Sunday dawned overcast and chilly and Jess decided to surprise me with our destination. All I was told is that it cost $13 and was outside. We headed southwest and arrived at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park to the sight of a giant manatee decked out in his St. Patrick’s finest. I remember adopting a manatee in elementary school and I‘m always happy to be able to see one up close.
To my surprise, the manatees were only one of the many animals we got to check out. First, we boarded a boat for a short cruise over to the entrance of the park.
Although we humans were shivering
due to the 40 degree temperatures, the animals were loving it. We got to see a
variety of native Florida wildlife up and about, including manatees, panthers, and wolves.
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| Flamingo |
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| Bald Eagles=American |
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| The elusive Florida panther |
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| Red wolf |
And of course there was a Hippo! He’s been at the park since 1964 and is 52 years old. I’ve never seen a hippo before and he was massive! It was very cool to check out.
There is an underwater manatee observatory where I used my special powers to beckon a manatee over for up close viewing.
We were chilled to the bone at that point so we retreated to the car where Jess had wisely packed a picnic lunch of hot soup. I really enjoyed this park, especially how the birds were free to roam about.
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| Jess stalking a bird |
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