So yesterday I experienced being face to face with a wild alligator, after searching through a bayou on an airboat in the Florida Everglades!
Wild Florida, is an amazing place in the middle of nowhere (well the middle of central Florida), where you can experience an airboat ride that takes you out into marshes and swamps to see the wild alligators that live there.
We booked our boat trip all ready before we arrived at Wild Florida. The morning of our trip to the Everglades, we woke up and got ready for the day ahead. I packed my rucksack ready to go and packed some brilliant mosquito bands I was sent by Wander Ready, I mean what better way to really test out mosquito repellent bands, than wearing them in the hot swampy areas of Florida.
Wander Ready is an amazing little company that creates 100% natural mosquito repellent bands that use nanoscale technology; they are available on Amazon and can be purchased with prime delivery!
These bands are made with natural plant oils that create a scent which keeps the pesky insects at bay. I was worried that the scent would be incredibly strong and would put me off wearing the bands, but actually the smell is quite pleasant. The natural nature of the bands means that they can be worn by everyone, even children and people with sensitive skin. The bands can be worn on your wrist, attached to clothing, placed on surfaces such as tables or beds, or even used as hair bands. The material makes them waterproof so their great for going to the beach, around the pool, water sports activities or even airboat adventures...
I've been using these bands this summer (and so has my family) and we've been very impressed with their results. On evenings sat out around the pool, at warm evening BBQs, during hot nights spent in villas, at late night meals outside, and on an airboat ride around the swampy areas of the everglades... - no insect bites yay!
So I recommend purchasing these lovely bands, especially if you're prone to insect bites or just don't like having tiny mosquitoes flying around you - I mean who does?
So anyway, once we were all ready to go, we headed to Wild Florida. When we arrived, we checked in and headed around the animal park there.
The animal park there had a few animals to look at whilst we waited for our turn on the airboats. We saw alligators (obviously), tortoises, zebras, parrots and a panther. My little sister enjoyed watching the Animal Encounter Show too, where she touched an alligator and a tortoise.
It wasn't long until it was our turn to board our airboat and to head out into the bayou. I'd never been on an airboat and I was so excited. We put on our noise cancelling headphones and headed off.
The airboat ride was an amazing experience as we glided across the water, high grasses and swamps with ease and at a super fast speed. My hair blew all over the place haha, so I would definitely recommend tying your hair back if you ever find yourself on an airboat, oh and also it's a good idea to wear sunglasses because the wind really blows into your eyes!
We were on the look out for alligators.
Our guide told us that there are around 800 to 1000 alligators in the lake that we were gliding across, and in total there are around 1.25 million alligators in Florida. So surely they wouldn't be that hard to spot right...?
Nope, it was a super hot day so lots of the alligators where in very dark shady areas or under the water so they were impossible to find, but it wasn't long until we spotted one by a nest. We stopped the boat right next to the alligator so that we could have a look. The alligator looked amazing, and was supposedly a female alligator on the look out defending her nest. So in true alligator defensive style she started to hiss at us to warn us off. Our tour guide said that she was just bluffing us and wouldn't strike unless we went any nearer, but I quickly took some photos and sat back down again because I didn't really want to take my chances haha.
We carried on our tour of the bayou looking for more alligators, but sadly we couldn't see anymore. However we were very lucky to experience seeing a couple of rare bald eagles nestled in the trees in the middle of the lake. The tour guide told us that bald eagles find their soul mate, couple up and remain in the same nest for the rest of their life - so cute.
We carried on our tour further into the swamps until we reached the mouth of Reedy Creek. The views were amazing, and the boat ride was brilliant. Our tour guide told us so much information about the wildlife on the lakes, as well as his stories with working with alligators.
Soon enough our time on the lake was over and we headed back to park. I had an overall amazing experience on the airboat, and it was brilliant being face to face with a wild Floridian alligator.
I hope you've enjoyed reading about this experience. Make sure you check out Wild Florida and Wander Ready in the links below:
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