Nature Girl

Airboat rides!" "Visit the jungle!" "Tour the Everglades on a real Florida airboat!"

During some 30 years traveling to and from the east coast—and into the swamp itself for various assignments—those funky signs at even funkier-looking places always caught my eye. We’ve all seen them around Everglades City: places with names like Jungle Erv’s and Captain Doug’s and Speedy Johnson’s. They keep their odd little flat boats with the towering engines and caged airplane propellers lined up by the roadside to lure a steady stream of out-of-state cars and sunburned folks in shorts and hats.

Always running on a schedule, I never had time to stop, especially for what I’d always considered strictly a tourist thing. But the call of the Everglades and the tug of curiosity about airboat rides were always there. Imagine, in condo-crazed Southwest Florida, looking in all directions to see nothing but plains of saw grass, broken at the horizon by "hammocks," those mysterious clumps of trees. And this is not just any wilderness—it’s our wilderness. People from all over the world pay big bucks to see this storied national park right in our back yard. It was time to get off the road and into the River of Grass.

There are few options when it comes to exploring the Everglades. Trudging through the spiny saw grass or trundling a canoe into the swamp for hours of sun-baked paddling among the mosquitoes might be attractive to some. Airboats, on the other hand, require little beyond plopping down your rear end for what promises to be a go-fast ride through the ’glades.

On U.S. 41, just a mile or so east of the Everglades City intersection, sits the compound sheltering Wooten’s airboat rides. Operating since 1953, Wooten’s buildings are surrounded by the Everglades’ grassy plains, with about 250 acres owned by the family business that also offers swamp buggy tours. Within minutes we are running fast in the tall grass that spreads as far around as the eye can see. It’s a fun ride fast enough for youngsters, and smooth and secure enough for those unaccustomed to boats or swamp waters. Airboats clock up to 45 mph when fully loaded, but with the wind in your face, and the spray they create on a curve, it feels much faster.

That sort of performance appeals to one area airboat rider, who says she’s taken visitors on several such rides. "It felt like we were flying along in a speedboat," she says. "They go so fast around the corners the water sprays up, and you get such a feeling of excitement."

The flocks of water birds—herons and egrets are everywhere, and sometimes an osprey or an eagle can be spotted—feeding in the shallow waters are another attraction, and while they may be startled by the airboat’s noisy presence, the sight of hundreds of the big birds taking flight over the open boat is breathtaking, she says. Gators are also plentiful—some near the boat, others simply sunning on the banks—all close enough for riders to get a thrill and a decent photo.

"You feel like you’re right out in the middle of the Everglades," she says. "It’s hard to get out there any other way, and this makes you feel like you’re surrounded" by the legendary swamp.

Over at Captain Doug’s, near the bridge into Everglades City, the place is a constant churn of activity, as the six-passenger boats pull up, empty, fill up and take off with all the flurry of a New York City ferry terminal. Waiting in line for tickets, we can hear the employees’ answer to a constant question: "No, we can’t promise wildlife," the airboat operators repeat. "It depends on weather, water levels, time of day. Sometimes you see things, and some times you don’t." But, one adds with telling emphasis, "It’s a really fun boat ride." Departing passengers sharing digital pictures of tame pelicans riding on the boats heartily agree.

In fact, airboats and real wildlife don’t mix all that well. The boats make such a racket that riders must wear ear protection. Everglades National Park doesn’t allow airboats in its wilderness areas largely because of the noise. As a result, some environmentalists are critical of the disruptive potential of airboating. But the little skiffs that can skim over grass or an inch of water were developed in the Everglades more than a century ago by alligator hunters and frog giggers. They’re now part of the swamp’s human history and, like residents, are confined to limited, privately owned areas.

The ride at Captain Doug’s is different than Wooten’s jaunt through the open grass. Here, the boats stay in the mangroves, either in man-made canals, mangrove flats or the endless maze of mangrove-canopied tunnels. The tunnels are a treat that’s hard to find elsewhere or by other means. Covered by mangrove branches, surrounded by the tangled mass of roots, the small boats follow narrow, cleared waterways through the towering mangroves. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the area’s appeal for smugglers of various substances over the years.

We can hardly believe it either, but for very different reasons. The true stories of people attacked or killed by semi-tame alligators who had lost their fear of humans were a little too familiar for our comfort. The guides did caution that it’s illegal to feed alligators because gators that associate humans with food can turn dangerous. But we had to wonder just how much of that sank in to the visitors, absorbed in their photo op.

Still, while airboaters may push the bounds of environmentalism, and stretch the lines of political correctness, they do offer a thrilling window into one of the area’s most important resources as well as a unique view into the culture and customs of the swamp. Sadly, I never did get to explore any of Everglades’ hammocks. Perhaps for a visit to the cypress swamps and moss-draped hardwood tree islands—with enough quiet to hear as well as see the myriad birds—Wooten’s swamp buggy tours could be just the thing.

Stay tuned ...