Mr. Bichler: Monday, January 28

Today was a fun day. We were up early because housekeeping was coming so we planned to go to Billie's Swamp Safari. We didn't give Betty many details as we were pretty sure she would back out , if we did, she admitted later that she was thinking about. We had to drive about an hour and thirty minutes on I-75, aka Alligator Alley, to get to today's destination. We purchased the package deal which included an air boat ride and the swamp buggy rides as well as a critter show and a live reptile show. We started with the air boat ride and although Betty was not convinced, we coaxed her on board put her ear plugs in our driver began our air boat adventure. He slowed after a short while to point out a large alligator he referred to as "Tiny Tim". The scenery was absolutely beautiful and we traveled through several different habitats for nearly 30 minutes as we viewed many birds and exotic wildlife. The highlight for me was getting a great look at a limpkin, a pretty rare bird species, and adding it to my life list.

Alligators everywhere you look

Water Buffalo

This carving was hidden deep in the swamp

The air boat trail

My prize find, a Limpkin.

Our air boat driver

After the air boat ride we walked to the Swamp Buggy for our 1 hour tour. We climbed aboard, what appeared to be, a large open-air school bus on steroids for a ride through the swamp lands that are found in south-central Florida. Most of our viewing included mammals and birds that were on land. Wild scrub cattle, water buffalo, bison, ostrich, wild turkey, an antelope and several other species that we saw but that our driver, Kirby, did not name. Kirby took a liking to Betty, I think he thought there might be a large tip awaiting at the end of the tour, as he stopped the buggy several times, addressing Betty as the "young lady" and pointed out things of interest. At one point he climbed a tree to get her a Resurrection Fern and gave her directions on how to keep it alive as well as how to smuggle it home. It is a pretty interesting plant as it can go without water and survive for up to 80 years in a dried state and when water is added it will come to life as a vibrant green fern. Kirby even drove off the path, which he said was not allowed, to get a close up look at an ostrich. We forded a pretty sizable body of water which was also a neat experience. After taking both rides we asked Betty which she liked best. She said she wasn't sure, she like them both. Victory!!

Pulling out from the swamp buggy dock.

The star passengers

Kirby, climbing a tree for Betty's resurrection fern

These Spur Thigh Tortoises were quite interesting

Sharon and I took the Nature Walk which was a boardwalk through the swampy wetlands. We saw a yellow-crowned night heron, several very large alligators and a red-shouldered hawk. It was a great day and we topped it off with an Ultimate Pepperoni Pizza at Boston's Restaurant.