As we arrived at Fort Lauderdale, we concluded the first part of our cruise. The 21 day cruise that we are on is actually two cruises back to back. The first 10 day leg took us to some of the western and southern islands. Later today as we head out on the 11 day route, we will be visiting many of the eastern islands.
These photos were taken early in the morning as we arrived at Fort Lauderdale. They were taken with only the light from the city and the moon....no tripod and from our veranda on a moving ship. I was pretty happy with the results. I could not have done this with my old camera.....thanks Canon 5D Mark III.
These photos were taken early in the morning as we arrived at Fort Lauderdale. They were taken with only the light from the city and the moon....no tripod and from our veranda on a moving ship. I was pretty happy with the results. I could not have done this with my old camera.....thanks Canon 5D Mark III.
While in Fort Lauderdale, we wanted to have some fun in the Everglades.
Our tour takes us to a wildlife park in the Everglades for a crocodile
hunt on an air boat.
These are powerful boats. Most of them had with twin props powered byV8 engines.
Get ready.
Go!
It was a chilly ride at 45 mph and 60 deg air temperature with some water spray thrown in.
As it turns out, the weather was not favorable for
finding crocks as it was too cold (60 deg). The crocks were all
underwater trying to stay warm in the reeds and mud of the wetlands.
The flattened reed are where the crock like to sun themselves. The reeds will support the crock's weight.
Our guide and air boat pilot was full of interest facts about the wild life of the Everglades. His best advice was to keep you hands and other body parts out of the water.
After returning from the boat trip, we toured the rest of the park. They have captive animals that are originally from the Everglades. Most of the animals were injured and recovered from the wild to treat and protect them.
I wasn't too happy with the animal photos because of the visibly intrusive fencing. I could not get good pictures.
Sigrid has a new buddy.
Colorful to the extreme.
We are back on the ship and leaving the port. Again, you can see the Inter-coastal Waterway in this photo. The small boat to the left is the port Pilot Boat. As large ships enter and leave harbors, the harbor managers actually put local navigation experts on board to help the ship Captain safely enter/leave port.
The Liberty of the Seas beat us out to sea this time. It is weird to see a large ship like this passing between buildings like it is a balloon in a street parade.
Nice houses on the beach. I wouldn't want to live here due to all the boat traffic. The large ships like ours sound their horns several times by tradition as it leaves port. You really can't miss hearing a large ship's horn as all your windows rattle.
One of the people on shore had a little compressed air horn and challenged our ship to a duel. The Captain took him up and had some fun.....it goes without saying that we won.
It was a very pretty evening and even though it happens all the time, people still come out to see the big ships leave the harbor and wave good bye. This is true all over the world as we are discovering.
The Pilot Boat pulls along side of our ship to pick up the Pilot as we depart and no longer need his assistance.
After jumping from our ship to his, the Pilot waves good bye.
We will be at sea for the next two days as we travel to St Maarten.
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