Manatees!
- Cassandra Smith
- Jun 30, 2023
- 2 min read
Day 10- 24 miles
January 14, 2023
Today was my favorite day of the entire trip so far. When we woke up in the park this morning it was cold and windy. I layered all of my clothes and some of Henry's on top. Although we knew we'd get to see the manatees today we were both too tired and miserable in the morning to be excited about it. I pulled a pair of socks onto my hands to wear as gloves and we were off. The wind at our backs for the first time the entire trip was a blessing though and the miles flew by.
Before we knew it we had reached Manatee Springs and could see its crystal clear waters. We paddled up to the boat ramp to grab some hot food, every bone in my body was achingly cold from the damp Florida air. After a grilled cheese and a hot chocolate I was starting to warm up and then stood in the bathroom and held my hands under the hand dryer for 10 minutes to bring myself back to 100%.
After our break we paddled back out towards the river where the manatees were lounging in the spring water. They floated around peacefully, coming up for little breaths of air, cruising right under the canoe. The sun shining on their slippery, squishy bodies was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Their pure innocence and animation in their faces made me tear up and laugh at the same time, forgetting how miserable I'd been that morning.
We paddled around watching them in awe for quite awhile before moving on to find camp for the evening. I felt so happy and uplifted after seeing them.
Right before camp we headed towards the bank as we navigated away from a shallow spot in the middle of the river, when we heard the oinking of wild pigs. We paddled silently over to get a closer look and saw a mama and 5 babies digging furiously in the underbrush. We watched them for awhile before they spotted us and took off into the woods squealing.
Camp was a murky beach with obvious signs of wild pigs but our green corridor was ending and the houses were coming up, so we weren't picky for our last site, our last nights sleep on the river.
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