Sunday, May 18, 2008

Tarzan Country

Had family in this weekend and since Saturday morning was so clear and beautiful, we decided to take a little boat ride: the jungle cruise at Wakulla Springs State Park, in Wakulla County. We had a picnic and then boarded the boat.

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It turned out to be a really fun experience.

We no sooner were on board when a 6 foot alligator came up really close behind us while we were still at the dock. The clear water allows for nice pictures.

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If you look carefully on this one below, you can see it had a damselfly over its right eye.

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It swam in really close between our boat and the next and a boat driver, smacked the boat side to scare it off and it gave a good splash as it turned about.

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The boat driver finally had to herd it away from the swimming area with a boat.

Once we headed down river, there were many more alligators and lots of birds and turtles and a couple of deer to keep our eyes and cameras occupied.

Baby wood ducks and duck weed: Good camou and major cuteness.

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Little blue heron:

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Little blue heron still changing from its white phase:

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A female anhinga drying her feathers in the sun:

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A moorhen:

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A yellow-bellied slider:

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We saw several nests and osprey and a few snakes and lots of alligators.

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I called this Tarzan Country because the original Tarzan movies were filmed here.

Wakulla is a very large spring producing millions of gallons of water. It is very popular with the locals as a chilly swimming hole. Divers were emerging from having explored the caves that connect through the Florida aquifer.


2 comments:

  1. All those great photos and I'm the first to comment!? Great pictures from a fantastic trip!

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  2. Love the photos! I can't get such a super perspective on gators in clear water from a kayak--really interesting! Also was nice to see the little blue heron in mid color-change. Juveniles have been conspicuous in their absence on the Wacissa.

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