One of the places that Milko suggested that would be good to explore (expecially with kids) is Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It is located about an hour away from us so we thought it would be a great way to spend the afternoon.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a 13,000 acre preserve that has a 2.25 mile boardwalk that makes it way through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, a marsh and the largest remaining stand of bald cypress in North America. In the visitors center, we found a binder full of photographs of the various animals that have been spotted there. This gave us an idea of what to expect.
The first thing I noticed is how quiet it was. You really had to keep your ears open to hear the sounds of all of the animals. We were not to far on the path when Liam spotted a couple of white tailed-deer. Now we were excited to see what else we could find. Over the next two and a half hours we saw many animals including the great egret, red-shouldered hawk, geckos and five alligators which were my favourite. We never did see a snake or a bobcat. Maybe next time.
Since everyone was pretty tired from all of that walking, we decided to have a BBQ steak dinner at home. After dinner, everybody got into the pool to enjoy one final swim for the day.
Lovely pictures..