Airboat Ride in Kissimmee, Fl

13 Dec 09--Went to Kissimmee today to take an air boat ride at the headwaters of the Everglades. The weather was even nicer than yesterday when it was probably in the high 70s. And 2 days ago when we were at Universal, it was probably about 62. Today's high was 85, so it was absolutely gorgeous out on the boat. Here we are awaiting the captain readying the boat!




We found alligators lounging around in no time. This one is probably 6-7 feet long, and although aware of us, basically ignored us. I took this 3rd picture off the front of the boat so you could see how close we were...no more than 10 feet. The captain said that alligators spend 80% of their time laying around motionless, and in the winter won't even eat...like now they won't eat again till springtime.



This one is a female, and she has babies around we were told, but we didn't see any of them. The captain told us that alligators are not like crocodiles, who will attack you. They will go after small animals (dogs) and children, but he said people swim in some of these waters all the time and they are basically left alone. Can you imagine????




Once we saw a few alligators, the best part of the tour was when we going really fast on the air boat. It was really loud, but the feeling of flying over the water was great. Look at my eyebrows in the 3rd picture...the wind is practically pulling them off my face! And look at the
birds in the water trying to get out of the way of the boat.



Most of the forested area looks like what I would expect the Louisiana bayou to look like. Great spot for a scary movie.



We stopped out in the middle of the water to pay for our trip. Do you see the guy with the US flag on the back of his shirt? He is in the Army and just returned in November from his 3rd trip to Iraq. I can't remember what brought it up, but after hearing this, the guy on the far left of the picture paid the fee for the soldier and thanked him for his service. I thought that was really, really, nice. I was a little choked up.



There were all kinds of different birds around the marshes and even at the shoreline where we boarded, so if there are any bird lovers out there, I took a few pictures for you.



And just in case anyone is missing Fluffy and Jabba, here are a couple pictures I took today when we got home. Can you see that Fluffy now has a little waist? Unlike me, she has lost 2 pounds since we left San Antonio.