Days 57 and 58 were spent travelling from LA to Florida over-night. Unfortunately for Dave, he was sat next to a 17 month old baby that proceeded to throw tantrums every few hours, the toddler's mother who threw up during the trip and had a child behind him who kicked his chair for part of the trip. Fun times!
Day 59, our first full day in Florida, saw us we visit the Everglades, a tropical wetlands area in Southern Florida. The wetlands are in effect a river with grass in them - the fresh water is constantly flowing from Lake Okeechobee to the sea...
We visited an air boat tour company that had a small zoo of animals (turtles, snakes and alligators) and took an air boat tour over part of the Everglades. We started off with a small presentation showcasing the animals and were sat on some steel benches facing away from the swamp. I was a bit concerned when I looked back and saw a wild crocodile approaching from the swamp, which was not part of the attraction. Luckily for us he just wanted to bask in the sun rather than join in!!!
Zoo Area
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Big Daddy, the biggest alligator on site in the zoo, with a length of 14 feet |
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Big Ben, this alligator was housed here after trying to attack a human in the wild |
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A snapping turtle, the jaws on this little turtle have amazing power! |
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Dave holding a 3 year old alligator, you'll also notice a wet patch on the t-shirt, this is sweat from the humidity, not a number 1 from the wee gator (pun un-indented). |
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Me holding the alligator, after a bit of persuasion from Dave |
Airboat Tour
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View from the start of the boat tour |
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Me and Dave in the air boat. You can see the driver in the background on the high chair along with the top of the giant fan. Matt did consider a mutiny at one point, being more commonly known as the captain although he didn't fancy walking the plank over these waters!! |
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The Everglades swamp area |
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An alligator in the wild as spotted from the boat tour. |