Between the airboat ride and the wildlife park, we saw a lot more than alligators! The airboat tour was a really cool experience. Here's our airboat, waiting for us:
We boarded the boat and were given headphones to block out some of the noise from the fan that propels the airboat.
Our guide took us out into the everglades where we couldn't see any signs of man (no buildings, no docks, just nature as far as you could see). He would slow down to watch for alligators or to show us an interesting bird (like the one shown below).
Here's a shot of the biggest alligator we spotted during our tour (can you spot his tail?). Our tour was on a cloudy, cool morning, which isn't the best situation for bringing the Gators out, unfortunately. We saw 2 others, but this was our best view. Apparently a hot, sunny time is best because the Gators like to get out of the water and sun themselves. They're so comfortable like that that they don't even care if your boat full of spectators is close to them because they don't want to get back into the cool water!
Even though we didn't spot a lot of Gators during our tour, we did get some beautiful views. I took this while we were out there, to try and show you how gorgeous it was!
We did spot these mud snakes while we were out there, and just like our tour guide, I don't care if they're poisonous or not, I'm happy not to be too close to them!! ;)
At the end of the tour, our guide offered to let the girls sit in the driver's seat for a picture. :) Here's Katrina pretending to to drive.
Crazy enough, as we walked down the dock to get back to the wildlife park, Talia looked down and spotted this small Alligator in the water! He was pretty camouflaged, so we were impressed that she found him!
Next up was the wildlife park and we had so much fun watching the lemurs! I had a hard time catching them on film because they were so quick! But I did grab a couple of shots of the girls' reactions to their antics! :)
This little monkey was just the size of a squirrel!
The birds were just gorgeous, and we even met a parrot who could talk to us!
The peacocks were free to roam the park- Katrina and I were surprised to see one on the path ahead of us when we first entered the park! :)
We sure got lots of chances to see Alligators in the wildlife park! It was beautiful there, and the alligators seem pretty happy. ;)
One of the coolest things in the wildlife park was to watch the Alligator Feeding! I think this is a must-see if you go! They would attach a piece of meat to this zipline and pass it down for the Alligators to jump up and get. This one wasn't going to be beat out by a bigger Gator for that last piece of meat- he just jumped right up on him, to get some height!
Another must-do is the exotic animal show! Here's Katrina being brave, touching a huge toad. I was happy just to watch, thanks. ;)
The show ended with a chance for everyone to hold "Fluffy", a baby Gator. They had someone there to take pictures of you holding Fluffy, but you weren't allowed to take your own photos because they were selling their photos, to raise money for the animals. They did let me grab this photo of my family checking the photos out on the screen, so that I could show you what they offer. They had some cute poses worked out- I didn't want to hold the Alligator, so he just had me hold the tip of the tail- I was cool with that. ;)
We had a great experience at the park! The airboat tour was a really neat experience and I really enjoyed it. I would say that if you're doing the airboat tour because you want to see alligators, then you'll want to try and plan for a warm, sunny day and time. The wildlife park is nice and it's a great family experience if you're visiting Florida. It's not a huge park (which I liked, because I probably wouldn't have wanted to spend a whole day- a couple of hours was just right).
I took a little bit of video from our airboat tour and a few things in the wildlife park, so if you've got 2 minutes, here it is:
Wow, so much fun! Can't wait to plan a trip to Florida!
ReplyDeleteIt was beautiful- from theme parks, to nature! :)
DeleteThe Airboat Tour & Wildlife Park looks like so much fun! Those alligators look very scary but that little monkey is totally adorable! It looks like you and your family had a fabulous time!
ReplyDeleteIt was a really cool experience. Yes, the monkeys were cute & the Lemurs were hilarious ;)
DeleteOMG! That looks thrilling and terrifying at the same time! I love how close you got to the animals!
ReplyDeleteFor real! :) It was a lot of fun (even though I was only willing to touch the tip of that tail!! ;)
DeleteThat looks like a lot of fun! I think I would have gotten goose bumps when you came across the snakes, eeps!
ReplyDeleteIt was creepy! Glad we were safely in our boat! ;)
Deletewhat a gorgeous place! my kids would love the airboat tour, it looks really cool. My youngest is obsessed with alligators (in books) but I think he may get frightened to see them in person lol
ReplyDeleteIt was so beautiful. The views were amazing!
DeleteThanks for such a wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteGators are OK, snakes... not so much in my books :) Love that they gave out ear protection for the ride. So many people over look things like that when traveling.
ReplyDeletehaha Yes, creepy!
DeleteOoh, sounds like an awesome place to visit! Florida is already on my list for when my kids are a little older, and I definitely want to see the wildlife and ride in an airboat.
ReplyDeleteIt was a really cool experience, I'm glad it's on your list!
DeleteIncredible photos! Lots of fun! Hope one day to visit Florida!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many amazing things to do there, it's a great vacation spot!
DeleteLove the photos! We are hoping to go to Florida when the boys are a bit older and it looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt really is & there are so many different things to do and see there!
DeleteI've been to Florida a few times and thoroughly enjoyed the airboat ride through the Everglades. We did see quite a few gators, luckily no snakes! We did also visit a snake place though, I'd have been happy to have dropped that from the agenda.
ReplyDeletehahaha I would've been okay with dropping that one, too!
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