Don't tip the canoe!
THE CANOE ATTENDANT made sure they had life
preservers and that they understood the basics of
canoe safety. He even helped them launch the canoe into the water. Right away
they headed into a thicket of mangroves. “Those must be red mangroves,
look at their long prop roots!” Sam exclaimed using his new found knowledge.
Sophie spotted bubbles coming up
from the water.
“Look!! What is that?”
Sam recognized it right away.
“Shhh, everybody. It’s a
crocodile!” he whispered as two dark eyes emerged from the surface of the
water. It was so close they could have touched it with their paddles.
Jean was a little nervous.
“Be still. Don’t rock the boat.
We definitely don’t want to tip over right now,” she said in a hushed tone.
The croc didn’t seem to mind the
family. It swam farther into the mangrove tangle, in the same direction that
they were going.
“Maybe it wants to be our tour
guide,” said Sam. “On your left, you’ll see the black mangroves.
You can use their breathing tubes to shoot spit balls at your sister,” Sam
hissed out the side of his mouth, pretending to be the crocodile.
“I dare you to reach out and
grab a tube, Sam. Go on, that croc won’t mind if you stick your hand into the
water and fish around a bit.”
“Kids,” Grandma Betty
interrupted, “you know that we aren’t supposed to disrupt the plants or
wildlife. This is a unique place; we’re lucky we even get a chance to see it. Not
to mention the possibility of getting your finger bitten off!”
“Yes ma’am,’’ they said in
unison.
Suddenly there was a great big
splash and everyone looked up.
A huge snake was swimming
through the water and closing in on the crocodile, which was clearly not too
fond of the company. The croc swung its giant tail around toward the fat snake.
Little fish darted off in every direction as if to escape the impending fight.
“Oh my goodness, that’s a
Burmese python,” Grandma said. I’ve read that they are an invasive species of
snake that live in the mangrove and Everglades!”
Sophie watched the creatures ply
through the water while Sam concentrated on taking one picture after another.
“Whoa! This is so cool!” he
said, “I can’t wait to tell my friends when we get home. They are gonna be sooo
jealous!” This was exactly the kind of action Sam was hoping to see and he was
glad to be taking photos.
“This is incredible!” Grandma
pointed to the top of a black mangrove
tree. Everyone looked up to see a black and yellow snake slithering up to a
bird’s nest.
She thumbed through guidebook
and found a picture of the snake. “I think it’s a mangrove water snake!”
“Mom! Watch! Look at what it’s
doing!” Sophie grabbed her Mom’s sleeve and nearly tipped the canoe.
The children’s mother gasped.
“Oh, I hope there aren’t any chicks in that nest! Oh this is terrible.”
Just as the snake’s upper body
disappeared into the nest there was a snapping sound as the small supporting
branch broke. The snake and nest fell into the water.
The family watched in silence as
the eggs, buoyant in the salt water, bobbed up and down. The water snake
surfaced, swam to a branch, and lifted itself out of the water.
“Look!” shouted Sam, “The
crocodile swimming to the eggs!”
“So is the python!” Sophie
chimed in.
The croc began snapping at the
bobbing eggs, but the snake was more interested in the crocodile. The croc was
splashing about, snapping its jaws. The python came too close to the crocodile
and with a whip of its powerful tail, the croc claimed its territory; the
python swam off, defeated. The crocodile attempted to snap up the remaining
eggs, but it was nearly impossible, due to their shape and tendency to float.
It quickly lost interest in the eggs and swam away. The canoe rocked gently in
the swells caused by the commotion.
Sam was already reviewing the
photos he had taken.
“Look at this one, Mom! It looks
like the snake is going to bite the croc!”
“Let me see, Sam.” Sophie was
glad her brother had remembered to bring along the camera so they could show
their friends proof of their great adventure.
“Oh wow! Nice photos. Mom, can
we get doubles printed? These are so going into my scrapbook!”
“Sure. We’ll only print the good
ones though. I think Sam took about hundred of them! Whew, it’s really getting
hot and I’m about ready for lunch. How about you all?”
“Yeah! I’m starved,” they
exclaimed.
“How about egg salad?” Grandma
asked. They all erupted in laughter as they paddled their canoe through the
mangrove forest toward the campgrounds.
They had one more day at the
park and spent it walking on various trails and reading the interpretive signs,
where they learned a lot more about mangrove forests and surrounding habitats.
However, the adventure in the canoe remained the highlight of the vacation.
Sam did not find the trip home
as boring as he had the trip south. He spent his time reviewing the photos he
took and erasing the ones that were out of focus or poorly framed.
The family agreed that the trip
had been one of the best vacations they’d been on, and they all wanted to go
camping again at another park as soon as they had time.
