A place to see alligators up close and personal.
What's the first thing you think of when you think of visiting Florida?
For most people, its Disney World, Orlando Studios, or the beautiful beaches. When we decided to take our road trip to Florida we asked the kids what they wanted to do and they all yelled
" See some alligators!! "
Florida is well known for its amusement parks and beaches but what about its incredible wildlife?
One and a half million acres of this subtropical state consists of the Everglades National Park. Which is home to many rare and exotic creatures including the alligator. Natives of Florida are familiar with these reptiles but for those of us who live in other parts of the country, an alligator is an exotic animal only seen on TV. Since its too dangerous to see alligators out in the wilderness we decided to take the kids to an alligator park where they can see these creatures up close and personal.
We found the perfect place.
We came across the World's Largest Alligator and his name is
SWAMPY
Of course Swampy is not real, but he makes a good photo prop.
We visited this park on a hot and humid day but we were determined to " SEE SOME ALLIGATORS!". We arrived to the park a little after opening and there were only a few people there which meant a lot of space for our little ones to run around. As we were walking up, we were greeted by a harmless baby snake who had escaped into the entryway.
After purchasing our tickets, the employee informed us of three shows happening throughout the day at no extra cost to us. This was a wonderful surprise! Nearby was a shelf full of brown paper bags labeled as different types of animal foods so of course we had to buy some.
Who wouldn't want to deed a baby alligator?
The bridge leading into the park was the hot spot for the day and I'll tell you why later. After crossing the bridge, feeding the baby alligators was the first thing on the list! To feed these little gators you put the alligator food ( which was nothing more than a glorified hot dog) on this fishing pole type tool and you hung it over the fence.
Next thing on the list was just browsing the many animal exhibits which I'm not a huge fan of. I don't like to see large animals in cages but we were here to see some alligators. This park is home to over two hundred alligators that are in their natural habitat.
We walked along the paths, crossed some bridges, and followed the trails throughout the park. Alligators were seen everywhere.
The shows were set up throughout the park at different times and added an educational component to this trip. The first show was about a handful of creatures that the kids were able to pet, including a tarantula. The second show was about the native Indians of that area and how they used a variety of animal bones and parts in their everyday life.
By the time of the last show, we were all drenched in sweat from the humidity and were pretty much ready to go. However, we couldn't miss this next event. This was the one we were all waiting for.
ALLIGATOR FEEDING TIME!!!!
Which brought us back to the bridge at the beginning of the park. This was the place where all the action went down. As guests were approaching the bridge and gathering around, you could see these slithering reptiles coming up one by one. They knew what time it was. What made this interesting was that the host knew each alligator by its name and called them up to grab their lunch.
And that's exactly what they did.
It was an exciting event. We would have never been able to see this out in the wild with the kids.
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If you're ever in this area or decide to travel to Florida, stop by Jungle Adventures for a family day of fun. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did sharing it with you. Have a blessed day!
