Continuing south we spent 2 nights at Tice Mobile Home Court in Fort Myers. That gave us time to spend a day in Bonita Springs.
We went to Little Hickory Beach because I heard there were lots of shells there. Lots of people too.
But, if you walk far enough the people thin out.
The birds like it better when there are less people too.
I sat down on a rock next to this snowy egret. I was just relaxing but he was at work.
He works for his food. The patience is amazing. Still as can be and then all of a sudden the head goes down and the beak strikes and lunch is on.
The white ibis did a group lunch.
The water was a shimmery aqua and the shelling was good. So good that I brought more than I should back to Gypsy.
From the beach we went to the Everglades Wonder Gardens.
The Wonder Gardens are an old fashioned roadside attraction.
It was started in 1936 by two brothers and remained in the family until 2013.
Then the grandson made the hard decision to close the park.
It was saved by a non-profit group that is working hard to bring it back to its former glory. I love these non-glamourous parks that are a bit run down and imperfect. You can tell this one is well loved.
There seems to be a core of volunteers that will make the effort to make it successful. The woman at the ticket desk was very enthusiastic about a fund raiser they had the night before.
The park is a botanical jungle filled with native trees and plants with some specimens from around the world thrown in.
While it was nice for us that it was uncrowded my hope is that the crowds will come.
The park is not large but it is filled with so many plants.
There are orchids in pots and orchids in the trees.
Plants are not the only things to be found in the park.
It is home to rescued birds and reptiles.
They have found their forever home.
The animals are quite random.
Several of the birds talk.
Quite a few colorful flamingos.
This is a tegu lizard. It is interesting that they have him here as a rescue. The tegu lizard is considered an invasive lizard in Florida. They are native to South America and probably due to pet owners releasing them and their quick reproduction they are now a threat to native animals. They grow up to 4 feet long and prey on small animals and eggs. We saw one crossing the road one day..........they look pretty scary. I read that they have a hunt for them in hopes to eradicate them but they feel it is impossible. What I find funny is pet stores still sell them as pets in Florida.
They had several turtles in a pond. I really like turtles and tortoises. Maybe because they carry their houses on their backs and we have our house follow behind.
Who'd a thunk alligators needed rescuing?
They were rescued from an alligator farm that sold them for food.
I think they were more rescued as an attraction since there are alligator farms all around the south and alligator is on many restaurant menus and it is sold in grocery stores for home menus as well.
This one did not appear to be appreciative of being rescued. Maybe just got up on the wrong side of the bed.
What a nice day...........from the beach to flora and fauna.
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” -- John Muir