here it is, our annual florida trip. we are so thankful that brian’s dad has a place down where it’s warm. especially this year since it was just about 20 degrees when we left pittsburgh.
the downside of our trips to florida in my mind is that for the week, we turn into total tourists. in the past it has been disney where everyone is a tourist so it’s okay. yesterday we headed to lake trafford and AIRBOATS & ALLIGATORS. the red and yellow comic book words jumped out at us. they were impossible to ignore, so we went.
the shop where we paid was a shack where they sold various sundry fishing accoutrements and snacks and also seemed to be a storage area for junk and bags of clothes. the man taking care of the cash register was obese with a full head and chin of white hair. behind him was a picture of himself in a santa clause suit. there were a dozen different kinds of snakes housed in tanks, including rachel, the largest snake in the whole world, a python from who-knows-where. 32 feet long. they also had a bunch of tropical birds, some of which talked, yelling “hello” at passers-by. or just yelling at everyone. the boys finally walked away from them after being squawked to deaf…ness. oh, and a tank of baby alligators, which they let the kids hold onto if they so desired. out of five boys i think only one did…. the tiny reptiles were pretty desperate to escape. not like letting a little relaxed salamander run laps on your hands–those gators were fast!
we waited out back, wandering around the pier, looking at the reptiles, trying to stay out of the sun because it was hot! finally it was time for our tour of trafford lake. we boarded our airboat–a flat boat that has a huge fan propeller on the back. the guy driving was a heavy set man with a cigarette and a thick southern drawl and didn’t look anything like santa. as we sat down in our seats, we had the option of putting on big cherry red ear protectors. once the engine got going, we were pretty happy to have them on.
there was something very surreal about the drone of the boat propeller through the barricade of the earphones. if i turned to the side a bit, away from brian who was sitting next to me, i could pretend that i was completely alone on this adventure. it was thrilling to move over the water of the lake so fast, the wind on my face, eyes closed. but after a while, i started to feel a little less exhilarated.
the lake was huge, surrounded by marshes of tall cattails and other shorter grasses which grew right out of the water. the marshes were dotted by cypress trees, held above the water by their roots that twirl around each other to make the trunk of the tree. we saw all sorts of wildlife–alligators, of course, sunning themselves in what they may have thought of as a secluded peaceful muddy slough until we arrived. cranes, ibises, silvertail hawks, purple gallinules, moorhens and coots, egrets. snakes and butterflies. brian managed to snap some lucky pictures of a few of the creatures as they retreated away from the huge billowing boat we announced our arrival in.
in spots we drove right through the cattails, through water trails that were there before us, probably made by the comings and goings of these boats carrying us tourist-types to get a glimpse of a gator. i eventually felt like an intruder. like nothing could stop us from blowing into these habitats in such a flurry of noise and exhaust. but when aren’t we intruders, and when don’t wild animals run away from us? we know something is wrong when they stick around. i’d like to take a canoe, something quieter, and go in those back alley waterways and sit tight to watch nature unfold around me. maybe another time we’ll do something like that. but for now, we take what we can get.
and when we returned to the house where we’re staying, guess what we saw just out back? … an alligator, no airboat required. i got a picture of it, and i have to say that without the protection of the noisy boat surrounding me, i felt a greater respect and fear of that five plus foot long animal and what it could do to me. time for me to retreat.
Posted on February 8th, 2013