Great Outdoors Series: Greater Fort Lauderdale

The Everglades: A Birder's Paradise

"Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts." John Muir

Lovely, indeed.  With a tropical climate affording year-round temperatures in the seventies, abundant sunshine, and one of the country's most unique national parks, Fort Lauderdale is an ideal playground for explorers.  The Everglades National Park, according to the National Park Service, is not only the country's largest subtropical wilderness, but also a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.  As a national park, it also set precedent as the first wilderness area to be preserved not for it scenic value (like Yellowstone) but solely for its biological diversity.

By land, by sea...or bi-plane.

We've come a long way since the 1900s, when settlers began draining the Everglades to produce farmland, and these days it's back to its old, usual self: a pristine mosaic of ponds, marshes and swamps.  If you haven't seen this wonder yet, now's the time.

Everglades Seaplane Tour in Fort Lauderdale   Get a bird's eye view of the so-called "River of Grass".  Soaring in a Cessna 172 Seahawk seaplane, the Everglades are laid plain beneath you, teeming with gators, turtles, wild birds and other fauna, not to mention plenty of vegetation.  This is, after all, the world's largest remaining swamp.

Fort Lauderdale Airboat Safari Adventure  I know you've seen it, the opening credits of C.S.I. Miami.  And I know you thought that looked like fun, zipping around the 'Glades in an airboat.  Well, here's your chance.  This private tour pairs you with a professional captain to lead you deep into the Everglades for up-close-and-personal encounters with alligators and other wildlife.

Pedal and Paddle in Oleta River State Park

Fort Lauderdale Pedal & Paddle Tour  Nearby in Oleta River State Park, take advantage its fourteen mile trail system heralded by cyclists of all levels.  Oleta, the state's largest urban park, is well-known for its off-road bicycling, as well as its sea marshes and mangrove canopies.  With this Pedal and Paddle Tour, combine a tour-by-land with a kayaking tour-by-sea, and get the best of both worlds, including, perhaps, a manatee sighting or two.

Or, for those who prefer to stick to one or the other, choose between the Oleta Kayak Tour, spying for dolphins and manatees among the mangroves (themselves prized as important buffers against hurricane and tsunami damage), or grab a your spandex and hit the trails with the Fort Lauderdale Mountain Biking excursion, also in Oleta River.

Learn to Sail in Fort Lauderdale   Lastly, if solo (or unguided) explorations are more your style, pick up a few sailing lessons and then hit the high seas on your own time.  This lesson for two unfolds over three days, teaching you everything from basic sailboat terminology and knot-tying to VHF radio procedures and rules of the water, all in beautiful Miami Beach.