Our flight back home after the cruise was not until 2:00 in the afternoon. We had two minor problems: (1) We knew we would have to leave the ship about 9:00 and really didn’t want to sit at the airport all that time and (2) transportation to the airport. OH, WHAT TO DO?
We checked out the available tours in Ft. Lauderdale and found an airboat ride through the Everglades that would deliver us and our luggage to the airport after the tour. The bus was waiting for us as we disembarked the Golden Princess at 8:30 on Saturday. Our luggage was loaded in the cargo compartment of the bus and off we went.
The Everglades Holiday Park was ready for us as we arrived. Our group was loaded onto an airboat and off we went. Speeding through a river of grass at 50 miles per hour was thrilling. Suddenly, the driver comes to a stop- he has seen something. Turning the boat slowing in a protected cove, we saw it also- a 12-foot alligator just below the water line, eyes poking up out of the water,
Obviously, the boat operator was fascinated with the alligator and knew quite a lot about them. We received a mini-seminar on the life and habits of alligators- what they eat, where they sleep and how the reproduce. He had some bread with him and was feeding it to this creature, giving us opportunities to get great pictures. We stayed there for over 25 minutes, (It was supposed to be only a 30 minute tour).
We were on the move again, winding, weaving, and sliding across the water, grasses and vegetation. We stopped briefly to see another huge alligator sleeping on the bank. We returned an hour later to the dock where we began. There waiting for us was our tour guide from the bus. I think she was a little concerned about our extra long boat ride. Everyone else had already returned, even though they had left after us. No time for our group to visit the gift shop, we that did not concern us too much. A quick stop at the restrooms and then we were on our way to the airport.
Tours are offered seven days a week year-round.
The Everglades, at the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula, is the only subtropical preserve in North America. Sawgrass prairies, mangroves and cypress swamps, and piney woods support rich bird life such as spoonbills, great blue herons, and egrets along with a large variety of water life including alligators.
It was first recognized as a National Park in 1947, a World Heritage site in 1979 and in 1987 was named Wetlands of International Importance. Some say, "If you haven’t seen the Everglades, you haven’t seen Florida."