Air Boat Tours

So today we went on an air-boat tour. It was a lot of fun. For people who don't know what that is, an air-boat is a flat-bottom boat with a huge fan on the back that propels the boat over the top of the water. These types of boats are prefered in the Everglades and swamps because the water is too shallow for traditional under-water propellers and under-water propellers injure wildlife like manatees and alligators. Airboat tours are one of the best ways to see gators in Florida. But, I learned few things about air-boat tours that I didn't know before and thought I would pass them along.

1) There are mosquitos! Lots and lots of huge mosquitos. We put on sunscreen because we knew we would be in the sun, but we didn't put on any mosquito repellant. They just coated us! So, mosquito repellant.

2) Sun glasses. This is both to protect your eyes from the sun and the wind. air-boats are open and go pretty fast to glide over the water. Even if you don't normally wear sunglasses, make sure you at least get some cheap ones just for the ride.

3) Go when it is cool. It was really hot out today and so we only got a glimpse of 3 gators. The captain said that the hotter it gets, he would be lucky to see any. When it gets hot, the gators stay under water to stay cool. The best time to see gators is in the spring when it is both cool and mating season. But if you must go in the summer (that is peak tourist season) go as early in the day as possible.

Those are my biggest tips. I didn't get many pics, but here are a few. Even though we didn't see many gators, air-boats are a lot of fun to ride so I highly reccommend taking a trip if you are ever in Orlando.
There is the top of the head of a gator in this picture, really, lol.

I just thought this old cypress tree looked really nest.