We started this month at Myakka State Park, near Sarasota, which is as far south as we got this trip. We took a wildlife cruise on the lake at the park, but the weather was too cold and windy for much activity. We headed up to the Hillsboro SP, near Tampa, and canoed the Hillsboro River down to the Dead River. We proceeded to Silver Lake SP because other campers were telling us how nice it was. From here we canoed Juniper Springs, in Ocala National Forest, our all time favorite creek. It is very small, but beautiful, full of twists with wildlife beyond each turn. Since Silver Springs was right next to the campground, we decided to check it out. See the separate attachment, “Monkey Business” for a report on this visit.
At Manatee Springs, we went out with a manatee expert and several manatees swam up to our canoe. In west central FL we found some real wilderness in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, good for canoeing, dirt biking and dry camping. We explored Cedar Key and learned about its history of pine, cypress and cedar logging (for pencils) and collecting oysters, fish, sponges and sea turtles until the supplies ran out due to exploitation.
We joined a Winnebago RV club for Rialta owners. It turned out they were having a get together of Rialta owners in north Florida. Forty-six Rialtas in one campground was quite a sight. We compared modifications, exchanged ideas, and even got some modifications completed.
We entered the Okefenokee Swamp from the west side and camped at Stephen Foster SP. The canoeing was excellent, large gators were everywhere. The west side is much more scenic than the east side where we canoed previously. Tall cypress trees covered with Spanish Moss lined the waterways. We practically had the swamp all to ourselves.
Did you know?
Raccoons wash their food because they can not produce saliva.
Owls have to swivel their heads because their eyes are fixed in their socket.
Stephen Foster never saw the Suwannee River.
Rednecks go to Napa Valley to see how they make auto parts.
Monkey Business
Last month I told you about the alligators and manatees in Florida; now would you believe me if I told you there were wild monkeys there also. Actually most people in Florida and even some people who should know such things (like naturalists and park rangers) are unaware of this fact
Although I’ve been to Central Florida at least a dozen times, I had never visited Silver Springs. Maybe you have never been there either, but I am sure you have seen it. All of the “Sea Hunt” TV shows were filmed there, the first six Tarzan movies, and several scenes from James Bond movies were also filmed there. Also the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and other jungle/ underwater movies were shot at the Springs. So one day we went there and toured the grounds. We also took three different glass bottom boat rides along different sections of the Sliver River. We floated over the large sink where Silver Spring emerges from the ground.
We learned a lot about the history of the place. It has been a commercial resort 23 years before Walt Disney was born. In the 1930’s Colonel Tooey, a concessionaire who operated the Jungle Cruise boat ride, deposited a boat load of Rhesus Monkeys on a island at the resort. The next day he brought a boat load of tourist to the resort to see his latest attraction. As luck would have it, there was one thing he did not know about these moneys - they were excellent swimmers! When the tourists arrived at the island, the island was deserted. Over the 80+ years since then, the monkeys have appeared over much of east central Florida, but are still mostly in the area where they got off the boat (just like a lot of New Yorkers). We did not see any monkeys that day, although one of our guides said he has seen them on a previous trip that day. Now I really wanted to see them. The next alternative was to canoe up the Silver River and hope that we see them.
We had never canoed the Silver River before because we thought access to the springs was blocked by the resort. We learned this was not the case, so we set out on our quest for the elusive wild monkeys of Sliver Springs. The Silver River, of course, starts at Silver Spring. This is a first magnitude spring, discharging 500 million gallons a day of 71 degree water year-round. This is one of the largest springs in a state full of springs. It took 3 hours of steady paddling to travel the five miles to the springs. On the way up we saw 22 gators, lots of beautiful tropical birds and hundreds of turtles; but not a single monkey! We floated over the spring and saw underwater props from an old James Bond movie. We started our easy paddle back down river. After about two miles we saw a few canoes near shore. They had found a group of about 16 monkeys. A mile downstream, we found another group of 8 monkeys. It made our day! Now the Silver River is our favorite canoe run – in a state of wonderful canoeing spots.
Last month I told you about the alligators and manatees in Florida; now would you believe me if I told you there were wild monkeys there also. Actually most people in Florida and even some people who should know such things (like naturalists and park rangers) are unaware of this fact
Although I’ve been to Central Florida at least a dozen times, I had never visited Silver Springs. Maybe you have never been there either, but I am sure you have seen it. All of the “Sea Hunt” TV shows were filmed there, the first six Tarzan movies, and several scenes from James Bond movies were also filmed there. Also the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and other jungle/ underwater movies were shot at the Springs. So one day we went there and toured the grounds. We also took three different glass bottom boat rides along different sections of the Sliver River. We floated over the large sink where Silver Spring emerges from the ground.
We learned a lot about the history of the place. It has been a commercial resort 23 years before Walt Disney was born. In the 1930’s Colonel Tooey, a concessionaire who operated the Jungle Cruise boat ride, deposited a boat load of Rhesus Monkeys on a island at the resort. The next day he brought a boat load of tourist to the resort to see his latest attraction. As luck would have it, there was one thing he did not know about these moneys - they were excellent swimmers! When the tourists arrived at the island, the island was deserted. Over the 80+ years since then, the monkeys have appeared over much of east central Florida, but are still mostly in the area where they got off the boat (just like a lot of New Yorkers). We did not see any monkeys that day, although one of our guides said he has seen them on a previous trip that day. Now I really wanted to see them. The next alternative was to canoe up the Silver River and hope that we see them.
We had never canoed the Silver River before because we thought access to the springs was blocked by the resort. We learned this was not the case, so we set out on our quest for the elusive wild monkeys of Sliver Springs. The Silver River, of course, starts at Silver Spring. This is a first magnitude spring, discharging 500 million gallons a day of 71 degree water year-round. This is one of the largest springs in a state full of springs. It took 3 hours of steady paddling to travel the five miles to the springs. On the way up we saw 22 gators, lots of beautiful tropical birds and hundreds of turtles; but not a single monkey! We floated over the spring and saw underwater props from an old James Bond movie. We started our easy paddle back down river. After about two miles we saw a few canoes near shore. They had found a group of about 16 monkeys. A mile downstream, we found another group of 8 monkeys. It made our day! Now the Silver River is our favorite canoe run – in a state of wonderful canoeing spots.
