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.All Trips / Florida / North America / Southeastern USA
Gatorland, Orlando, Florida
Florida is home to lots of alligators, and there’s probably no better place to see your fill of them in one day than at Gatorland.
Gatorland was Orlando’s first large attraction, starting way back in 1949 when Disney and Universal hadn’t even thought of using the region for theme parks. Back then Seminole Indians would wrestle the gators for tourists, and the classic gator jaws at the park’s entrance (top photo) were photographed tens of thousands of times. Because of the extensive development of the Orlando region, there are many fewer gators around today but there’s still lots of them in the state.
Gatorland is a family-run, family -oriented place that reminded me a little of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park …
Tagged alligators, family fun, Gatorland, gators, Orlando, swamp
“Pic of the Week”, November 13, 2015: Gator wrestling, Florida
Alligators are fascinating animals. Large, primitive, with alert eyes that, like any good predator’s, follow you wherever you go. I must admit that when they fix their unblinking eyes on me, the hair stands up on my neck. They are six inches long when they’re born, but as fully grown adults can reach a length of almost 20 ft (more than 6 meters). Once a threatened species, they’ve recovered and you’ll find them in freshwater swamps and lakes of the southeast.
I recently visited Orlando with my father and one day was spent at the fun old-fashioned amusement park, Gatorland. There are several shows at this venue, including one featuring alligator wrestling. This is not a violent sport …
Nov 12, 2015
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.All Trips / Florida / North America / Southeastern USA
Florida’s Everglades: Big Cypress Bend boardwalk at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
The Everglades is a fascinating and unique place — a broad shallow river slowly moving to the sea and covering a large portion of southwestern Florida in a thin layer of water. Mostly the Everglades is characterized by its “River of Grass”, endless acres of saw-grass (run your finger along it’s edge and you’ll see how it got its name). I’ll be writing about my visit to Shark Valley in Everglades National Park soon, Shark Valley being representative of this “River of Grass” ecosystem. The mangroves are another face of the Everglades found along the coast, where fresh and salt water mingle, and we’ll also be discussing Everglades City which is in this region in a future post.
Today …
