Editing The honeymooners (section)

==='''The Everglades'''===

Picture a fifty-mile-wide slow moving river of depths ranging from a few feet to a mere few inches, subdivided into a complex maze of islands, swamps. and streams. This is the Everglades. There are literally thousands of small islands, and they are home to many plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth. 

Cypress trees grow in the water, with tubular air roots sticking up as snorkels, Festoons of Spanish moss cover their branches like strange wigs, twisting lianas strangle trees and bushes. Log-like shapes float in the water, sometimes opening cavernous mouths, then slipping underwater as the boat approaches. Snakes and amphibians swim and cling to trees while flamingoes and pelicans flap overhead. 

Pitcher plants lure insects into their lethal maws, and orchids attract lovers of beauty. Insects are everywhere, from gigantic dragonflies to mosquitoes and hordes of stinging midges. Small lizards and amphibians find their way into cabins and beds. At night bats swoop through the trees, eyes glimmer from every tree and islet the boat passes, and every light is besieged by moths until the lights are put out.

In the 1940s the Everglades have been explored, and areas are being drained. Wildlife is plentiful, and alligators are common, though becoming rare around the main channels. Other large animals include a few crocodiles and manatees. There are no hunting restrictions. There are houses and farms on some of the largest islands, and villages in the drained areas, but most of the region is still uninhabited.

[[File:Everglades 001.jpg]]