Our last half-day in florida.. time for some snorkeling. But, not any normal snorkeling. It's time to swim with manatees! These endangered creatures seek warmth in the springs of Crystal River, especially during the winter season when the ocean is too cold for them.
Woke up at an unearthly hour to drive 1h 40min from Orlando to Crystal River.
The sun was beginning to rise as we gathered our gear and boarded the boat.
After a while, we spotted one!
and it was time for us to pop into the water.
that's him/her!
swimming with the graceful manatees was awesome. we even saw a baby manatee hanging on to his mummy. i couldnt swim very well though and i accidentally kicked a manatee while treading water and it was swimming below me. oops. felt damn bad about it.
we next went to another area where there was supposed to be a spring (?) and dived. the water was much much clearer here, but er, there was only weed =(. Too bad it was summer and there were less manatees. would have been perfect to swim and play with them here instead.
saw this lady canoeing with a book in her lap... damn shiok.
on the way back, we also saw this.. a freaking crocodile in the same waters we were swimming in. =( i'm glad we didn't see it on the way there. or at least, the guides didn't point it out to us.
I love post-swim lunches. Taco bell for its fantastic chalupas.. we couldn't stop eating it throughout this trip.
oranges
At the airport, i couldn't resist shopping at the convenient 'Walt Disney World' and 'Universal Studio' shops. where i bought a tigger pendant, and joy's disneyworld uno cards.
and that was it. back to cleveland.
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