No home game today - The Phillies played the Yankees in Tampa and lost again. We decided to do something near Tampa while we are staying over here. We wanted to do another swamp tour this trip and the closest swamp offering tours is about an hour and a half north of Tampa towards Gainsville.
After making a reservation for 2:00 pm, we drove up I-75 in heavy traffic to Exit 321 and the KOA on the lake where the air boat tour is based. The surrounding area is what you might expect to see in sparsely populated north central Florida. Near the KOA were several "RV Parks" with a mix of single-wide trailers, RVs, campers, and trailers in various states of permanent, seasonal, and transitory living/retirement arrangements, There were Moose, VFW, and American Legion posts where we assume adult beverages may be served and, strangely enough, at least 5 beauty salons. There was not much else in town except a beer, bait, and tackle store. We had lunch at the combo Hardee's (Carl's junior)/Subway/Gas Station/Quick Stop near the freeway off/on ramp before our air boat ride.
The air boat ride was great - well worth the trip up here. The boat held 12 people and we shared the ride with other out-of-town tourists. The lake is 9 miles long, 2 miles wide and about 5-6 feet deep. The banks are overgrown with vegetation, cypress tress and assorted water plants and grasses. An air boat is the only way to get around in the shallow water and in and out of the numerous inlets and channels. The boat captain was an old timer who had been driving air boats on the lake for 50 years. He said there are probably about a thousand alligators in the lake, lots of turtles and poisonous snakes, as well as lots of other assorted wildlife such as coyotes, fish, and deer. We saw a lot of alligators, a few turtles, and one snake.
The surprise however, was seeing a pack of wild pigs who live on the islands in the swamp. There were about 7 or 8 pigs in the group, part of a litter born about 2 years ago. The boat captain has been feeding them regularly and when the boat stopped they came to the shore. The captain got off the boat and fed them kernels of dried corn he had brought with him in a can. They were friendly towards him and he even was able to pet them while they ate the corn. I guess you can still call them "wild", and I am not sure they would be that friendly towards strangers. Last year the captain had brought back to the boat dock one of the litter with a broken leg and has paid the local veterinarian to nurse it back to health. He said, "$1,600 later, the pig is in good shape." It's injuries were too severe for it to be returned to the wild, so it lives in luxury in it's own pen by the boat dock.
It was long ride back to the hotel through heavy weekend traffic and road work. We went to the Bahama Breeze Island Grille again for dinner again and early to bed tonight. Baseball game tomorrow with the Phillies playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. The weather was great today - sunny and 75 degrees. Tomorrow should be a little warmer.
More pictures:
Day 5 Pictures
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