Angel: 没有海盗的加勒比海之旅（十四）

　　大沼泽国家公园（Everglades National Park）

　　本来想去不太远的迪士尼了，不过时间太短，很可能玩的不尽兴。在从Keywest回来的路上有个国家公园，被称为大沼泽地国家公园，所以我们的计划就是回程的时候去这里转转，正好国家公园的年卡还在有效期内，到目前为止我们去过的国家公园都很不错，这也是他们能成为国家公园的原因吧。

大沼澤地國家公園（Everglades National Park），是位於美國佛羅里達州南部的一座國家公園。大沼澤地國家公園內有十分豐富動植物資源。有當地獨有的橡樹、黃瓜、八角蓮、巴婆、野生橘、野生橡膠樹等植物特有種。大沼澤地國家公園也是水鳥、鱷魚、水獺等動物的樂園。在2005年，颶風威爾瑪對大沼澤地國家公園造成破壞，導致火烈鳥保護區等地一度關閉。現已部分恢復開放。
1979年，大沼泽地国家公园被联合国教科文组织列入世界遗产。
Everglades National Park is a U.S. National Park in Florida that protects the southern 20 percent of the original Everglades. In the United States, it is the largest tropical wilderness, the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River, and is visited on average by 1 million people each year.[4] It is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states after Death Valley and Yellowstone. It has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site, and a Wetland of International Importance, one of only three locations in the world to appear on all three lists.[5]
Most national parks preserve unique geographic features; Everglades National Park was the first created to protect a fragile ecosystem. The Everglades are a network of wetlands and forests fed by a river flowing .25 miles (0.40 km) per day out of Lake Okeechobee, southwest into Florida Bay.[6] The Park is the most significant breeding ground for tropical wading birds in North America and contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere.[7] It is home to 36 threatened or protected species including the Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee, and supports 350 species of birds, 300 species of fresh and saltwater fish, 40 species of mammals, and 50 species of reptiles.[8] The majority of South Florida's fresh water, which is stored in the Biscayne Aquifer, is recharged in the park.[9]
Humans have lived for thousands of years in or around the Everglades. Plans arose in 1882 to drain the wetlands and develop the land for agricultural and residential use. As the 20th century progressed, water flow from Lake Okeechobee was increasingly controlled and diverted to enable explosive growth of the South Florida metropolitan area. The park was established in 1934, to protect the quickly vanishing Everglades, and dedicated in 1947, as major canal building projects were initiated across South Florida. The ecosystems in Everglades National Park have suffered significantly from human activity, and restoration of the Everglades is a politically charged issue in South Florida.

　　我们的导航找公园有些费劲，绕来绕去的，我们都担心走错路了，还好最终还是到了。公园里有乘船的项目，能看鸟，能看鳄鱼，因此我们进入公园后就去找乘船的地点，在游客中心要了张地图，我还有充分的时间到达码头。在公园内的限速是50m/h，我们打开了车的顶篷，感受一下敞篷车，我们也嘲“没见过世面的样子”，没错，就是没见过世面。风从我们头上飞过，我们能听到风声，前排对风的感觉不明显，第二排就明显了很多，小妞的头发都被吹乱了。敞篷车的设计很好，虽然打开顶篷，但说话不受影响，不需要刻意提高嗓门，这点很意外，还以为得大声喊，对方才能听到呢，确实没见过这样的世面。因为小妞的抗议，我们并没有开很长时间，还是把顶篷关上了。

　　我们上了船，船上人不多，有个开船的，还有个导游，一路上给我们解说，说的有些快，没有完全听懂，关键有些单词比较专业，不了解。他们非常想让我们看到鳄鱼，短吻鳄等，不知道是我们来的时间不对，还是其它原因，这一路上我们并没有看到鳄鱼，等船回到码头时，才在码头看到一只小的。公园里有有毒的树，他们特意停船指给我们看，树看上去并不出奇，别人不说，我们肯定不知道。沼泽内还有几十种蛇，其中包括了几种很毒的蛇，有一种毒蛇会在半小时内至命，关键是这里的毒蛇会主动攻击人，这点比较吓人。