Coming back from my vacation last weekend left me quite busy for this past week. I had a lot of work to catch up on, like signing autographs, going to photo shoots, and doing all the rest of the stuff celebrities do. All that to say that I have finally got around to writing my 3rd and final post about my Florida Vacation. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 here.
For the last couple days of my time in Florida, we had quite the adventures.
I’ll warm you up with this nice picture I took of a monarch butterfly.
But moving on, I continued with some awesome fishing on the Gulf.
As usual, I go so crazy when the fish comes up that my camera crew becomes engaged in holding me back rather than doing their job of taking pictures.
Now the really exciting part…
On my last full day there, we threw the kayaks on the trailer and headed to Florida’s Silver Springs, which turned out to be the most exciting part of the whole trip. We paddled down the river in our kayaks, admiring the quietness and beauty of the nature all around. I was in such a calm, relaxed state that I felt a nice little dip in the water might be refreshing. I waddled down the length of the kayak, and was looking to jump in, when I see the biggest, ugliest, and scariest monster I’ve ever seen! Mum told me it was called an alligator, and it was right there on the shore, just a few meters away from us.
She said it could swallow me whole. I’m pretty brave, but I think this thing might be a little out of my league. Not saying I wouldn’t give it a taste of the notorious dachshund ferociousness, but I probably wouldn’t be the one to instigate something.
I don’t like swimming that much to begin with, but now I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to swim again. Talk about monsters in the closet…
We continued past the deathly gator spots until I was finally able to slow my heart rate down to its regular drum pattern. But of course, my life is never stale of excitement, and so I was suddenly aroused by the most peculiar sound I’ve ever heard in the wild – unlike any I’ve ever heard. It might have reminded me of something I’ve heard on TV while watching BBC’s Planet Earth, or the like. It was strange and intriguing.
You’ll never believe what it was.
So what was it?
Monkeys!
Monkeys in Florida, you say? Ya right, you say?
Take another look…
Not indigenous to Central Florida is the Rhesus monkey. Several troops of these monkeys live wild along the length of the river. Legend has it the monkeys are descendants of escapees from Tarzan films shot at Silver Springs; however the Silver Springs theme park website says it was a concessionaire who operated the Jungle Cruise boat ride who established the first troop of wild rhesus monkeys on an island of the river. He did so to attract visitors to his ride. – not knowing the monkeys are excellent swimmers. They escaped and formed small populations along the river. Coverup for the slip-up of the Tarzan movie makers? Maybe.
They’ve been talking about removing the monkeys for the past 30 years, since they’re not native to Florida. However, (as I know well), popularity is very important, and the amount of visitors the monkeys attract is hard to ignore.
One thing I didn’t realize was that these furry little tree people are very aggressive. They will attack and bite anyone who tries to offer them food. One bite, and you’ll turn into a zombie. No, just kidding, but you will most likely find yourself on a fast river ride to the nearest emergency room.
Geez, who ever thought Florida could be so dangerous. It’s supposed to be the quiet and sunny peninsula where seniors flock to.
The moral of the story is, as long as you have a nose for adventure, any place can yield excitement.
That’s all for me.
Keep adventurin’,
~ Crusoe
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