Ocala National Forest, Florida

We are very pleasantly surprised by Florida.  It is a much nicer place than we had imagined.  There are many beautiful state parks all over and the natural environment offers much to see and do.

We spent a week in the Ocala National Forest.  The landscape of the ONF is characterised by four natural freshwater springs.  The shallow sea that once covered much of Florida formed layers of limestone and as acidic rain gradually seeped in, the limestone bedrock collapsed forming springs, sinkholes and caves – all parts of karst topography that we had come across in other places, most recently at the Plitvicka Lakes in Croatia.  These springs in Florida are very picturesque and unlike the Croatian lakes, people can enjoy swimming in them.  The water temperature is a constant 72 degrees all the year around.

Here we are having a lovely dip in the artesian springs at Salt Springs Park.

Andrew hovering around a sinkhole.  At some springs there are deep caves which are restricted to experienced cave divers.





And below we are canoeing at Alexander Springs.

The wildlife around these rivers and waterholes is varied and spectacular.

Turtles we saw on our canoeing trip.

And this is a very large alligator.  They have named her Alice in the park.  Most Florida alligators are smallish and somewhat narrow jawed like the freshwater crocodiles in OZ.  This is one of the biggest around at about 8ft and we were very lucky to catch sight of her.

American alligators, unlike Australian saltwater crocodiles, are not aggressive and are afraid of humans and will retreat. There are signs up to warn people to keep a safe distance but they are not the man-eaters that salties are.




I was nervous being close enough to take photos - hence the slight lack of focus - but in the end she slid into the water and hid under the bank, much to my relief.