Florida, day 10: Billie Swamp Safari

While planning our trip to Florida, I did a lot of research on the internet. One of the things that I came across which really stood out to me was an eco-tourism package on the Seminole Indian reservation. This package included an airboat tour, both day and night swamp buggy tours, a reptile or small animal show, native-american storytelling, and the option of spending the night in a traditional hut. At the time I was looking into this, Florida was experiencing record cold temperatures, so the idea of spending the night in a hut with no electricity or plumbing was even less appealing than usual--thus the RV park solution. I booked this package thinking it would be the highlight of our trip. I'd had wonderful experiences with tours on the Navajo reservations in Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly, so I had high expectations. I was really looking forward to learning about the Seminole culture and local ecosystem.

When we arrived at Billie Swamp Safari, it was dumping rain. This turned out to be a good thing, because when I went to pay for our full day package, they said the airboats weren't running because of the rain, and we were given the option of buying our activities individually instead. We were disappointed because we really wanted to do the airboats. We decided to have a leisurely lunch and booked the 1 PM swamp buggy tour and the following reptile show.

The restaurant had an extensive menu including both "normal" food and local specialties: frog legs, catfish, alligator, and indian fry-bread. I considered trying the alligator, but it was expensive, and I really wasn't in the mood for chicken (which is what everyone says alligator tastes like). I chose normal food, but the fry-bread got me thinking. Do all native-americans eat fry-bread, or is it a gimmick for the tourists that they've all picked up. I've eaten Navajo fry-bread in Arizona, and as far as I recall, it was the same as Kumeyaay fry-bread in San Diego. Did the Seminole in Florida really have the same food culture as the southwest?

As we ate, the rain let up. While we were on the swamp buggy tour, the weather cleared up entirely. The first animals we saw on the tour were cows and pigs. I was not impressed, but they explained that these were descendants of livestock originally imported by the Spaniards. Next they pointed out a nilgai (yup, African!) and later later an eland (also African). I was pissed. This wasn't an eco-tour, it was a zoo, and not even a good one! If I wanted to see African animals, I'd go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Then came Asian water buffalo and North American bison (though I doubt they're native to South Florida). They had had a Scottish red deer (very similar to the elk we have in Sweden), but it was eaten by a crocodile which escaped from their enclosure. The poor deer must have really suffered in the Florida summers. I saw some poetic justice in that since crocodiles aren't native to the area either. They have not been able to recapture the crocodile, but they keep tabs on where it is by what it eats.

In between non-natives, the driver did mention a couple different habitat types and some plants and birds. We even happened to stumble upon a white-tailed deer. We also passed a "traditional" Seminole residence, complete with sheet-metal roofing and a fiberglass canoe. What were they thinking!?? We did learn that Seminole buildings were constructed not with a single opening in the roof to let the smoke out but with a solid roof and open gables on both ends. This diffused the smoke and allowed it to spread horizontally, instead of vertically where it would be easily visible to enemies. Unfortunately, this was the only bit of Seminole culture presented.

After the swamp buggy tour, we looked at the monitor lizards on display while waiting for the reptile show. They were climbing their cages in order to be in the sunlight. This was quite impressive, but we noticed a small wild lizard on the outside of the cage. We pointed out to our daughter that it was almost ready to shed. On cue, it pulled off it's skin and walked away from it, leaving the fragile skin for us to examine.

Disappointed in the swamp buggy tour, I was expecting the worst from the reptile show. I really didn't want to see some idiot sticking his head in an alligator's mouth. Fortunately, it wasn't like that at all. The young man doing the show was both knowledgeable and respectful of the snakes he handled. He showed an talked about a tiny pygmy rattlesnake, a cottonmouth, and a water moccasin, all natives to the area. For comparison, he also showed a rattlesnake from northern Florida. He talked about the Southern tradition of rattlesnake roundups where people would catch and exterminate rattlesnakes. This selective pressure on the rattlesnake population has lead to the occurrence of rattlesnakes that do not rattle audibly (they still shake their tales) being more and more common. No reptile show would be complete without an alligator, and indeed, he ended the show with a small one. He even allowed audience members to pose for pictures with it (mouth rubber-banded shut). My daughter was very proud to have held an alligator.

By now, the airboats were running again, so we sent and bought tickets for that. Our driver seemed quite bored with his job and not the most personable, but this turned out to be the highlight of the day. My husband and daughter enjoyed the high speed part of the ride. (My daughter had even enjoyed the bouncing of the swamp buggy.)

I really liked it when he slowed it down and went into the cypress mangrove. I'd finally gotten my chance to take a better look at this habitat. Alligators posed on logs, and Spanish moss hung from the trees. Then we saw a pair of raccoons--they were just too cute! One stood as if posing for the camera, and I was in heaven!

After the airboat, we walked around the rest of the park, including the boardwalk nature trail. Clearly the boardwalk was not used by many of the visitors, and that was a shame. A few narrative signs would have made it even better. A row of raccoon droppings on the railing showed that they had been eating berries, crayfish, and dog or cat food. We also got a close look at the lichen, bromeliads, parasitic plants, and grasses all growing in the trees.

There was still a few hours before the storytelling and nighttime swamp buggy tour, and we were not inclined to wait. I was happy that we had not paid for these activities. We went back to the RV park where my daughter enjoyed the pool. For dinner we went into "town." What we thought was a restaurant turned out to be a combination fast food/convenience store/gift shop, but the fajitas were really good. I was feeling nostalgic looking at the shelves full of American sweets, so I picked up some pop-tarts for breakfast.