Everglades National Park Geführte Boots- und Wanderexpedition in kleiner Gruppe

We had done a cruise out of Miami and stayed a couple of extra days to do this tour. It was was amazing - we all thought it was the high point of the vacation. Our party consisted of me - an old guy, two 30-somethings, and a 5-yr-old. We motored out to Little Pavilion Key and spent a couple of hours walking it and checking out the shells. Our guide (foolishly, I can't recall his name) was incredibly knowledgeable about all the wildlife. We thought he was a marine biologist or retired college professor, but no, it was knowledge gained over years of doing these tours. We saw hundreds of birds and even came upon a pair of dolphins in their mating ritual. My grandson (age 5) was a bit disappointed he didn't see any gators, but our guide pointed us to the Oasis visitor center on the way back to Miami and there were about 20 of them in the canal by the boardwalk. My wife unfortunately got sick and was unable to do the tour. I called after we got home and had a refund before I even hung up the phone. Highly recommended if you ever get a chance.

We went on what was described as "Boat Assisted Kayak Eco Tour (Dolphins/manatees, sea turtles)" We were in a beautiful location with many birds, although we saw no dolphins, manatees, or sea turtles. We had been expecting to spend a great deal of time on kayaks, but it was less than 1/2 hour, rest of the time in a boat. The reason for the abbreviated kayak experience is that of the three couples taking the trip, one couple hadn't ever kayaked before and were having a difficult time. Instead of kindly instructing them, the guide got mad and yelled at them. Then the guide decided we'd done enough kayaking. We didn't know the other couples, but felt bad for them and it kind of ruined what otherwise would have been a nice trip. We did walk on a beach while the guide gave interesting explanations of shells we found and the scenery was lovely. More patience on the guide's part would have made it a 5 star experience.

We had an absolutely incredible trip out with Don as our guide. We took a motorboat past incredible mangrove stands to a remote sandy beach filled with amazing shells and Calusa artifacts. We saw dolphins leaping out of the water right next to the boat, as well as ospreys, pelicans, ibises, terns, plovers, and so many varieties of shelled sea creatures (the Florida fighting conch and lightening welk were highlights). Don was so so knowledgeable. He was absolutely amazing at answering every question my 7 and 9 year old threw at him (and they had a lot!). When he learned that my 7-year old was a vegetarian, he showed him a plant on the island he could eat, which he enjoyed sampling. We took other guided kayaking trips during our trip to Florida, and this one really stood out because of Don’s incredible depth of knowledge. Highly recommend!