp out' on our boat so not as rugged as your stuff!
love that...
Thanks for sharing.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
But a few years ago I went proper camping with a few friends and there really isn't any comparison between campsite camping and real camping! In the bush, it's so peaceful and quiet.
The Everglades look fabulous. Though I'd worry about gators! Crocs are the reason I don't think I'd camp in Far Nth QLD or the Northern Territoty!!
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
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Where are the big lizards?
Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
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Hi Tammy-You and I are on the same wavelength there! The memories are what make the trip..
Hi Dusk! Did you play my game yet? Northern Queensland and Hawkesbury sound gorgeous. Beautiful Oz is on my top 5 list of places to go before I die.
Hi Kylie--I think you're in the majority there. The only person I can get to come out there with me is my best friend, Cam (also our bass player). No one else likes roughing it, LOL!
Hi Damo--I've got plenty of stills of the big guys, but no footage so far! Most of them bolt when we get close. I'm working on it though!
Thank you all so much for your kind comments and for visiting!
D.
Comment by Kiwi Author
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Great stuff!! And I just love your words, very cool and not often I get jealous about something either
Over here in NZ we have holiday homes called bach's and I would like one near the mountains, with no tv or radio, so I could just relax and hear the silence as until we hear the silence, you can't hear yourself and reflect.
Look forward to the next part and thanks for sharing too. Oh is it easy to post on here a vid and on utube? As I have an idea for a regular utube slot, just need to sort things out some more.
Hal
Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
It's ridiculously easy to post a vid here-from youtube or another site where you must upload it first, then imbed the video HTML on your site here. Under "blogging tips" here..I'd love to see some of your vids.
Now we're even! Your pics of your bike trips in NZ had me so envious...
Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner
great video...man the gators! It would be like lining up to be a hot lunch!
LOL
Take care,
Nick
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
Dusk - the Hawkesbury is beautiful isn`t it? Spent a few days on the houseboats down there.... complete bliss!
Great post D.. so many memories you brought back. I hope one day I get to experience this.
ash
Comment by Anonymous
Although I've never been a major enivornomental activist compared to others, when it came to the 'Glades, I've always been fascinated how man could've built such a huge urban monstrosity and gotten away with so much destruction without more consequences than he has. There are only so many streets we can lay down, so many tracts, so many condos and so many hot sultry urban ghettos for Florida's poorest to get packed into before things really go off in a big way.
The McDuffie riot of 1980 was a precursor of what could happen if valuable water resources are badly depleted whilst the greed of the developers rebounds and nobody learns a lesson while people are left in the cities to breath the hot foul smokey air with little or no place to go but north on a pair of what'll be overclogged interestates (75 & 95.)