***additional galleries: miami: DENCH_MIAMI_244

A visitor to the Everglades Safari Park poses for a photograph with a young alligator.The Everglades is a large tropical wilderness, the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states USA 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. It’s home to over 350 species of birds, around 1.5 million alligators and the elusive Florida Panther.Miami is a seaport city on the Atlantic Ocean in south Florida. Miami's metro area is the eighth-most populous and fourth-largest urban area in the U.S., with a population of around 5.5 million.Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami {quote}America's Cleanest City{quote}, for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power. Miami is nicknamed the {quote}Capital of Latin America{quote}, is the second largest U.S. city with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.©Peter Dench/Getty Images Reportage

A visitor to the Everglades Safari Park poses for a photograph with a young alligator.

The Everglades is a large tropical wilderness, the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states USA 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. It’s home to over 350 species of birds, around 1.5 million alligators and the elusive Florida Panther.

Miami is a seaport city on the Atlantic Ocean in south Florida. Miami's metro area is the eighth-most populous and fourth-largest urban area in the U.S., with a population of around 5.5 million.

Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power. Miami is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America", is the second largest U.S. city with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.

©Peter Dench/Getty Images Reportage