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A few weeks ago we had purchased a groupon for an Air Boat ride in the Everglades to see alligators. Not having had the time to find anywhere to print our vouchers off we made our way to the pretty town of Oveido and on to Black Hammock Adventures where the tours take place, hoping we could blag our way on a tour. We were greeted by a guy who said we needed reservations to go on through groupon, so I explained that we were travelling, didnt have a phone that worked etc and smiled sweetly...it worked of course but he said we may have to wait up to an hour in case anyone else turned up to go on a tour. This was fine by us, we'd had another hot, sticky night in the car and were happy to sit by the side of the lake in the shade of a palm tree, watching the multitude of birdlife around us until they were ready. After saying hello to the 2 McCaws (who said hello back!) and envying the 12ft Alligator Harry lounging in his pool, we went and sat down to wait. Compared to the bustle and noise of Orlando this place was wonderfully peaceful with no traffic noises or smells and just the gentle sound of insects and birds to lull you into daydreams! We sat for maybe 40 mins when Captain Josh came and said he'd take us now, no-one else had turned up and it was starting to get hot. We were joined by the other Captain Josh, a younger version with his arm in a sling, to act as lookout. I had always wanted to go on one of these air boats and wasn't disappointed by how much fun they are! They're incredibly quick and quite agile, twisting and turning through the grasses that make up the marshes of the lake. As we went along we saw all manor of types of water birds from Egrets to Herons of all shapes and sizes and my most exciting encounter...Ospreys!!! Ive never seen one in Britain as they're quite rare but over here there are loads, taken for granted as we now take the Red Kite back home. A bit further along Captain Josh (junior) pointed out an alligator nest where you could just see some babies slithering about, camouflaged exceptionally well against predators..such as the osprey and other birds of prey which would take them at this size, about 6". Unfortunately that was all we were going to get as far as live alligators were concerned, despite the efforts of Captain Josh (senior) who poked and prodded with an oar where he thought some might be hiding (dont do this at home lol). We did however see one that had been shot by hunters and had got away only to die later on which was sad, but apparently this happens regularly during the hunting season as 1st timers come ill prepared to deal with these powerful creatures. Once back at the docks we thanked our guides who were very knowledgeable, friendly men and began the long journey towards Las Vegas.
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