Ft. Lauderdale

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale two days before the cruise departed because airfares were much cheaper, saving more than the cost of an extra hotel night.

It also gave us a chance to see the area a little bit. We took the free LauderGo community shuttle over to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.

In the middle of the roadway on the greenery we saw a cattle egret.

The Banyan is not native to the area. Birch planted it here, but the records he left do not say when.

Walking along the intercoastal waterway we hoped to see a manatee, but did not. We did see this ibis.

While eating lunch in the outdoor dining area, we saw this little lizard which blended in with the tree very well.

After lunch we attended the live animal presentation by the ranger. He was a big fan of snakes, he breeds them as a hobby. All the animals shown here were owned by the State Park.

It was cloudy when he was giving his talk, so we didn’t get to see the Indigo Snake in the sun, it can be quite iridescent.


He also had some other reptiles. The alligators come from an alligator farm and get returned for smaller animals when they grow too big. These are three years old.

He did have a gopher tortoise there, we looked carefully but didn’t see one out while walking around the park. There were warning signs in the park where young tortoises cross the road.

The gopher tortoise digs long deep tunnels to live in. Other animals use an occupied or unoccupied tunnel, making the gopher tortoise a keystone species. They share well with many species, but not with another gopher tortoise. The small turtle is a Florida box turtle.

We then went to the downtown river walk. There is a section of subway rail from under the World Trade Center towers from September 11 as a memorial.