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Florida Adventure Tour Airboating Review:
By Joy Atkinson (Summer Intern)
Welcome to downtown Orlando, FL. Home of attractions like
Disney, Sea World, and Universal Studios. However, you will
be hard pressed to find any nature or wildlife in this cement
city. Take an eco-adventure trip to the west side of Florida.
There is a lot to explore. Yet, with this tour, it's convenient
enough to do in one day.
A full day of fun requires an early start. However, the friendly
crew understands that breakfast is the most essential meal
of the day. After eating a buffet breakfast the chartered
bus took us on a 90-minute bus ride. If the view isn't enough
to capture your attention, a movie is provided to entertain
you.
The tour guide informed us of interesting Florida facts and
important information to know about the manatees that we were
about to swim with in Crystal River. One of them being that
it is illegal to touch a manatee with both hands. Swimming
with the manatees is not required. You can take the boat ride
just have the opportunity to gaze upon them. However, I would
strongly recommend putting the fins on and snorkeling with
the manatee. The water is around 72 F. Warm enough if you
keep moving around, but wet suits can be attained to provide
extra warmth. I got to touch, see, and swim with a manatee!
Something very enjoyable!
Lunch at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, then off
to view some Florida wildlife. This park provides habitat
for animals that could not make it in the wild such as: a
hippo, alligators, manatees, bobcats, deer, a black bear,
bobcats, a cougar, and birds of prey. An enjoyable way to
walk off lunch and view Florida wildlife.
Finally a trip to alligator country. Of course the best way
to see alligators, is on an airboat. We arrived at Wild Bill's
Airboat Adventure on the Withlacochee River. I held their
'pet' alligator. He was about 2_ years old and around 2 feet.
His jaw was tapped. The alligator was much softer then I thought
he would be. We then were privileged on viewing a feeding
of two of the huge alligators. Needless to say I was thankful
there was a fence between the alligator and myself.
The airboat accommodated around 16-18 people. Beautiful landscape
around us. We did not get the opportunity to see any alligators,
but it also started raining on us. Rain on an airboat is not
exactly the most fun in the world. However, we did get to
view some turtles and herons. It was fun riding in an airboat
and viewing the Florida landscape in places that we could
never get to by car or foot. Besides, it's not like we could
have gotten as close as we did to the others that we had just
seen.
Word to the wise; bring a swimsuit, extra change of clothes
(just in case), an underwater camera, and a book to read for
the road trip, bug repellent, and a good attitude. The weather
is not the thing that will stop the adventure. It will only
be a bad attitude. This adventure is a great way to do a variety
of things in one day. Great for a variety of ages, good bonding
time with family, and you will definitely have a story to
tell when you go back home.
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