I had the best time at the park! I got to see and meet Paul from the Gator boys even though I was told it was not GUARANTEED he would be there. I’m so thankful he was. Even though he didn’t perform at the Gator show, he was still a funny commentator. His partner would be performing as he made funny jokes but jokes aside he was also very educational.
The airboat tour was very fun. The captain was very informative and taught me a lot. For example spatterdock ( looks like Lily pads) lets you know how deep the water is, because they grow 6’ tall, if you can see the top of them then the water is less than 6’ deep. I was also shocked that they weren’t Lily pads. We got lucky and saw 4 gators out since it was a cold spell just a few days before. The captain would also turn the boat for people to see that were in the opposite side of the boat, that way everyone could see without moving from one side to the other.
The animal encounter is a MUST do. It was so fun holding different animals and learning about them. There was a tortoise, goats, snake, gator, bearded dragon, turtle and because I love gators so much, the educator brought in the sister of the gator I held just so I could hold her without being charged, you could hold her for $10 and that’s for people who don’t want to do the encounter. Every animal you hold, the educator would take a picture of you holding the animal, the pictures are free. After doing the encounter I got over my fear and I held the bearded dragon, ever since that moment I’ve been doing research about them because now I want to own one.
We walked around the park afterwards and saw some more gators and a couple foxes. It’s not really a big park but knowing I helped keep it going with the money I have makes me feel happy! It’s really cool that there are people who love alligators as much as I do 🐊 and do everything they can to save them.
I practically bought everything in the gift shop, so much that I had to leave the items in the counter so I could grab more. There are places to sit and have some lunch and enjoy the scenery. The drive from Miami to here was not long at all and the Uber wasn’t expensive.