Gertie the ‘gator

Monday, February 20, 2012 FORT MYERS, FL – The air was much fresher this morning – a welcome change from the muggy heat of yesterday. After breakfast, we took a little tour in our campground, along a boardwalk through a marshy area thick with jungly vegetation. Even though we could hear traffic noises close by, we could have been deep in some forgotten swamp. The only wildlife was a squirrel, a bug or two, and minnows and small fish in the boggy water. Guess the pythons and gators knew better than to get in our way. We decided to go in search of some real swamp life in the Everglades, less than an hour’s drive away. Our campground neighbours gave us a brochure of one airboat service that they had enjoyed, so we headed south on I-75 past Naples after phoning in our reservation. Airboats are a common means of transportation in the Everglades. These flat-bottomed boats have a huge propeller at the back, much like an oversized fan, that can propel the vessel at speeds up to 50 miles an hour across shallow water, marshland or even dry ground. They make such a din that passengers need to cover their ears with padded protectors. Since we arrived well ahead of time for our trip, we were invited to go and see the baby alligators in a pen near the office building. The handler let us take turns holding Gertie, the baby alligator. It was quite a different sensation feeling her little body in our hands. She was surprisingly soft, and quite content to be passed from one person to another. Gertie’s older relatives were a little less cuddly looking. A pair of them basked in the sun on the shore below the office building. One was about nine feet long and the other a smaller, five-foot specimen. Standing on a wooden platform above them, we could admire their spiky backs, long claws and toothy grins from a safe distance. They were practically motionless, snoozing in the warm mud, but when the big one yawned we got a good look at his chompers. Whew! Finally, it was time to board the airboat. Ten of us got on, in two rows of four on padded benches plus two others on either side of Dan, the driver, at the back. Moments later, the engine roared and we were careening into the marshland, spewing plumes of water behind us and traveling at a speed that mashed my face around as if I were moving at three Gs! I gripped the grab bar in front of me, but Val, in the back seat, had nothing holding him in on the water side of his spot! All he could do was grab the edge of his seat and hold on for dear life. Dan weaved his way through watery pathways, with tall grasses on either side. In more open areas, we could see wading birds moving out of the way, and a few took to flight, but they were obviously accustomed to the noisy visitors. Our boat slowed down when we got to a section of open water. That’s when we caught sight of something above the surface. An alligator! Then another one! And a third! As we glided in their direction, they made no attempt to go away. On the contrary; they approached us, undulating their spiky tails to propel them forward. One was about 11 feet long, and it came right up to the airboat and then glided underneath it. We were spellbound. Dan gave us some more high-speed thrills on the return journey, deftly doing a couple of 360s in the open water to our delight! Only a few of the front-row passengers got splashed a bit, but they weren’t complaining.