Sawgrass Recreation Park - Florida Everglades Airboat Ride

Today we did an Everglades airboat ride at Sawgrass Recreational Park in Weston Florida.  

It's always been something that Darren and I have wanted to do. The couple that was with us - Sandra and Jimmy, it was on Sandra's bucket list.  Sandra was super pumped to go.  

On our way to Weston Florida, we had to detour because a semi had overturned on the highway and they shut the only overpass down and it was the way to get us there.  The detour took an extra 35 minutes.

They gave us our wristband and our earplugs which were much appreciated.  

The airboat is extremely loud.  We got on board and lucked out and got front-row seats.  We were on the boat for a 30-minute ride and we were told that we may or may not see alligators. 

We did spot two that we stopped and took pictures of and I'm sure we glided over another thousand.  To the right is a large gator.

 

We saw different birds everything from an osprey to a blue heron which flew away and is such an amazingly Big Bird.

  

Our pilot is pictured up above on the photo to the left and you can see the Osprey to the right of him.

We saw a little black bird that for some reason wanted to go on the boat ride with us.  He was hysterical prancing back and forth.  He may have been trying to distract us from the nest.

It was a stinking hot day so going faster on the boat was much appreciated because that's the only time you weren't hot was when the wind was blowing through your hair. 

It was a pretty cool experience and we're all glad that we did it!!

At the end of the boat ride you can go through an exhibit area where you can see different reptiles etc and even pet a baby alligator.  

I am not of the alligator persuasion so I opted to take photos instead.  I prefer to wear alligators or eat  Gator Bites than pet them.  Once again, when I see an alligator, I see a nice pair of boots.  

There was a goofy little bird that was walking around and the people who worked there had a name for her and they said that she was a Swamp Chicken which is what they call this bird in Florida.  Sandra fed it, it was a baby and already quite large and its feet were huge.