Wednesday, February 29,2012
I made a short hop to Florida this week to celebrate my brother’s 64th birthday. Yes, we sang the Beatles’ famous song, When I’m Sixty-Four, and we had a celebration dinner at The Melting Pot in Boca Raton on Sunday. We tried to plan some fun activities during the week to keep ourselves amused and to explore parts of Florida which we had never seen before.
Loxahatchee Airboat
One of those activities was to take an airboat ride in this section of the Everglades. We had a really great time exploring this swampy area of the Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge west of Boca. I was really surprised about how much FUN it was to ride on the airboat through the Everglades. The three of us had the boat all to ourselves because it was the last ride of the day and there weren’t many tourists during the middle of the week.
The Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge
The guide/driver helped us board the boat and handed us huge ear-phones to protect our hearing from the very loud engine noise. The boats are built with “stadium” seating so that everyone can look out. The boat backed out slowly away from the beach and started to go along the watery path through the tall cat-tail grass. It was an amazing experience! It was so beautiful and relaxing, despite the engine noise.
A Narrow Portion of the Waterway
I felt like I was in a television documentary riding through the tropical wilderness. I just needed a baritone narrator to describe the flora and fauna. F. Murray Abraham’s voice would be good for the narration.
A Snowy Egret
The water was calm and reflected the clouds in the sky. As we went slowly along the watery pathway, egrets and herons took flight. We passed other aquatic birds who were fishing for their dinners on long stilt-like legs. It was one of those “it’s glorious to be alive!” experiences.
Swimming Alligator
The driver slowed the boat down and we drifted closer to the edge of the sawgrass. He shut off the engine to tell us about the variety of wildlife around us. He described the birds and informed us of their species. He gave us all kinds of historical information and statistics about the Everglades. We asked a few questions about the Everglades and current conservation measures. Then the driver said, “Lets look for some ‘gators”. He revved up the engine and off we went to find ‘gators.
A Big ‘Gator in the Sun
A few smaller ones were swimming in the water close to the grasses. Then the driver began to point out the larger ones sunning themselves on mudbanks or hidden in the grass. What fun! Now it was a “find the hidden ‘gator game”! Believe me, they’re hard to find! Their greenish-brown reptilian skin blends perfectly into the brown & green mud and grass. They were hard to distinguish even after the guide pointed them out.
Watery Reflections
I was sad when the hour-long trip ended, but the sun was low on the horizon and the guide mentioned lots of mosquitos at twilight. He said that there were an average of five mosquitos per square inch. That’s a lot of mosquito bites!
Loxahatchie Airboat
Before we left, we drove past the small beach that was littered with brown vultures. Then we drove to the head of a walking path into the Refuge. There were flocks of small chirping birds in a variety of colors. This is an amazing place and teaming with a wide variety of wildlife. Highly recommended!
Setting Sun Over the Everglades
I can’t wait to return to Florida to explore more of the beautiful and amazing Everglades!