We left our ship at 7:30 a.m. on February 16, 2025, and our plane to Salt Lake City didn't leave until 6 p.m. We spent the morning on a shore excursion to the Everglades. Everglades Holiday Park was impossibly crowded, with all the ships returning from the Caribbean this morning. Still, we enjoyed a ride on an airboat through the Everglades, and an alligator "wrestling" show.
The airboat rides were part macho, full throttle race through the channels of the Everglades, and part gentle glide through the mangroves and sawgrass, looking for alligators and birds. Dave and I preferred the gentle glide.
The Everglades have a unique beauty, full of sky and water, low-lying trees and bushes, and water plants.
Our guide had just told us he couldn't guarantee seeing an alligator when there he was, eyes and snout peeking above the water.
Spanish moss hung from scrubby trees along the water line.
The alligator wrestling presentation was led by a tough looking guy. He told us that the reason Florida residents can get alligators removed from their swimming pools and backyards for free is because the trappers sell the alligators to processing plants for their hides and meat. "I'm a no-kill trapper," he told us. "When I catch alligators, I take them to zoos and refuges." He also told us, "These alligators at the show are my friends."
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