La Chua Trail

My new favorite pastime? GATOR HUNTING! I don't really want to call it "hunting" though because when I hear the word hunting I think of killing. I can't even watch Swamp People because I feel bad for the gators.

There is something so thrilling about seeing a giant gator in it's natural habitat. I guess there is a good healthy feeling of fear there too, when you know that right around the corner there could be a gator sitting in the middle of the trail, just chillin'. That is an actual possibility on La Chua trail that runs through Paynes Prairie Wildlife preserve, just outside Gainesville. The preserve is home to alligators, deer, bison, wild horses and a variety of birds. It is my new favorite gator sighting spot. When we visited there last weekend for our Sunday Afternoon Adventure, we saw more gators than we could count and not just the tiny baby ones either, big monster ones. There was one giant who crawled out of the water and all the young gators scurried away in fear. Unfortunately, we went towards the end of the day, shortly before the park closed, so we were not able to walk the whole trail. I guess that just means we will get to go back and experience even more gator excitement.

Here is a panoramic shot of a bend in the river where we saw a lot of gators. Click here to see more pictures of our trip on La Chua trail and some of the gators we saw there.