Adventures in the Everglades!
Jess and I are here in Everglades City! We started out in Florida in St. Augustine, which was very historic and fun, then went to Myakka State Park in Sarasota where we stayed in a cabin built by the CCC in the 1930's and then yesterday we arrived here.
I've had alligator stew and deep fried alligator bites!
We didn't see any alligators in Sarasota, or here yesterday went we went trail walking so we were really hoping to see some on our Kayaking tour. Well we weren't disappointed! Woke up at the crack of dawn and heading out to my first kayaking attempt ever. I had tried when I was like, 14, in New Zealand, but that was such a disaster that it doesn't count. We were really nervous of flipping over, but got the hang of it.
Not 15 minutes in we ran into a gator that was blocking our path. His name's one-eyed Willie, cause he's missing one eye and he's about 14 feet long, as long as our kayaks. And he would NOT move. Our guide tried splashing him with water for a while and ended up having to nudge him a bit with her paddle, which did get him moving.
In total we saw about 5 alligators, several of which were mom's with their babies. And I mean like, here you are in your kayak in the water, and right over their to your left? Alligator!We've got some wonderful pictures of the cypress trees covered with spanish moss, the mangroves we paddled under, I got one good one of a adolescent alligator, only about 1-2 feet long, so cute! All the beautiful trees, flowers, blooming lillies on lilly pads, awesome!
It was definetely worth it, the weather was gorgeous, nice and cool, and I didn't fall out of the boat! Success!
So now we're resting up, and tonight we'll watch the sunset. And tomorrow, we're headed off to Long Key for some camping on the beach! :D
I've had alligator stew and deep fried alligator bites!
We didn't see any alligators in Sarasota, or here yesterday went we went trail walking so we were really hoping to see some on our Kayaking tour. Well we weren't disappointed! Woke up at the crack of dawn and heading out to my first kayaking attempt ever. I had tried when I was like, 14, in New Zealand, but that was such a disaster that it doesn't count. We were really nervous of flipping over, but got the hang of it.
Not 15 minutes in we ran into a gator that was blocking our path. His name's one-eyed Willie, cause he's missing one eye and he's about 14 feet long, as long as our kayaks. And he would NOT move. Our guide tried splashing him with water for a while and ended up having to nudge him a bit with her paddle, which did get him moving.
In total we saw about 5 alligators, several of which were mom's with their babies. And I mean like, here you are in your kayak in the water, and right over their to your left? Alligator!We've got some wonderful pictures of the cypress trees covered with spanish moss, the mangroves we paddled under, I got one good one of a adolescent alligator, only about 1-2 feet long, so cute! All the beautiful trees, flowers, blooming lillies on lilly pads, awesome!
It was definetely worth it, the weather was gorgeous, nice and cool, and I didn't fall out of the boat! Success!
So now we're resting up, and tonight we'll watch the sunset. And tomorrow, we're headed off to Long Key for some camping on the beach! :D