Spirit of the Swamp Airboat Tours

We had a really fun group out with us on an airboat ride - they were here in the Orlando area for a trade show.  With Lorie’s permission… this is from the Studio Calico blog: http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/  If you’re a scrap booker, you’ll love the Studio Calico website!

http://www.studiocalico.com/kits/current

 Well, we left the show around Noon and took off for a Studio Calico team building exercise. I have been researching Air Boat tours off and on all week, and we finally decided to use a company called Spirit of the Swamp Air Boat Tours. They offer one hour tours on beautiful Lake Tohopekaliga. We saw 3 alligators, 5 bald eagles and lots of other native birds and wildlife. We had a great time and I thought that I would show you some of the photos from the day. Stephen is not only a wonderful graphic designer; he is also handy with a camera. Here are some of the pictures that he took today….they are awesome!

Spirit of the Swamp Airboat

Here is the high powered machine that we rode in today. Captain Harold and his wife Debbie took us out in this mean machine. The boys asked lots of questions, they were really pumped up when they saw it. Air boats actually glide along the top of the water and are able to go over land if necessary. They have no reverse, so you have to be able to turn around or hop land wherever you go. We also found out that the engine is a Corvette engine…Captain Harold was really surprised when we told him that we were from Bowling Green, KY…the home of the Corvette!

One of the best things about the tour was that each of us was given a headset so that we could hear Captain Harold and each other without having to scream over the engine. Here you see me giving the thumbs up that my headset was working properly. Captain Harold and Debbie were great guides and gave lots of interesting facts about the local wildlife and water plants.

This is Stephen and Greg as we were flying across the lake. Captain Harold called it natural air-conditioning, it sure did feel good….it was about 90 degrees while we were out there.

Stephen took this picture of Greg & April when we stopped to look at some little baby birds.

Here are a couple of the beautiful landscapes that Stephen photographed this afternoon. Look at those gorgeous clouds reflected in the water!

Here we are looking at a Mama Gator protecting her nest. She was laying in the water staring at the bank making sure that we don’t get too close. Captain Harold told us that based on the size of her head, she was long enough that her tail was right up to the side of the boat underwater.

Last, but not least, here is a group photo taken by Debbie. We had a wonderful time and learned a ton about the Florida flora and fauna. Thanks Greg & April for such a wonderful team building experience.