Everglades National Park: Airboat rondleiding met reptielen tentoonstelling

Het was zo geweldig, we hebben één alligator in het wild gezien en wat de ervaring geweldig maakte, waren de mensen die er werkten. We hebben veel geleerd, je kunt zien dat ze echt van de dieren en de Everglades houden. Maar ik ben geen fan van het houden van die 4 alligators in gevangenschap!

De Airboat Tour was erg leuk, iedereen was vriendelijk en behulpzaam. Geweldig om de krokodillen van dichtbij te zien in hun natuurlijke omgeving!

Geweldige paar uur, zeer informatief en het personeel was innemend

We arrived early and hopped on the 9:30 am airboat. It was pleasantly warm, but not too humid and since the sun wasn’t blazing, we were lucky to spot two gators. Our guide had amazing eyesight and knew exactly where to find them, easily spotting them among the water lilies and tree roots they were hiding in. Even if you don’t see a gator, the trip is definitely worth it. The Everglades are one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems and for that reason alone, you should visit. There’s a ton of plants, animals, and wildlife that rely on the Everglades for their survival. A visit here is super educational; for example, learning that gators, although there are about 1.3 million in Florida, are threatened by the Burmese python which lives in the Everglades. This python lays around 100 eggs per clutch! They’re super invasive and are slowly threatening the ecosystem that so many Everglades animals depend on. Coopertown Airboats claims to be the longest-running airboat service in the area, established in 1945. This lets them share stories from the past and provide valuable, informative facts about this precious ecosystem. If you don’t do anything else in Miami, take a trip to the Everglades and hopefully, this experience will inspire you to help protect this beautiful home for so many wild animals. Lastly, there’s a reasonably priced little gift shop where you can buy souvenirs.

This was probably one of my favorite things I did on my 11-night Florida trip. If you don’t have earplugs, I highly recommend you buy the ones they sell (only a couple bucks). The airboats are medium-sized, but the engine at the back is anything but. The loud 7 1/2 liters of unsilenced 454 Chevy Big Block power is unforgettable. Speeding into the Everglades was an experience I won’t forget - we saw four wild alligators (they came right up to the boat) and our guide was super knowledgeable and quite the comedian - plus he had the most epic beard this side of ZZ Top. He also explained how alligators act - they’re actually pretty lazy and mostly don’t care about us. That said, don’t get in the water, because if they’re hungry, they’ll take a piece of you! An absolutely fantastic experience - highly recommend.