Reporter Benji Jones traveled to Florida and spent a week observing wildlife near Orlando, Fort Myers, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale, often shadowing researchers as they studied giant lizards and other animals. There, through the branches, I saw the unmistakable face of a monkey. Half an hour in, when I was about to turn back in pursuit of air conditioning and a fresh pair of socks, I heard a rustling overhead. A thorny underbrush etched puffy red lines into my bare legs. With each step, thick mud crept past my ankles, making it difficult to move. I couldn’t find monkeys in the lot, so I tried my luck in the forest. The only visible natural habitat was a sliver of forest, just a few hundred feet wide, wedged between the paved lot, a field of oil tanks, and a highway. On a stifling morning in late July, I stood in a large parking lot near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, about 40 minutes north of Miami. excellent way to bring you there, by saying you are going to watch a show, and than no show, but a way to make you pay extra for a picture! When I talked to the workers, who clamed to be the 'show' people, the explanation was, that the alligator didn't come out of the water, because of the weather (?!) (It is April - not too cold and not too hot), and the show will make the alligators to be stress!!! and with this stress the animal will live only 20 years! (interesting fact - at the restaurant at that place, they sell 'Alligator Bites' - so maybe they are not too concern about 'how the alligator will feel.FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - I was told the monkeys would be here, although nothing about this spot seemed particularly suitable for wildlife. that 'show' was about 30 seconds, and than the guy went out of the crocodile place, holding a small alligator, and offer people to take a picture with it, for 3 dollars. I was traveling with my 2 boys (7, 9) for over an hour from Miami Beach, hoping to see alligators during the boat ride and after that to watch a show, but - nothing!!!!! No alligators, and no show! All the guy did, was to take a piece of ,so called, food, showed it to the one poor crocodile / alligator that was in the small narrow water place, but the crocodile didn't care about this piece, and didn't come out of the water. The gift shop was closed so I am not sure of their selections. We stopped in the afterwards 2 canned soft drinks, 2 appetizers totaled $22. I believe animals are best in their natural habit being animals and not passed around or handled. There is an option at the begin of the tour for a photo (we declined this so I’m not sure the price of the souvenir photo) and afterwards, there is a Gator show (we skipped this only because I didn’t want to see any animals being aggravated or harassed so I’m not sure whether this occurs or not. Our tour guide for the boat was Giovanni and he was very personable and had vocalized several years (since 2007) working and driving the boats which helped me feel comfortable with the ride. If you have time I highly suggest making time for an airboat ride. Also, the boat is not too fast or bumpy at all, so don’t be afraid of that (I was worried).

It was a bit chilly with the wind so we didn’t get to see many alligators but we did see some! The swamp is amazing and really a unique experience I highly recommend. The airboat tour felt like lit was about an hour (I could be wrong) and they provide you with ear plugs to protect hearing from the large fan. The last tour of the day goes out at 4pm and tickets were $30 each (make sure to bring cash to tip your airboat driver!). There are no airboat tours that operate within the actual national park, it the park does provide 3 operating airboats, Everglades Safari being one of the 3. After spending the day at the Everglades National Park, we drove almost an hour north to do an airboat swamp tour.

Everglades safari park miami fl