Everglades

We had 6 hours to spare on our last day at Miami before we were to go to the airport. This was more of a scouting trip to get a sneak peak of what to do and what not to do if we go back to Florida for a many day vacation centered around Miami instead of driving back and forth to Orlando.

Got up early and went to the Visitor center of the Everglades National Park. The rangers were nice and came to the point quickly..

"Let's see. You are here in the wrong season. You should come here during the dry season which is November to January, instead you are here.. smack dab in the middle of the wet season"

Me : So?

Ranger : With very old people and little kids in your party, it might be a stretch to see anything. Not many birds around in this season and not many alligators close enough. Also way too many mosquitos. That will be a problem for the elderly and the children. I can meet you at a point 20 miles from here and take you for a one hour walk. You will see things and I can point to them"

Me : We have only till 1PM

Ranger : Your best bet is to visit one of the farms around this area and go on a airboat ride!

So we thanked the ranger and drove to the Everglades Alligator Farm. They had just opened for the morning and had a 3 hour agenda with a snake show, an alligator show, a walk around the tanks where they sort the gators (and Nile crocs) by size ...

Here are some pictures from the shows which show the young and old having fun.

We did get to hold the alligators (with the mouth taped shut as a precaution) and the snakes that were not poisonous..

and the grand finale.. an airboat ride into the everglades for almost 20 minutes where we got to see the turtles, birds and alligators up close and personal. 

What is a post on everglades without a video of the airboat ride. It was water sprays everywhere and this is the sum total of all the videos that I was able to take with both the iPhone and the 5D Mark II. No points for guessing which parts of the video were taken with which camera!

We had a great time given the time constraint. It was scary for the oldest adult at places but we made it!

Simply put, awesome entertainment and money's worth!

Crocodile park

Went to the Crocodile park in Chennai (on East Coast Road). Spent 2 hours there. Saw enough crocodiles for a lifetime! The snakes from the Guindy snake park (which I have visited many times as a kid) have also been moved to this location.

At the entrance, there was this cute tortoise and turtle exhibit.

Here is a map of the worlds croc's. I didnt know that crocodiles were there in all these places!

The adults are almost my age !!

There were three different huge areas with at least 30 or so crocs in each tank.

They practically had a sample of every type of crocodile in this place (alligators and gharials too)!

The sample above covers asia, south america, north america and africa !!

For the grand finale, there was this Dinosaur !!

Note the two little dinosaurs watching the big one!


We also visited the snakes..

Here they are, up close and personal..




There are 4-5 snakes in every one of those pots and the guys keep milking venom every two minutes.

Me: Sir, enakku oru doubtu saar ! (I have a doubt!)
Cool snake venom milking dude (we will abreviate this to dude) : Sollunga Saar (tell me)
Me : how come you dont wear any gloves ?
Dude : we tried gloves. But then the snakes slip through and bite us. Bare hands is better!
Me : do you guys get bit ?
Dude : yes. sometimes.
Me : what then ?
Dude : depending on the snake we have anywhere between 2 hours to 24 to get to a hospital!
Me : you are kidding.
Dude : No Saar. Really. We have a vehicle standing by in case we get bit.

Luckily dude didnt give me a demo of getting bit! But, it was awesome. The whole park is nice. Top notch quality for any animal park! Loved it. Dont miss it if you are visiting Chennai, and do take the kids. I thought Jr. would be scared, but she actually enjoyed it!