We had a bit of a rough morning and didn't manage to get up and out early so we stayed and skyped home so our eldest could sing happy birthday to her Dad. At the time of riting this thier week would have started again. Hope our eldest went off to school ok. It is strange to think that when she is taken to school we will be sleeping because it is 4am for us. It's half 11 here in the evening at the moment and my parents will be sleeping but will be woken by our eldest within a couple of hours!
After we skyped home Millie was hungry so I gave her a couple of bright pink yogurts whilst I raided the fridges and put something together for lunch. We eventually got out of the building at about 1pm!!! It was an hour drive to the Alligator Farm (not the dolphin place as I thought - Millie chose alligators this morning), Millie slept all the way. We had directions, a GPS and a free pass to get in. It is definately an experience driving round here and one we are slowly getting used to. We seem to be alright going to places, it is the coming back that messes us up - literally the last mile or so when we come off the interstate. We keep missing the invisible turning that comes off the interstate turning and end up heading into the centre of the city and having to turn around. We got lost coming back from Walmart a few days ago and we did the same coming back this afternoon.
The alligator farm was fun. They have 10s of gators and crocs from all over the world as well as a selection of other creatures that live in the same habitats, mainly snakes, frogs and turtles. There is a large area that holds 37 large american alligators and we watched them being fed. A man actually got into the area with the gators and walked around with nothing but a stick. He got chased by one and snapped at by another. It was pretty scary to see how quickly they move, even the guy was shaken up a bit by the unexpected snap. However, all of their alligators are fully trained, have names and respond to their own name when called. They are so well trained that the staff can take blood from a tail without the need for any sedation!! It is also possible to get an "extreme" photo up close to a gator. Although when the guy told us this and demonstrated with one of the gators that gator was the one to suddenly turn round and snap at his feet. The guy said that it was another gator they used!!!
The stick is used to gently touch their face as someone walks past to gauge what the reaction will be. If the gator closes his eyes then it is supposedly safe. They also use the stick to gently push on the nose of any gator that is in a chasing mood - that was pretty impressive. It was like putting your hand on a dog's nose when you are trying to stop him putting it somewhere he shouldn't have it. The stick is not used to hurt the gators. One of the gators is called Fluffy(!) and the guy said that was his favourite and even if Fluffy attacked he would never put him in ropes or restrain him. I was impressed at the respect and humanity displayed. But watching them being fed was something else - not all rushing and jumping gators as I expected. It was very calm and orderly. The guy had 10 rats and chose 10 gators to feed by walking round and picking ones that were being good (rewarding them) or those that gave a good view to us watching.
After watching the feeding we wandered round the rest of the park. We saw loads of different types of crocs which became a bit boring, especially as they didn't do much. We also peered into a handful of tanks and saw some snakes and frogs. Millie got really into seeing the snakes and at one point said she liked snakes. We decided to put that to the test. She got the chance to touch a real snake (again). This was only a little one and Millie sat on my lap whilst the tail was moved gently in our direction. She was really relaxed about it for 10 mins or so and then the snake decided to use Millie's legs to wriggle it's tail against - and it was pushing with some force. Not surprisingly Millie didn't like that and decided it was time to go. We distracted her by getting her to choose a plastic gator as a souvenir. She then squeaked the gator all the way round the rest of the park! At one point the hornbill talked back which Millie found hilarious. The last thing we did before leaving through the gift shop was go and see the biggest croc in the park - Maximo!! He is 40 years old, 15 foot long and weighs 1250 pounds (work that out!!). He was underwater but they have a viewing gallery to be able to see him still. We had to leave through the gift shop and both my husband and I have picked up a t-shirt!
One of the things that you can do at the alligator farm is go on a zip wire over the animals! If I had known about it I would have arranged for my husband to do it because I think it would have been a memorable thing to do on your birthday. However, it can take an hour and a half to get round the whole park, although there is a shorter route. I think it would also have been a bit too hot (91 degrees F) and more fun with someone else. We did ask (in jest) if I could take Millie on my back!
Because we got lost coming back we were a bit late for tea. But there was still plenty of it!
When you have Little Feet and it's a Long Walk, you take One Step At A Time.
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