Monday, June 6, 2011

Super weekend!

After a looooong day of shopping, Sarah actually fell asleep in the car on the way home! :-)

Sunday morning we were pumped and ready, arriving at Canoe Escape in Thonotosassa, just north of Tampa.

We got a ride to the drop off point, a park called Sargeant's Park in the Lower Hillsborough River Wilderness Preserve.

It was such a serene and peaceful trip, slowly paddling downstream. We saw a lot of alligators, many beautiful birds and the usual turtles, fish and insects.

We were lucky enough to see three rare birds, the Limpkin, the Roseate Spoonbill and the elusive Black-crowned Night Heron! Pictures below.

It took us about 2½ hours to paddle to our half-way stop at Morris Bridge Park, where we grilled some hot dogs, ate and stretched our legs.

Sarah was getting a bit tired, it was after all a very hot day with temperatures around 37 C, though most of the river was shady and had a nice little breeze.

But renewed by our break we set off downstream again, this portion being a bit different. We did however get stuck on a fallen tree and had to port the canoe over, but it went well, added a little excitement! The water in the river was for the most part very clear, and we could see all the creatures underneath us. There were many types of cat fish, bass and Florida gar, among others. We saw a few gators swimming beneath us as well. The water was very shallow at some points (this being the dryer season).

After a total of 5 hours we arrived at Trout Creek Park where Canoe Escape picked us up to bring us back to our car.

We were tired, hot and very pleased with out great day!




White Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill


Two Limpkins

Water bugs ontop of the water's surface

Water Hyacinth

Catfish


Florida Gar


Gator

Black-crowned Night Heron

Another Gator

Beautiful, serene vistas

5 comments:

Victoria said...

Men, vad häftigt! Är den här turen något för oss, som typ aldrig suttit i en kanot förr?

SweFlo said...

De har en tur som bara är 2 timmar. Visserligen beror det ju på när på året man åker, våren är nog svårare eftersom det är grundare. Sommaren är nog bäst! Det är inte superenkelt, eftersom det är vindlande och man måste vara uppmärksam, men helt klart OK! Man kan sitta två vuxna och två barn under 12 i en kanot tror jag, kolla in deras hemsida: www.canoeescape.com

Anonymous said...

WOW!... Rudskigt häftigt! Sist jag satt i en kanot var 1975.. er tur slår den med hästlängder!!!...

Lotte

SweFlo said...

Jadu moster, vi kan ju ta en liten kanottur när ni kommer, men kanske hålla oss till Manatee River här i närheten: 1 timmas paddlande, grilla lite och sedan hem 1 timme. Lite lagom sådär... Vi planerar att paddla på Crystal River härnäst, en kristallklar flod där sjökorna gillar att hålla till. Där kan man bada i mineralvattnet som bubblar upp från underjordiska källor (fast det finsn ju gators där med...)

Mrs Clapper said...

Åh hjälp! Vad häftigt!! (Men jag hade nog inte vågat mig ner i det vattnet med annat än en Finlands-färja runt mig!)