We spent an awesome afternoon with Amanda, Joel, Jaycent, Gaven, and Austin canoeing 7 miles at Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest. It was absolutely beautiful! It is a clear, narrow and winding spring fed river. There was so much vegetation along its banks and a lot of wildlife. We even saw 4 alligators!
Amanda and Gaven tipped less than a mile in. I love this picture- the canoe is completely submerged!
Our first alligator sighting! It was a little nerve racking seeing them so close especially since it's not that hard to tip the canoe with kids in it.
I wish this picture was clearer but we didn't exactly stick around to watch him. He was about 8 feet long and definitely not happy to see us.
This is not a course for beginners! There were quite a few quick turns with trees in the way. We even went over rapids which is hard to believe in Florida.
We stopped for a quick swim, making sure the alligators were nowhere in sight. This place had a lot of springs. If you stepped into one you would easily sink up to your knees. The kids were having fun trying to find the springs and then jump in them.
After the canoe trip we swam in the natural springs. The water was about 65 degrees and cold!
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