Sawgrass Recreational Park

Posted on February 26, 2013February 26, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Sometimes I’m not sure what I am thinking about or even why I do some things.

After wandering around Flamingo Gardens some more I decided it was time to move on…but where? I had a list of places and attractions. I know I had someplace in mind as I hopped on RT 75. I think I was headed to find the Seminole Reservation but somehow got misdirected.

I was driving along the highway and my cell phone rang. No one ever calls my cell phone? So when I heard from one of my friends still in Massachusetts I got to chatting until I lost signal but by then I’d also forgotten where I was going. At about that time I saw a sign for Sawgrass Recreation Park. That was on my list of possible places to visit so having wasted enough time driving I pulled off to check this out.

Similar to Evergaldes Holiday Park, there are airboat rides, a snack bar and some souvenirs but instead of alligator wrestling they have a zoo of sorts. To explore the animals on exhibit you have to take the airboat ride. And that’s how I found myself back on another airboat. Not that I’m complaining. 🙂

It was another full boat but this one was open, more like I’ve been on in the past.

In fact, I’m pretty sure my mother and I stopped here when we visited Fort Lauderdale about 10 years ago.

As we pulled out from the dock our operator told us we can never get lost in the Everglades. He pointed out a row of high tension line towers. He said just follow those and it would lead you out of the “glades”. Because the land is so low these towers can be seen from anywhere in Everglades.

The airboat ride followed the same pattern , a little bit of “hot doggin'” to throw up some water and provide some thrills for the folks with a need for speed then a slower approach to the cuts and locations where the operators expect to see gators.

Sure enough we got to see a couple of good-sized ones in deeper water. They were swimming fast enough they even left a wake!

Another one made a bee line for a neighboring boat.

Our operator reminded us that gators can jump so keep hands and small children (swamp humor) inside the boat.

It was another beautiful afternoon.

Back at the dock we were reminded to check out the “critters” because they are part of our ticket price. I wasn’t sure exactly what “critters” they had but I headed down the path dodging one of the ever-present peacocks that decided the plop down right in the way.

Flamingo Gardens

Posted on February 22, 2013February 22, 2013 by Dusty Roads

My early start had been side tracked by the unwelcome visit to the Welcome Center. Now that I’d wasted a good 45 minutes I decided Everglades National park was best delayed until tomorrow.

So where to head today? In my brochures of the area I found a one for a Botanical Garden and Wildlife sanctuary. In my travels I’ve had really good luck with botanical gardens and wildlife sanctuaries. I am about to see if my luck will continue.

Flamingo Gardens is located at 3750 South Flamingo Rd ,(Davie) Fort Lauderdale. My GPS said it was about a 20 minute drive. My full “kit” was loaded in the car including tripod and telephoto lenses. I would not be traveling light today.

To my surprise when I arrived there was a flea market well underway. The botanical gardens had not opened yet so I wandered around the stalls. I didn’t see anything I was interested in so I made my way over to the entrance.

I watched a Peacock preen while I waited for the doors to open.

The entrance was through the gift shop.

I was handed a map of the grounds with my ticket.

As I passed through to the grounds on the other side I spotted a huge tabby cat. It gave me my “kitty fix” of the trip.

The paths were almost jungle-like with flowering plants and overhanging vines and branches.

It was only about 9:30 am and the morning light filtering through all this lush growth was an artist’s dream.

Eventually I arrived at the Aviary. All of the birds and animals in the sanctuary are rescues. Their injuries prevent them from ever being released back into the wild. The sanctuary allows them to live out their lives while serving as animal ambassadors for their species.

I entered the aviary with limited expectations. I was quickly surprised. I first spotted some white wading birds..egrets or maybe white herons but as I came closer I realized there were many more birds than I first noticed.

Continuing along I met more birds… wood storks

and anhinga,

ducks,

pelicans

and spoonbills

were just a few of the residents.I even spotted some good sized turtles.

I found my self spending hours among these feathered creatures with my camera working overtime.

I was surprised that there weren’t more people passing through the aviary. In fact only one small group came through while I was there. Maybe being surrounded by uncaged birds wasn’t to everyone’s liking.

Airboats and Alligators

Posted on February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Ok so I guess I wasn’t on dry land for long. Off the cruise ship in the morning onto the airboat in the afternoon.

This airboat was different from any I’d been on before. This one was enclosed so there were no bulky ear protectors to muffle the sound.

There was also no wind in your face or water in your lap. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this.

I tried to manuver around the groups that wanted to sit together so that I could get a seat on one of the ends so I could take pictures. A good-sized man and his family scooted over so I could have a seat next to them so I had my prime spot. Now it would all depend on where the animals were.

We cast off with a roar ramping up to a pretty good speed. The operator zigged and zagged so spray would fly in all directions then just as quickly he killed the motor and we drifted into a clump of razor grass. While we sat there our guide explained about the eco system of the Everglades…how it isn’t a swamp, the water is not stagnant, how fragile it is even touching on some of the problems of invasive species. Then he reached over to start up the boat so we cold look for the main attraction, alligators, but nothing happened.

After trying a couple of times more he called the main office for a rescue. While we waited he told us stories about his childhood growing up in the glades and how the sun is your friend. If you are ever lost in the Everglades after dark it won’t be alligators and snakes you need to worry about…it will be the “skeeters”. As he went on about the “Skeeters” and what would happen at dusk we watched the sun sink lower and lower on the horizon. Just about the time we thought we should get out and start wading/swimming back, the rescue airboat arrived.

Lashed to the side of the new comer we all climbed over the side and into the new boat. All safely aboard we set off again. We hadn’t gone far when we heard our disabled airboard start up! Ok well at least it was a story to tell…Rescue in the Everglades.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We saw several alligators and learned about the role temperature plays in determining the sex of the babies. Also the affect climate change seems to be having on the eco-system.

In one of the cuts we saw a little back and red bird that seemed to hop over the big leaved plants. The plants looked like water lilies but our guide said they were not even related. He said he had saved the little bird as a chick and raised it at his home only releasing it as an adult. Sure enough, when he called it, it came.

We spent a bit of time feeding the bird and then it was time to head back. As always the time was too short for me. I wonder if I could get a job as an airboat operator???

Roger Williams Park and Zoo

Posted on September 10, 2012September 10, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Back from Maine life did not slow down. Summer is flying by. The deadline for the opening of my stall at Cape Cod Crafters was looming so much of my time was concentrated on getting the type of pictures they said would sell for my cards. A quick photo shoot at Nantasket and then back home to fold and package cards.

Finally the big day came, the stall was open and I was hopeful life could return to normal.

That’s when Nancy reminded me that we owed the kids their annual summer outing. I enjoy it as much as they do so we had to squeeze that in. We wanted a zoo or Aquarium so we had narrowed it down to 3 choices…the Zooquarium in Yarmouth (Cape Cod), Mystic Aquarium (Mystic , CT.) or Roger Williams Park and Zoo in Providence , RI. I compared prices and travel time and Roger Williams was the closest and in the middle for price so Roger Williams it is.

I hadn’t been to the Zoo there in quite a while. I went the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular the last 2 years and I like the Carousel Village for pictures but it’s been closer to 20 years since I’ve been to the Zoo itself.

Here are some of the sights and scenes from the trip.

We saw a dominate tortoise “beating up” on his “lesser” cage mate. Yup. It’s 2 males jousting for dominance. It’s pretty clear which one was winning.

No Lions, Tigers and bears but for once the Snow Leopard was where it could be seen.

The Flamingos were nice and pink.

And look at that tongue on the giant ant-eater.

We spotted a cute little red panda. That was quite a hit.

Our national bird, The American Eagle was majestic as he perched in his enclosure.

I think it’s safe to say that we all had a good time.

Too many pictures, not enough room!

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The kids played in the “misters” and we found the green eggs to go with the ham, but I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, I do not like them Sam I AM (Dr. Seuss)