Manatees and Alligators

12-04-25

Saturday we are off again in good time, heading north to Crystal River where we have a tour booked. Crystal River is a quaint little town with an excellent coffee shop, which Philip, Mark and Amanda are very happy about. We arrive at our tour office, head inside and get geared up with wet suits, watch a safety instructional video and board the bus down to the pier where we are greeted by Captain Ron for our trip out to see the manatees. We are at the end of the Manatee season so there are not many around but we are assured we will see some. Sure enough as we cruise the 200 metres across the bay we spot several swimming ahead of us. There are heaps of boats all trying to find a spot to anchor and offload passengers into the water to swim with the manatees. Captain Ron decides that we will head to Crystal river and the Springs first so across the bay and into a small Inlet. The kids slip into the water to view a small spring before we move further up the inlet to Three Sisters Springs. Here we all don our snorkels and masks and slip into the warm water and follow Aubrey our guide into the gorgeous area of the springs. The water is crystal clear, fish and crabs are spotted and then the three springs, where warm water bubbles up through the sand. It is a beautiful area and although we are not the only ones there it’s a great experience.

(P:-Time for some technical info, a must have to know. The water, true to its name “Crystal Springs” was as clear as! A couple of questions asked and it was interesting to know the water in the lower aquifer flows some 1100 miles, (1770 klm) from the Ozark mountains.)

Back on the boat and we cruise past some lovely homes along the canal before heading back to see the Manatees. As we slip into the water behind Aubrey, we follow a female manatee who we are able to get up close to, touch and even nibbled on a Kaley leg. A great experience. Aubrey was taking pictures through out the time we were on the tour and got some great pics. (P:- A quick visit to favourite new friend in town (the Barista Lady) who even remembered what I ordered earlier in the morning, a delicious coffee and it’s “on the road again”). All in all a good half day and experience then it’s “on the road again”.

Sunday

(P:- Mark and I generously offered and dropped the Girls at a very nice shopping centre in Sarasota- we figured they needed some retail therapy. To fill in our time while they shopped we “happened” to find a Drag Race Meeting near by at the Bradenton Motor Sport Complex. With a mixture of V8 and other lesser sized engines, petrol fumes and burning rubber we had a wonderful few hours of USA Motorsport. We were amazed by the family classes of racing where children from age 5 and up were dragging down the track in controlled, scaled down versions of the drag cars. A great day for us ( apart from funding the shopping)!

Our stop tonight is in Naples. This was a very nice spot and if we were multimillionaires we would fit right in. Alas, all we could do was wander along the boat docks and drive down millionaires row dreaming about how the rich and famous live. Beautiful homes and gardens, a shopping area that looked extremely expensive, Gucci, Balenciaga, Prada etc. no shorts and t shirts walking down the street everyone was beautifully dressed. We decided not to stop here for dinner but found a lovely spot away from the expensive area. One home we walked past was for sale for $8 million plus and other just down the street had sold for $54 million. Just pocket money really.

(P:- Judith is lacking a few facts here again! Naples has one of the highest accumulation of residence that are Multi Million / Billion aires. Some 9000 (9%) of the population of the city. Have never seen so many Valet Park restaurants, Snobby shops everywhere and when the real estate agent is SOUTHERBIES it says something. Not sure my old shorts, Tee Shirt and sandals were classed as suitable dining ( or beach) attire! To avoid mortgaging our house to fund dinner we drove out of Snob town to a local diner in a more normal suburb. I almost forgot to mention the impressive line up of business private jets at the airport! The mega yachts in the beautiful harbour were worth spending an hour or so looking at too! Snobtown Naples was indeed a beautiful part of the city).

Monday 14-04-25

We are on the move again after packing the car, this time heading towards Miami. Todays trip will take us through the Everglades so our first stop is an Air Boat ride at Captain Mitch’s Airboats. The sign is about as old as Captain Duane, the guy who takes us on the tour. He’s lived in the area all his life, 67 years and knows the area backwards, which is very useful as it would be easy to get lost among all the mangroves. As we leave the dock we spot several alligators resting along the shoreline. Then we are off heading through the mangroves winding through tunnels and narrow gaps between the trees. It’s the end of the dry season so water levels are low but there are heaps of birds about and the area is lovely. Captain Duane shows us an alligator nest and remains of an egg and points out various interesting features along the way. A very enjoyable hour has passed.

(P:- More critical info omitted! The Airboat wasn’t just an Airboat! It was fitted with a V8 Chev engine driving a large Propeller mounted high up at the rear of the vessel to move it along as the water in the swamps wasn’t deep enough for an in water propulsion system. The symphony of the rumble of the V8 and the roar of high speed air was as enjoyable as the very good Everglades Mangrove tour – well it was to me anyways). We head back into Everglades City where we find a spot for lunch. Triad Food Market and Cafe. A very rustic cafe on the side of a canal but the food was great.

Heading further south we reach the Loop Road which takes us off the interstate and further into the mangroves. Amanda has done some research and found that this is a great spot for spotting alligators and turtles and bird life. She wasn’t wrong, it was not long before we spotted our first alligator and then many more along the creek beside the road. One stop we could see several snakes, alligators, turtles and lots of birds. Our travel time lengthened as we made many stops to observe the wildlife but it was a great drive. We finally arrived into the city late afternoon and located our accomodation. We are on the 10th floor and have an awesome view of the high rises along the beachfront. We’re just a block from the beach and it will be our first stop tomorrow morning.