You can tell he is passionate about his work and made everyone else on the tour equally as passionate. Our tour guide, Marc, was very entertaining and had a vast knowledge of all things Florida, gators, birds, and everything else in the surrounding ecosystems. I can tell you that this was by far worth it! The van ride was worth it, you do spend an hour or two at most in the van at a time but the tour guide was really great at making the time pass quickly with all of his observations of birds, turtles, and alligators along the road. They were not sure if it was going to be worth it, they were concerned about the amount of time in the van, and wasn’t sure if it was a trustworthy company. I am sure it's no worse than any other roadside stop in the area, but I guess I expected more.I convinced my family members to join me in the full day safari and they were very weary. The whole place was just run down and crumbling - the show area, the gift shop and restaurant, part of the boardwalk, the buildings off the boardwalk, It's in a National Park, it should be represented that way. I understand if they want to have some for display or perhaps they are rescued, but give them reasonable care and accommodations. In the middle of the vast, beautiful Everglades, these poor creatures have literally a tiny concrete cell. I was saddened and disappointed by the tiny and run down rea that the alligators are kept in for the "show" and also the "crocodile and alligator" exhibits on the boardwalk. We were then shuttled over for the "show." I was actually extremely pleased to find out that they do NOT let visitors touch or handle the snakes or alligators, but they do have photo ops with a baby gator. Our captain was less than enthusiastic, but he basically got the job done. The actual airboat ride was reasonably priced and a very cool experience. The gift shop was closed so I am not sure of their selections. We stopped in the afterwards 2 canned soft drinks, 2 appetizers totaled $22. I believe animals are best in their natural habit being animals and not passed around or handled. There is an option at the begin of the tour for a photo (we declined this so I’m not sure the price of the souvenir photo) and afterwards, there is a Gator show (we skipped this only because I didn’t want to see any animals being aggravated or harassed so I’m not sure whether this occurs or not. Our tour guide for the boat was Giovanni and he was very personable and had vocalized several years (since 2007) working and driving the boats which helped me feel comfortable with the ride. If you have time I highly suggest making time for an airboat ride. Also, the boat is not too fast or bumpy at all, so don’t be afraid of that (I was worried). It was a bit chilly with the wind so we didn’t get to see many alligators but we did see some! The swamp is amazing and really a unique experience I highly recommend. The airboat tour felt like lit was about an hour (I could be wrong) and they provide you with ear plugs to protect hearing from the large fan. The last tour of the day goes out at 4pm and tickets were $30 each (make sure to bring cash to tip your airboat driver!). There are no airboat tours that operate within the actual national park, it the park does provide 3 operating airboats, Everglades Safari being one of the 3. After spending the day at the Everglades National Park, we drove almost an hour north to do an airboat swamp tour.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |