Hotel Transport is fine. Tour guides fine. Boat tour is fine but what is not at all āfineā is the state of facilities and equally the treatment of the alligators. After the boat tour we went to watch an alligator show. I would have assumed with the status of the Everglades being protected that all animals were included. I was not prepared for the state of bare minimum environments the alligators were in. Concrete tubs filled with yellow water, cages of nothing more than plastic fencing, yellowed concrete and an area to lie.
We were āentertainedā by a show ācircusā of a barefoot man making a mockery of the size of the alligators heads by lifting it up out of the water by its head. For what point? To educate us? Letās assume it was caged Pandas we were watching- would we be enthralled to see a man climb on its back and wrench its mouth open? Or Penguins having their wings pried apart to show the strength of the muscle. It was a circus all about the man. For what point?
There is one facility on site for womenās restrooms - 3 stalls. The gift shop is combined with tickets to boats so its utter chaos to get through the throngs of coaches arriving. There is no direction except a loud speaker shouting requests for groups to head down to their boats.
The buildings are small and hardly equipped to cope with the sizeable influx of people coming in and out. It felt overcrowded and very unsafe.
There is very little in this set up to promote education or conservation. Instead it feels like a real money grab. We left in the middle of the āshowā.. called an Uber and didnāt look back.
There are lots of people coming to learn - there is great potential here. Clearly there is an interest and no lack of money being spent. Why not put those dollars to good use? Make it a proper facility, not a circus, instead, cater for the people who want to come and learn. Please do better.
We have two middle school children- are we to teach our children that it is ok to sit on an animal and pry its mouth open, hoping for cheers from the crowd? Or, are we instead trying to educate and teach respect for these and all incredible animals?