Sonya's Blog - Day 201 - Alligators, Oh My!

Sonya’s Blog - Day 201 - January 9th - Alligators, oh my!

We are off to the Everglades Holiday Park to go on an airboat tour of the Everglades. This park is about an hour and 1/2 away from where we are camping. Much of the Everglades are protected and the boat tours operate on the fringes of the Everglades.

We all got ready, Natasha made lunch, we took care of Kizmet (as she could not come) and then we headed out. Blake was so excited because we saw this Lambourgini while we were driving along the interstate:

We had no problem finding the park and it seemed busy to us, but we got on the next boat. I guess it wasn’t that busy. We were able to have a quick lunch before our boat left and soon enough we had our seats of the airboat and we were on our tour. Our captain was very energetic and had a lot of personality. We zoomed out on our boat. The first animal we saw was the double breasted Cormorant. They are also called the fishing bird. We then saw Vulture Island, which is home to the Black Vulture and the Turkey Vulture (also called the Turkey Buzzard or just Buzzard). There were only Black Vultures on the Island today. They are scavengers, but new world vultures (not related to vultures in Africa). They are scavengers. We also saw Iguana’s (not native to the area, but thriving). It is called the Everglades because it is the endless river of grass. There are two types of grass, cattail and sawgrass. The sawgrass is native, but the cattail is introduced. There is also a plant that looks like the lilypad, but is not. What is the name?? I have not idea, but it is an important plant for creatures to hide in and hunt in.

We then saw our first American Alligator. It was about 8 feet long. They are about 12 inches at birth and then grow about 12 inches per year. He/she was just swimming around and enjoying the weather. I couldn’t believe how close the boat got to him, but we got a great view and some great pictures.

We then went on some more “speed rides”. He liked to swerve the boat and get us right close to the grass at his top speeds. It was fun.

He went through the properties of the plant life. Saw grass is called that for a reason. You can rub your finger up the stalk one way without a problem, but if you got the other way (down) then you will cut your fingers. It can cut very deeply, even to the bone if you rip along it. Ouch. Cattail has flat, long blades. The blades are quite thick and if you cut them open, along the length there is a white substance inside. He peeled off this white stuff and it looks just like gauze and you can use it for a bandage if you are ever trying to survive in the Everglades. It would be a tough existence, as not only are their American Alligators in the Everglades there are also Burmese Pythons (not native) and Panthers (native). They caught a Burmese Python a few years ago that was over 18 feet long and could swallow a 6 foot Alligator whole! They have had culls for the Python as they are wrecking the habitat and killing off native species and they only caught 64 and they estimate there are thousands out there. They are a huge problem and are in the Everglades because people decided they would be great pets and then they were not and they released them into the wild. These snakes made there way to the Everglades where they have been able to flourish. Nice, people! We saw another alligator, this one was quite a bit smaller:

The Everglades are massive and I guess there are areas of the Everglades that have not been explored by man. It is a very important ecological haven for many species of plants and animals. I had always thought it was a massive swamp, but it is actually a slow moving, shallow river. It used to cover 4000 square miles, but is now less than 1/2 that size. The water moves over 100 miles, very slowly and empties out into the Gulf of Mexico or Florida Bay. It was all very cool. One airboat was leaving as we were getting ready to dock and the captain struck a grand pose for us:

After our airboat tour we were welcome to check out the Gator Show. This is hosted by the Gator Boys who have a show on Animal Planet. The Gator Boys operate a Gator Rescue and they go out and trap Alligators that have become a nuisance (like ones on golf courses, in your pool, local ponds, etc.). Florida used to try and relocate the Alligators, but they have an amazing homing beacon. It really doesn’t matter how far you take them, they will find their way back (even months later) to the spot they decided to make their home in. Many trappers kill the Alligators and sell the skin and meat, which is how they make their money. The Gator Boys have a no kill policy and they keep them in rescue areas, where they are fenced in. He told us all sorts of interesting facts about the Alligator, like they cannot see in front of them and if their eyes are threatened, the eyeball can actually drop down to stay protected. Weird. He sat down on the one gator and got it to open it’s mouth so we could see all the teeth. It was very informative and interesting.

We hopped in the truck and headed back to camp after the show. Blake and I grabbed Kizmet, as soon as we got back, and headed down to the beach to give her a walk. Natasha and Isaac stayed back at the RV to do their own thing. Natasha wanted to have a shower and then facetime a friend. Isaac wanted to do some creative work and he also needed a shower.

It was still really hot and gorgeous when we got to the beach. The waves were fantastic and there were lots of surfers out today. We just went to the Hobe Sound Beach and walked the other way from last time. We could only go so far going this way, as the beach ends and then it gets very rocky. There are some beautiful homes along the beach. There was a lady, who had a small dog (Jax) that was dying to play with Kizmet. There was nobody around, so we let them off and they ran around and had fun. She has a house along the beach and she was great fun to talk to. She told us about some interesting places to see. This is called the treasure coast because a Spanish Armada was sunk just off the coast in these parts. Her neighbour, somehow, got the rights to the sunken ships and recently pulled up a couple of million dollars worth of Spanish gold. He has also brought up a couple of anchors and a cannon. We saw the cannon the other day, but she told us where to go to see the anchors. Apparently Celine Dion and Tiger Woods also have houses in the area (along the Beach Road where we drove the other day and saw all the posh houses and driveways). She then talked about all the turtles that nest on this beach and pointed out an old nest. The turtles dig quite large holes in the sand to lay their eggs. We walked over there and there was still a hatched egg. They are very leathery. It was a great walk on the beach, Kizmet met and played with a friend and we learned a whole bunch of stuff about the area.

When we got back to the RV we started on supper. We were just having grilled chicken with some fresh pasta that we bought at the farmer’s market yesterday and a salad. After supper, Isaac volunteered to do the dishes and he watched an episode of Corner Gas while he did that. I got to blogging, Natasha dried and put away the dishes and Blake had his shower. After all that was done, Blake and the kids watched an episode of Corner Gas and I watched the pilot and one other episode of New Girl with Zooey Deschanel. She is so cute.

Sonya