Kayaking on the Weeki Wachee River...

Remember back earlier in the week, we headed over to the Weeki Wachee State Park... Well, it was time to head back again today, to take on the the River!

They offer a Paddling Adventure along this River, above is the Paddle Shack where you start. It is right beside the Little Mermaids of Weeki Wachee State Park. The Paddling Adventure is 5 1/2 miles long. The best part is you are paddling down River with a nice current at your back.

That is the launch area behind me, as I am watching the guy grab out our Kayak.

 

As you can see they had a bunch of them, singles, doubles which we took, and lots of canoes.

This is the River above... that is the bottom you see. This River is crystal clear, with all the water coming out of the big spring in the State Park... it all flows to the Gulf of Mexico.

This tour was high on Judy's radar list, so we had to make sure we got back here...

It did not take long for the wild life to start showing up... check out this turtle above... the River is full of tropical fish, just like kayaking in an aquarium... hard to believe. We just don't get this up in Canada.

 

Of course as you would expect, there are lots of water birds along the banks of the River. We did pass only one alligator, and no, I did not get a picture of it, however it was only like a 3 footer, and I think I could have jumped out and wrestled it to submission! No Problem!

 

There were a few people out on the River, but it is so long, we spent the majority of the day by ourselves... nice and quite. This couple pointed out two Deer feeding on the leaves along side of the River... not quick enough for a picture of it either, nor the armadillo that was feeding along side the River... the River current carries you at about 5 mph so you have to be steering all the time as the River twists and turns as you go, so it is hard to steer and take pictures. (Well... I thought it sounded like a good excuse...)

This is the tour boat that Judy and I took earlier on our tour of the State Park... we stayed clear of them!

This is one pristine River...

This guy above was sticking he neck out...

 

We were testing Judy's new underwater camera out on this trip, holding it under water and taking the pics... however the water was so clear it is hard to tell.

 

The song birds were just a singing... you would think you were in a jungle.

There were lots of Cyprus Trees along the Banks with the neat root system...

Birds galore...

No, that is not a water snake above, it is a pencil fish... there were a few of them.

AND THEN WE HIT PAY DIRT! We had our eyes open all along the way, as we heard there might be some Manatees as we go along... We were right near the end, and had not seen any, then this guy came out of nowhere and swam right beside us for about a 1/4 of a mile... unbelievable.

I figured he had to be about 15 feet long...

Check out his tail... almost looks like a beaver tail! This guy was the highlight of a fantastic day! Took a big bite out of life today! It took us 4 hours to complete the tour!

Word is out that John and Pat Morrison are going to jump on a big steel bird tomorrow from Toronto, and head down to Florida! Looking forward to it!

Till tomorrow...

 

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