Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park

We've actually been lucky enough to come to Florida quite a few times in Soren's short life. Normally we stick to the fairly standard tourist spots: Miami and the Keys, Orlando, Tampa and St. Pete. But this time we wanted to branch out to a new area of the state and so decided to head to Crystal River for a few days.

Crystal River and the surrounding area are considered to be Florida's "Nature Coast" so it isn't too hard to imagine what attracted us. There is interesting SCUBA diving and lots of interesting wildlife spots in the area. So we made plans one day for Peter to go diving while Soren and I went exploring above the water.

Soren and I headed to Homossasa Springs Wildlife Park.



From the moment we entered the front gate, Soren found things to entertain himself.



The park starts with a cool boat ride on down a thick jungly river.



Would you believe we came to Florida and forgot to pack Soren's sunglasses? Oh well. Nothing that a quick to the Dollar Store wouldn't remedy. (I will admit that it took enormous self restraint not to burst out laughing every time he looked at me.)



After the boat tour we walked around the grounds and saw all sorts of native Florida wildlife.



Oh, and a giant hippo! It seems that before it became a state wildlife preserve it was originally a private park of exotic animals. When that park closed down, they got rid of all the animals except for the hippo. The hippo was so grumpy that no one wanted to take him. So he got to stay and live among all the other native species.



We listened to a ranger talk about the hippo. She explained in never ending detail about how and why hippos are the most deadly creature in Africa. Soren listened intently and after the talk declared, "Mom, I do not want to go to Africa!" And while I tried to explain that it would be possible to go and avoid the hippos, he just wasn't having any of it.

After our grand wildlife tour we went to pick up Peter who had had a marvelous time diving in Rainbow River and Devil's Den.



On the drive there, and on almost every drive we've taken in Florida, Soren fell fast asleep. I guess that means we're fitting in enough excitement when we aren't in the car!