Even though we couldn't see much we knew we weren't alone. We discussed the fact that we were probably glad we couldn't see all the critters that were there with us. I know there were a lot of birds but we heard a lot of noises that definitely weren't birds too.
There were two lakes that we came across. They were totally still and very beautiful. From what Mike could tell they were probably old rock quarries and thus were extremely deep. On of them especially looked like a great swimming hole for Slugger but we didn't know if there were alligators there or not so no swimming here for the little guy.
The other lake had beautiful reflections in it when we went by.
Then it was kayak time. When Mike was checking out his kayak the guy said "Now you do know that there are alligators in the rivers around here, right?" Mike assured the guy he was aware of alligators in this part of the country. The guy then proceeded to give Mike a life jacket. As Mike got it he made the comment that there weren't any teeth marks in it. The guy said "Oh, if the alligator gets you he isn't just going to make a few marks he's going to eat every bit of you."
At first we thought this was a little funny. But then the guy continued on telling us that there are people living along the canal that feed the alligator and he is now about 14 feet long. We thought he was probably kidding.
So Mike got in the kayak and set out on his afternoon of fun.
To get out to the main river Mike had to paddle through one of the little side rivers which goes through the RV park. I went over to the little gazebo to wait for him to come by so I could get a few pictures. On Mike's way through the park there was a guy out on one of the docks. He yelled out to Mike to watch out for the 14' alligator at the end of this little river. Then we knew it wasn't a joke anymore!
As Mike was going out of sight I reminded him to take some pictures. Wouldn't you know, right at the end of the little river sat a HUGE alligator that was at least 14' long. Mike was trying to take pictures from afar! Then he started thinking that maybe he could get a little closer. WRONG. The second he went one inch closer the alligator got in the water. Mike took off as fast as he could paddle.
Shortly thereafter he was out in to the large river - the Crystal River. I really liked the pictures he took as they were from the vantage point of a kayaker which is really close to the water.
As you might expect, there were a lot of really huge houses along the river.
After being out on the water for about an hour Mike's back was really hurting him so he pulled over to walk around and stretch a bit. Here was his view from there.
After going for a bit longer he found a small side channel that he decided to explore.
He came across some very pretty little passages.
After going back out to the main river he found one of the HUNDREDS of canals that go off the river into neighborhoods. As you can see almost every house has a huge boat.
Mike did find that the birds were much more tolerant of people down near the water and let him get much closer than normal. He got within just a couple feet of this pelican.
Mike decided that he doesn't know the finer points of kayaking though as his arms got so tired they were shaking so much that he couldn't hold the camera still enough to take a picture.
At one point while he was just kind of drifting so he could rest his arms. He looked down in the water and noticed a really huge rock. He thought it must be really large for him to be able to see it out in the middle of the water. As he leaned over to look at it more closely it started to swim away! Turns out he was right over a Manatee.
Mike had three things he wanted to do/see while he was in Florida. Seeing a Manatee was one of them. He can certainly mark that off his list now.
One down. Two to go. Stay tuned.
Debbie (for Mike)
1/16/07
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